Hard Partial Derivatives question

steve0606
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Homework Statement


Taking k and ω to be constant, ∂z/∂θ and ∂z/∂ф in terms of x and t for the following function
z = cos(kx-ωt), where θ=t2-x and ф = x2+t.


Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution


I'm finding this difficult as t and x are not stated explicitly. I know how to do the chain rule with partial differentiation.
 
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Then where did you get this problem? The chain rule for more than one variable is given in any Calculus text.

\frac{\partial f}{\partial \theta}= \frac{\partial f}{\partial x}\frac{\partial x}{\partial \theta}+ \frac{\partial f}{\partial t}\frac{\partial t}{\partial \theta}

\frac{\partial f}{\partial \phi}= \frac{\partial f}{\partial x}\frac{\partial x}{\partial \phi}+ \frac{\partial f}{\partial t}\frac{\partial t}{\partial \phi}
 
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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