Math 22 Partial Derivatives

Partial Derivatives of a Function of Two Variables

 If $z=f(x,y)$, then the first partial derivatives of  with respect to $x$ and $y$ are the functions ${\frac {\partial z}{\partial x}}$ and ${\frac {\partial z}{\partial x}}$, defined as shown.
 
 ${\frac {\partial z}{\partial x}}=\lim _{\Delta x\to 0}{\frac {f(x+\Delta x,y)-f(x,y)}{\Delta x}}$
 
 ${\frac {\partial z}{\partial y}}=\lim _{\Delta y\to 0}{\frac {f(x,y+\Delta y)-f(x,y)}{\Delta y}}$
 
 We can denote ${\frac {\partial z}{\partial x}}$ as $f_{x}(x,y)$ and ${\frac {\partial z}{\partial y}}$ as $f_{y}(x,y)$

Example: Find ${\frac {\partial z}{\partial x}}$ and ${\frac {\partial z}{\partial y}}$ of:

1) $z=f(x,y)=2x^{2}-4xy$

Solution:
${\frac {\partial z}{\partial x}}=4x^{2}-4y$
${\frac {\partial z}{\partial y}}=-4x$

2) $z=f(x,y)=x^{2}y^{3}$

Solution:
${\frac {\partial z}{\partial x}}=2xy^{3}$
${\frac {\partial z}{\partial y}}=3x^{2}y^{2}$

3) $z=f(x,y)=x^{2}e^{x^{2}y}$

Solution:
${\frac {\partial z}{\partial x}}=2xe^{x^{2}y}+x^{2}e^{x^{2}y}2xy$ (product rule +chain rule)
${\frac {\partial z}{\partial y}}=x^{2}e^{x^{2}y}(x^{2})=x^{4}e^{x^{2}y}$

Higher-Order Partial Derivatives

1. ${\frac {\partial }{\partial x}}({\frac {\partial f}{\partial x}})={\frac {\partial ^{2}f}{\partial x^{2}}}=f_{xx}$

2. ${\frac {\partial }{\partial y}}({\frac {\partial f}{\partial y}})={\frac {\partial ^{2}f}{\partial y^{2}}}=f_{yy}$

3. ${\frac {\partial }{\partial y}}({\frac {\partial f}{\partial x}})={\frac {\partial ^{2}f}{\partial y\partial x}}=f_{xy}$

4. ${\frac {\partial }{\partial x}}({\frac {\partial f}{\partial y}})={\frac {\partial ^{2}f}{\partial x\partial y}}=f_{yx}$

1) $f(x,y)=2x^{2}-4xy$, find $f_{xy}$

Solution:
$f_{x}=4x-4y$
Then, Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f_{xy}=-4}

2) Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle z=f(x,y)=3xy^2-2y+5x^2y^2} , find Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f_{yx}}

Solution:
Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f_y=6xy-2+10x^2y}
Then, Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f_{yx}=6y+20xy}

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