Function Composition Homework: Derivatives of z w.r.t x, y

Ikastun
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Homework Statement



Be z=F(u,v,w), u=f(x,y), v=e-αx, w=ln y, get the expression \partialz/\partialx, \partialz/\partialy.

Homework Equations



Chain rule.

The Attempt at a Solution



\partialz/\partialx=\partialz/\partialv*dv/dx=-α e-αx

\partialz/\partialy=\partialz/\partialw*dw/dy=1/y
 
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When calculating \frac{\partial z}{\partial x},you should consider all variables that depend on x not only v!
 
Thank you. What about the following expression: ∂z/∂x=∂z/∂u*∂u/∂x+∂z/∂v*dv/dx?. Same to ∂z/∂y with w.
 
Ikastun said:
Thank you. What about the following expression: ∂z/∂x=∂z/∂u*∂u/∂x+∂z/∂v*dv/dx?.
Looks good. You even picked up on the fact that dv/dx is a regular (not partial) derivative.
Ikastun said:
Same to ∂z/∂y with w.
What did you get?
 
∂z/∂y=∂z/∂u*∂u/∂y+∂z/∂w*dw/dy.
 
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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