Homework Help: Does dx/dy = 1/(dy/dx) ?

1. Jul 8, 2011

I was logged out when trying to post and lost everything

Without the background of the question cause I've lost all the equations and everything, i just needed to know if dx/dy = 1/(dy/dx)

2. Jul 8, 2011

Pengwuino

Yes for the most part. There are some basic stipulations I believe, but I'll let the mathematicians point that out.

3. Jul 8, 2011

Dick

Sure, it's true.

4. Jul 8, 2011

The problem:
Youre given

Then it says:

My solution:

First type:

Second type:

It seems to easy to be right.. Though it's part of a worded problem so I could be missing something

Last edited: Jul 8, 2011
5. Jul 8, 2011

Dick

That basically looks ok to me. Is replacing alpha with c in the second part just a typo?

6. Jul 8, 2011

Yeah, well I used wolfram to input my answers so it's readable and didn't have that symbol handy. It's the symbol for proportion right?

7. Jul 8, 2011

Dick

From what you said in defining dV/dt, it doesn't look like they mean it's 'proportional to'. They are just saying dV/dt is equal to -alpha*(h+R) where alpha is a constant. Not the 'proportional to' symbol. You could simplify (h+R)/(R^2-h^2) a bit.

8. Jul 9, 2011