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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A multivariate function which is $C^1$ in each variable

Let $U$ be an open subset of $\mathbb{R}^n$. Let $f\colon U \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a function. Suppose the partial derivative $f_{x_i}$ exists and it is continuous on $U$ for $i = 1, \dots, n$. Is $f$ continuous?
Makoto Kato
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Calculate volume of area enclosed by the surface $\sqrt[3]{x^2}+\sqrt[3]{y^2}+\sqrt[3]{z^2}=\sqrt[3]{a^2}$.

Calculate the volume of the area enclosed by the surface \begin{equation} x^{(2/3)}+y^{(2/3)}+z^{(2/3)} = a^{(2/3)} \end{equation} where $a > 0$ is a constant. However I'm not sure where to begin.
user421927
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Arc length integral for the curve $e^{2x+2y}=x-y$.

Arc length integral for the curve $$e^{2x+2y}=x-y$$ So I tried isolating $y$ or $x$ and got stuck with a $0 = 0$ at the end of it. I tried to also use partial derivatives. Am I going in the right direction?
Ted Kumagai
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Triple integral x^2 over an ellipsoid

I'm having difficulties with an excercise, and having trouble finding resources on the internet that would help me tackle the problem. The exercise: Calculate $$\iiint x^2\ dV$$ over the ellipsoid…
asdfJoe
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Why $\frac{\partial x}{\partial r} \ne\frac{1}{\frac{\partial r}{\partial x}} $?

In case of an implicit function $f(x,y)=0$, $ \frac{dy}{dx}= \frac{1}{\frac{dx}{dy}}$ , but if $f(x,y)=0 $ such that $ x=g(r,\theta) $ and $y=h(r,\theta)$ then why $\frac{\partial x}{\partial r} \ne\frac{1}{\frac{\partial r}{\partial x}} $ ? I am…
akr
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Line Integral set up

Integrate r = $\sqrt{x^2+y^2}$ from (0,0) to (1,1) along the path (0,0) => (1,0) => (1,1) My professor tells me to let $dr = dxi +dyj$ where $i $ and $j$ are the standard unit vectors. I don't really see how this is possible with a scalar function.…
Cactus BAMF
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Finding the Tangent Line to a Surface

What is the equation of the tangent line to the intersection of the surface $z = \arctan (xy)$ with the plane $x=2$, at the point $(2,\frac{1}{2}, \frac{\pi}{4})$ The intersection of $x=2$ and $z= \arctan (xy)$ produces the curve $z = \arctan…
user193319
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Problem in understanding chain rule.

The chain rule for total derivative Assume that $g : \mathbb R^n \longrightarrow \mathbb R^m$ is differentiable at $a \in \mathbb R^n$, with total derivative $Df(a)$ and let $b = g(a)$ and assume that $f : \mathbb R^m \longrightarrow \mathbb R^p$…
user251057
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Finding critical points of f(x,y)

Find the critical point of $$ f(x,y) = 3x^3 + 3y^3 + x^3y^3 $$ To do this, I know that I need to set $$f_y = 0, f_x = 0 $$ So $$f_x= 9x^2 + 3x^2y^3$$ $$f_y = 9y^2 + 3y^2x^3$$ Then you solve for x, but substituting these two equations into each…
40pro
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Finding the anti Gradient?

I have this question that says $f(x,y,z)$ such that $\nabla f(x,y,z) = <2xy,2yz+x^2,y^2>$ The way I see this is that they are asking for what can you take the partial derivative of with respect $x y$ and $z$ so that you get that $\nabla…
Zrot25
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Slope of curve of intersection with surface and plane x = 2

Let $f(x, y) = x^{2} + y^{2}$. I want to find the slope of the curve of intersection between the surface $f(x, y) = z$ and the plane $x = 2$. I also want to find a direction vector of the tangent line at the point $(2, 0, 4)$. Is the slope just…
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Finding minimum and maximum of a function inside a triangle

I have an assignment I will hand in for grading. First part I want to see if I have understood the consept correctly. Determine max and min of $f(x,y)=xy $ on the triangle T with the corners $(0, 0), (0, 1)\:and\:(1, 0)$ I derived and got a critical…
user42875
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What points on surface is the tangent plane parallel to $xy$- plane?

At what pts. on the surface $z = x^{2}y + y^{2}x + 3x$ is the tangent plane parallel to the $xy$-plane? So first I define a function $F(x, y, z) = x^{2}y + y^{2}x + 3x - z$ which has gradient $grad F = (2xy + y^2 + 3, x^{2} + 2yx, -1)$. So the…
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If $\int_{R^2} f(x,y)dxdy$ exists, must $\int_R f(a,y)dy$ exist?

Let $f$ be a smooth real function on $R^2$ such that $$\int_{R^2} f dxdy$$ exists. Let $a\in R$. Must $\int_R f(a,y) dy$ exist? I believe this is true, but I don't know how to prove it.
JSCB
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Let $f(x,y)=x+y^2$ and $P = (1,1)$. Find a unit vector $u$ such that the directional derivative $D_uf(x,y)$ is zero.

Let $f(x,y)=x+y^2$ and $P = (1,1)$. Find a unit vector $u$ such that the directional derivative $D_uf(x,y)$ is zero. $$ \nabla{f(x,y)} = \left\langle1, 2y\right\rangle\\ \nabla{f(1,1)} = \left\langle11, 2\right\rangle\\ D_uf(1,1) =…