Is This the Correct Approach to Solving Laplace's Equation?

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    Laplace's equation
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Homework Statement



Determine whether each of the following functions is a solution of Laplace’s
equation uxx + uyy = 0.

x^3 + 3xy^2

ux=3x^2

uxx=6x

uy=6xy^2

uyy=6x

6x+6x=12x and is therefore not a solution

Did I do that right? I'm just learning about this topic and it's a little hard to understand. Can anyone give any advice as to if I approached this correctly?

 
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while your result is correct, your steps are not written down correctly.
 
Your derivatives are wrong. The procedure is correct, but your partial derivatives are wrong.

You have: f(x,y)=x^3+3xy^2
Then, the derivative with respect to x is:
f_x(x,y)=3x^2+3y^2

Everything else is okey. The result you found is fine because when you take the second derivative with respect to x the term involving y vanishes.
 
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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