Finding the Directional derivative

teng125
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Find the directional derivative of f (x, y) = 5−x2−2y2 at P (-1, -1).
anybody pls help as i don't know how to find the direction from this ques so , i can't find the directional derivative


pls help
thanx
 
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Your question seems to be incomplete; please provide the complete question as it is given in the book. The directional derivative is the rate at which a function changes at some point in a particular direction.
 
neutrino said:
The directional derivative is the rate at which a function changes at some point in a particular direction.

anybody pls help as i don't know how to find the direction from this ques so

I think that's what he's trying to figure out.

If you have absolutely no clue what direction it's in, I would guess that it's in the direction of the vector from the origin to P. Not for any particular reason, but because it's a better guess than anything else :confused:
 
One more time: the problem as stated makes no sense. teng125, please state the entire problem as given in your textbook.
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...

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