Find all points on the paraboloid $z=x^2+y^2$ where tangent plane is parallel to the plane $x+y+z=1$ and find equations of the corresponding tangent planes. Sketch the graph of these functions.
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Best Answer
To get a normal vector to the paraboloid at a point (x,y,z), we can take the gradient $\nabla f(x,y,z)=-2xi-2yj+k$. Since we want the tangent plane at the point to be parallel to the plane $x+y+z=1$, the normal vector $\nabla f(x,y,z)=-2xi-2yj+k$ has to be parallel to the vector $i+j+k$ (since this is a normal vector to $x+y+z=1$). This means that $-2xi-2yj+k$ must be a constant multiple of $i+j+k$, so $-2xi-2yj+k=c(i+j+k)$ for some constant c. Then $-2x=c$, $-2y=c$, and $1=c$, so $x=-1/2$ and $y=-1/2$. Therefore $z=x^2+y^2=1/4+1/4=1/2$ at the point of tangency, and the tangent plane has equation $x+y+z=-1/2$ at this point.