Maple wrong about partial derivative of exponential function?

Question

When I input this function in Maple:

f := (x, y) -> exp(x+xy-2*y)

And take the derivative:

diff(f(x, y), x);

I receive:

exp(x + xy - 2 y)

But I would have expected it to be:

(1+y)exp(x+xy-2y)

Does anyone have an explanation for this?

there is a typo in your code in definition of the function $f$: you have xy instead of x*y, so Maple thinks (!) that xy is another variable rather than the product of two — SBF, Nov 23 '11 at 13:19
I don't use maple, but does it matter that you write $xy$ and not $x*y$ — draks ..., Nov 23 '11 at 13:21
@AndreasSpörl: for Maple it does. Was one of the reasons to switch to Mathematica for me — SBF, Nov 23 '11 at 13:30
Even in Mathematica xy is a variable, not a product. You have to write x y for Mathematica to interpret it as an implicit product. — GEdgar, Nov 23 '11 at 13:55

SBF · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-23T17:24:07.933

4

Maple understand each (non-predefined) expression of the form abcde as one variable. It also works for Mathematica where abcde means one variable while a b c d e is understood as a product of $5$ variables. Spaces does not work for Maple formulas typed in plain text, so you have to use * each time you want to multiply (works as well for Mathematica).

edited Nov 23 '11 at 17:24

answered Nov 23 '11 at 13:30

SBF

36,041

3

Maple does interpret x y as multiplication if it is entered as 2D Math input, which is one of the two input forms recognized by its Standard GUI. The implicit multiplication of x y is not recognized when entered in (1D, plaintext) Maple Notation. – acer Nov 23 '11 at 17:21
@acer: thanks, I didn't know it since never used 2D Math input – SBF Nov 23 '11 at 17:23

Maple wrong about partial derivative of exponential function?

1 Answers1