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
2
votes
1 answer

how to classify $x^2-4xy- 2xz+z^2=1$?

What surface is $x^2-4xy-2xz+z^2=1$? I just convert the equation to $(x-2y)^2+(x-z)^2=1+x^2+4y^2$ and $2(x-y)^2+(x-z)^2 = 1+2x^2+2y^2$. What is standard method to solve this kind of problem?
Runze Li
  • 95
  • 5
2
votes
2 answers

Differentiating a function of functions

If I have the function $ h \equiv h(f(x,t),g(x,t))$, where $x$ and $t$ are independent variables and $f$ and $g$ are functions of $x$ and $t$. Then is, $$\frac{\mathrm{d}h }{\mathrm{d} t} = h\left(\frac{\mathrm{d}f }{\mathrm{d} t},g \right) +…
Matrix23
  • 272
2
votes
1 answer

if $f$ with continuous partial derivatives at $(x_0,y_0)$. Then there exists a unit vector $\vec{u}$ which $D_\vec{u} (f)(x_0,y_0)=0$

Prove or disprove: let $f$ be a function with continuous partial derivatives at $(x_0,y_0)$. Then there exists a unit vector $\vec{u}$ for which $D_\vec{u} (f)(x_0,y_0)=0$ It feels like it's not true, but I'm new to this material and don't really…
sheldonzy
  • 667
2
votes
0 answers

Show that the taylor series for any multi-variate polynomial is itself

I'm trying to show the statement in the title is true for Taylor series centered at any point $\textbf{a}$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$. It's easy for me to show this for when $\textbf{a}=\vec{0}$ using the fact that the multivariate Taylor expansion for a…
lucusk
  • 51
2
votes
0 answers

checking if a 2-dimensional function is differentiable

Let $f:\mathbb{R}^2 \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ and $g: \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be continously differentiable. Is then $h:\mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ with $h(x)=f(x,g(x))$ differentiable? Well untill know I didn't find a…
Thesinus
  • 1,222
2
votes
4 answers

Determine if $\lim_{(x,y)\to(0,0)} \frac{x^3y^4}{(x^4 + y^2)^2}$ exist

What I tried: Let $$\ f(x,y) = \frac{x^3y^4}{(x^4 + y^2)^2}$$ For points of the form$\ (x,0)$ then $\ f(x,0)=0$, similarly, for$\ (0,y)$ then $\ f(0,y)=0$, so lets suppose that: $$\lim_{(x,y)\to(0,0)} \frac{x^3y^4}{(x^4 + y^2)^2} =0$$ So, for$\ ε>0$…
2
votes
1 answer

Why are this function's second partial derivatives not continuous?

so we know that for a function's mixed partial derivatives to be symmetrical we need their second partial derivatives to be continuous. In this example f(x,y) = \begin{array}{l l} \dfrac{xy(x^2-y^2)}{x^2+y^2} & \quad \text{for $(x,y) \neq…
Valus001
  • 185
2
votes
3 answers

Find extremas of $f(x,y) = xy \ln(x^2+y^2), x>0, y>0$

As the title says I need to find extreme values(maximum and minimum) of $$f(x,y) = xy \ln(x^2+y^2), x>0, y>0$$ I don't understand how to find critical points of this problem. I start with finding partial derivative and set derivatives equal to zero.…
Adnan Selimovic
  • 133
  • 1
  • 12
2
votes
3 answers

Show $ \int_0^1 \int_0^1 \log \left| x-y\right|\,dx\,dy>-\infty.$

I'm struggling to show that $ \int_0^1 \int_0^1 \log \left| x-y\right|\,dx\,dy >-\infty$ which means that $f(x,y):=\log| x-y|$ is in $L^1([0,1]^2,\lambda\otimes \lambda)$. The part "$<+\infty$" is not difficult. The lower bound $1-\frac{1}{u} \leq…
anonymus
  • 1,408
2
votes
2 answers

Question about total derivative

If $z=f(x,y)$, then total derivative is $\mathrm{d}z=\frac{\partial f}{\partial x}\mathrm{d}x+\frac{\partial f}{\partial y}\mathrm{d}y$. If $\mathrm{d} z=0$, how do you show that $z$ is a constant?
2
votes
1 answer

Chain rule computation, need verification

Let $z=xy^2, dx/dt=\frac{1}{\sqrt{4+t^3}}, dy/dt=e^t\sqrt{4+t}, x(0)=5, y(0)=2$. I want to determine $dz/dt$ when $t=0$. My computation is that $dz/dx=y^2$ and $dz/dy=2xy$, so therefore $$dz/dt=y^2\cdot \frac{1}{\sqrt{4+t^3}} + 2xy\cdot…
2
votes
2 answers

Find an upperbound for the rational function

I know $$\lim_{(x, y)\to (0,0)} \frac{x^3 + y^4}{x^2 + y^2} = 0$$ so $$\left\lvert \frac{x^3 + y^4}{x^2 + y^2} \right\rvert \le f(x, y)$$ for some simpler $f(x, y)$ whose limit is also $0$. How do I find the function $f(x, y)$? In other words,…
2
votes
1 answer

Exact vs Total differential

I'm not sure I understand the difference between the two. Is it correct to claim that a total differential is always exact but not vice versa? Thanks
GoingWeb
  • 115
2
votes
2 answers

Find all points where the function is differentiable and calculate its derivative

I need help with this: I need to find all points where this function is differentiable: $f:\mathbb{R}^{3}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}, \begin{pmatrix}x\\ y\\ z\end{pmatrix} \mapsto e^x \sin (z) + z \cos\bigl( \sqrt{x^2 + y^2 +1}\,\bigr).$ After that I…
wolfffi
  • 29
2
votes
1 answer

'Definition' of the Lagrange multipliers

I do not fully understand the 'definition' of the Lagrange multipliers. I do understand that a maximum occurs when the constraint and the objective function are tangent to eachother. However, I do not understand why this implies that the…
dreamer
  • 3,379