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 $$\iint_S f(x,y) = \int^b_a\int^d_c f(x,y) \mathrm{d}y \mathrm{d}x$$

35850 questions
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Saddle points - Show that surface $z = y \sin x$ has infinitely many saddle points.

Show that surface $z = y \sin x$ has infinitely many saddle points. Can someone show me the step-by-step solution for that statement? Detailed explanations will be appreciated. Thank you very much!
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Geometric intuition behind curl of vector field

If F = P i + Q j + R k is a vector field on $\mathbb{R}^{3}$, then the curl of F is defined by $$\operatorname{Curl}(F) = \nabla \times F$$ where $\nabla$ is the differential operator. Is there a geometric intuition behind the curl of a vector…
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Finding range and inverse of $f(x,y) := (x\sqrt{y},y\sqrt{x})$

Consider the function $f: (0,\infty)\times (0,\infty) \to \mathbb{R}^2$ defined by $$f(x,y) := (x\sqrt{y},y\sqrt{x})$$ I know that in general it is hard to tell if $f$ is injective or not and to determine the image of $f$. So I started calculating a…
TheGeekGreek
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How to calculate $\lim_{\varepsilon\rightarrow 1}\int_0^\varepsilon \int_0^z \int_0^y\frac 1 {1-x^3} \, dx \, dy \, dz$?

How to calculate the integral: $$\lim_{\varepsilon\rightarrow 1}\int_0^\varepsilon \int_0^z \int_0^y\frac 1 {1-x^3} \, dx \, dy \, dz\quad?$$ One solution is about infinite series, but I don't fully understand that solution. Any other…
John
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Area of plane inside cylinder; problem with parametrization of plane

I'm being asked to find the surface area of a plane defined by $x+y+z=a$ inside a cylinder defined by $x^2+y^2=a^2$ and I thought, "simple enough, I'll just use the normal vector and integrate its norm over a polar domain with $0\leq r\leq a$ and…
user401936
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Product rule of Curl

I know how to do a to d. For e, i let $\phi = \frac{1}{|r|^3}$ and $A = a \times r$, tried to simplify but did not reach the answer. Anything can help. THank you
Xstuds
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Find the minimum and maximum of the following function: $f(x,y) = x^2+y^2-x+1/4$

I've been asked to find the minimum and maximum of the following function: $f(x,y) = x^2+y^2-x+1/4$ On the region or restriction defined as: $D$={${(x,y)\in\mathbb{R}^2:x^2+y^2\leq1; x+y\leq0}$} First, I observed that $f$ is continuos, and after I…
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Find flux through a sphere

Find flux of $ \vec{F} =<0,0,z>$ through the sphere of radius $a$ centered at the origin. Using Gauss Divergence Theorem $$ \nabla \cdot \vec{F} = 1 \\ \therefore \int_S \vec{F}\cdot \hat{n} ~dS= \iiint_R 1 ~dV =\frac{4}{3}\pi a^3 $$ Calculating…
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Determine differentiability of $f(x,y)=\frac{x^3y}{x^4+y^2}, f(0,0)=0$ at the origin

I want to determine the differentiability of the following function at the origin $(0,0)$: \begin{equation} f(x,y)=\begin{cases} \frac{x^3y}{x^4+y^2} & x \neq 0, y\neq 0 \\ 0, & x=y=0\end{cases} \end{equation} I proved that the partial derivatives…
Lumon
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Evaluate $\lim_{n\to \infty}\{(1+\frac{2}{n})^n,(\sqrt{\frac{n+1}{4n-1}})\}$

$$\lim_{n\to \infty}\left\{\left(1+\frac{2}{n}\right)^n,\;\sqrt{\frac{n+1}{4n-1}}\right\}$$ $$\lim_{n\to \infty}\left(1+\frac{2}{n}\right)^n=\lim_{n\to \infty}\left(1+\frac{2}{n}\right)^{\frac{n}{2}\cdot 2}$$ $m=\frac{n}{2}$ $$\lim_{n\to…
gbox
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Difficult Calculus(?) problem

For the function $f(x)$, find the constant n where $f(x)$ has a maximum at $(n,1)$$$f(x)=\frac{x^{n-x}}{(n-x)!}$$ It is roughly $0.561459...$, but this is through numerical guess and check work. I'm fairly confident that the solution will be some…
Jacob Claassen
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Determining if a limit does not exist.

I am having trouble determining if the limit defined below exists. I do not believe it does, but I am not sure how to find 2 paths where the limits differ. I've tried $f(x, mx)$, $f(my, y)$, $f(x, mx^2)$, but nothing really seems to work. Show that…
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If $u = f(x,y)$, where $x=e^s \cos t$ and $y = e^s \sin t$, calculate $\frac{\partial^2u}{\partial x^2} + \frac{\partial^2u}{\partial y^2}$

If $ u = f(x,y)$, where $x=e^s \cos t$ and $y = e^s \sin t$, show that $$ \frac{\partial ^2u}{\partial x^2} + \frac{\partial ^2u}{\partial y^2}= e^{-2s}\left[\frac{\partial ^2 u}{\partial s^2}+ \frac{\partial ^2 u}{\partial…
melyong
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What do the eigenvectors of the Hessian matrix actually represent?

It is known in multivariate calculus that, at a critical point $p_c = (x_{1c}, x_{2c}, ... , x_{nc})$ of the function $f(x_1, x_2, ... , x_n)$, if the Hessian is positive definite we have a local minimum and if it is negative definite we have a…
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Vector magnitude subtraction

Please help! This was in a textbook and I cannot seem to make sense of it. Would it not be 2? The two vectors a and b are perpendicular. If a has magnitude 8 and b has magnitude 3, what is |a−2b|?? I
Chloe N
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