Questions tagged [multivariable-calculus]

Use this tag for questions about differential and integral calculus with more than one independent variable. Some related tags are (differential-geometry), (real-analysis), and (differential-equations).

Multivariable functions are functions like $f(x,y)=xy^2$, functions that have two or more inputs but still only one output.

There exist multivariable limits, where $x$ and $y$ approach a value instead of just $x$.

In multivariable calculus, when writing $\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}x} \ f(x,y)$, one does not assume $y$ to be a constant, instead it is assumed that $y$ is a function of $x$.

To indicate that $y$ is a constant, one should use $\frac{\partial}{\partial x} f(x,y)$. These are called partial derivatives.

One also has integrals of multivariable functions. We say that we integrate over a surface in case of a two-variable function. We write this as $$\iint_S f(x,y)$$

If the surface is a rectangle $S: [a,b] \times [c,d]$, and the function is continuous on this rectangle, then Fubini's theorem says that $$\iint_S f(x,y) = \int^b_a\int^d_c f(x,y) \mathrm{d}y \mathrm{d}x$$

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An equation of the plane that passes through the line of intersection of $x − z = 1$ and $y + 4z = 1$, and is perpendicular to $x + y − 2z = 2$

Find an equation of the plane. The plane that passes through the line of intersection of the planes $x − z = 1$ and $y + 4z = 1$ and is perpendicular to the plane $x + y − 2z = 2$. I keep getting the answer of $7x-y+5z=6$ and I am told that it is…
Diana
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gradient vector of composition of functions

Let $U \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ be open and let $f:U \to \mathbb{R}$ and $h:\mathbb{R}\to \mathbb{R}$ be differentiable functions. How can I prove the following equation? $$\nabla{(h\circ f)}(P)=h'(f(P))\nabla f(P)$$
CHOI
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Characterizing a Function Using the Gradient

I am watching one of Ted Shifrin's multivariable calculus lectures and I have a question about some of the reasoning used in one of the examples. I will state the reasoning below. Suppose $f:\mathbb{R}^2 \to \mathbb{R}$ is differentiable and $$x^2…
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Multi variable integral : $\int_{0}^{1}\int_{0}^{\sqrt{1-x^2}} \frac{e^y}{\sqrt{1-x^2-y^2}} dy dx$

How can I solve the following multi variable integral: $\int_{0}^{1}\int_{0}^{\sqrt{1-x^2}} \frac{e^y}{\sqrt{1-x^2-y^2}} dy dx$ I have seen it in an exam. I tried to rewrite it in polar coordinates as follows, but to no avail. $x^2+y^2 = r ^2$ $y =…
alireza
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Integration by parts - multivariate case

As part of a larger problem, I realised I don't quite know how to do integration by parts in the multivariate case. I looked up some formulas, but I couldn't get them to apply. For example, how would you do integration by parts…
Jamminermit
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Compute: $\int_{0}^{1}\int_{x}^{1} e^{x/y}$

Compute: $\int_{0}^{1}\int_{x}^{1} e^{x/y}$ I just don't know how to compute this integral. I tried u = x/y, but that didn't really lead me anywhere. It was suggested by fellows on a IRC that I graph this, but I didn't really understand. Could…
Ozera
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Chain rule in multivarible calculus

I recently was reading spivak calculus on manifold and I've arrived to chain rule he wrote that \begin{gather}F(x)=f(g_{1}(x),...,g_{m}(x))\end{gather} then he took the derivative which lead to \begin{gather} \frac{d…
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How to calculate $f'(t)$, where $f:I\to\mathbb{R}^{n^2}$ is given by $f(t)=X(t)^k$?

Let $I$ be a interval, $\mathbb{R}^{n^2}$ be the set of all $n\times n$ matrices and $X:I \to\mathbb{R}^{n^2}$ be a differentiable function. Given $k\in\mathbb{N}$, define $f:I\to\mathbb{R}^{n^2}$ by $f(t)=X(t)^k$. How to calculate $f'(t)$ for all…
Pedro
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Differentiability in $\mathbb{R}^n$: how to prove that $f'(a)v=g'(a)v$ for all $v \in \mathbb{R}^m$?

Let $f,g:U\to\mathbb{R}^n$ be differentiable at point $a\in U$, where $U\subset\mathbb{R}^m$ is an open set. Suppose $f(a)=g(a)$. Prove that $$\lim_{v\to0}\frac{f(a+v)-g(a+v)}{|v|}=0\;\;\;\;[\#]$$ if, and only if, $$f'(a)=g'(a)\;\;\;\;[*]$$ I've…
Pedro
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Find the limit (if it exists) $\lim_{(x,y) \to (0,0)} \dfrac{xy}{x^2 + |y|}.$

I want to find the limit $$\lim_{(x,y) \to (0,0)} \dfrac{x \sin(y)}{x^2 + |y|},$$ if it exists. My idea was to use the fundamental trig limit to obtain $$\lim_{(x,y) \to (0,0)} \dfrac{x \sin(y)}{x^2 + |y|} = \lim_{(x,y) \to (0,0)} \dfrac{xy}{x^2 +…
Alice
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How to solve an improper triple integral

Let $D=[(x,y,z)\in R^3: x^2+y^2+z^2\le 1, z\ge 0, z^2-x^2-y^2\le0]$ and let $f(x,y,z)=\frac {z} {\sqrt{x^2+y^2}}$. The exercise is about calculating the integral: $\iiint_D f(x,y,z) dxdydz$. The text tells to be careful because it is an improper…
user1170350
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Diffrentiability in Multivariate calculus

Let,$f(x, y, z) =x^3+y^3+z^3$ $L$ be a linear map from $\mathbb R^3$ to $\mathbb R$ Satisfying $$\displaystyle\lim_{(x, y, z) \to (0, 0,0)} \frac{f(1+x, 1+y, 1+z) -f(1, 1,1) -L(x, y, z) }{\sqrt{x^2+y^2+z^2}}=0$$ Then find the value of $L(1, 2,4)$ I…
Nope
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When can a double integral be interpreted as a surface area?

Let $D$ be a closed, bounded domain in $\mathbb R^2$ and let $\vec r(u,v) = \langle x(u,v), y(u,v), z(u,v) \rangle$ for $(u, v) \in D$ be a parametrization of a smooth surface $S \subseteq \mathbb R^3$. Then the area of $S$ is $$\iint_D \| \vec r_u…
mweiss
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What is the meaning of the slope of the tangent line at a point to a parametrically defined curve that is not smooth at that point?

Suppose you have a parametric curve $r(t) = (x(t),y(t))$. From my understanding, we typically require a smoothness condition that its derivative is not equal to the zero vector for all $t$ in $r(t)$'s domain. Suppose we ignore that condition.…
JessicaK
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Parameterize a closed surface.

We are told to find a tangent plane of the surface $$x^2 +2y^2+3z^2=36$$ at the point $(1,2,3)$. Is it possible to parameterize this surface in 2 variables, perhaps with a spherical or cylindrical coordinate system? I attempted to solve it by…
zak zaki
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