Why Does an Extra Factor Appear in My Calculus Chain Rule Proof?

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Homework Statement
See description
Relevant Equations
Chain Rule
Printed problem 5: let z = f(x, y) with x = r cos θ, y = r sin θ. Part (a) asks to show (∂z/∂x)² + (∂z/∂y)² = (∂z/∂r)² + (1/r²)(∂z/∂θ)². Part (b) asks to show ∂²z/∂x² + ∂²z/∂y² = ∂²z/∂r² + (1/r²)∂²z/∂θ² + (1/r)∂z/∂r.


Part (a) is fine. I have attached my work for this here anyway because I use the first two lines of (a) in my proof of (b). In part (b), I get the extra factor of ##\frac{1}{r} \frac{\partial z}{\partial r}## and I don't know why. Can anyone help? I am unable to figure out the flaw in my steps :(

Handwritten derivation applying the chain rule to z(x,y) with x = r cos θ and y = r sin θ, showing dz/dr and dz/dθ expressions and the squared-sum expansion toward (∂z/∂x)² + (∂z/∂y)².


Handwritten derivation on lined paper using the chain rule to convert partial derivatives from polar to Cartesian coordinates, ending with the line ∂²z/∂r² + (1/r)∂z/∂r + (1/r²)∂²z/∂θ² = ∂²z/∂x² + ∂²z/∂y² + (1/r)∂z/∂r, with the last term circled and annotated 'why??'.
 
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Please learn LaTeX and post equations using that format. Check out the handy guide at the bottom left of this post.
 
renormalize said:
Please learn LaTeX and post equations using that format. Check out the handy guide at the bottom left of this post.
ok
Handwritten-style typeset derivation labelled (a) showing the chain rule for polar coordinates: dz/dr and dz/dθ in terms of dz/dx and dz/dy, then expanding the squared terms and simplifying to (dz/dx)^2 + (dz/dy)^2.

Handwritten-style typeset derivation converting the Laplacian from Cartesian to polar coordinates via the chain rule, ending with the line asking why the 1/r term does not cancel.
 
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Sorry, I don't see any difference between the problem-statement equation (top box) and your derived equation (bottom boxes):
Handwritten-style typeset derivation of polar-coordinate chain rule: part (b) identity d2z/dx2 + d2z/dy2 = d2z/dr2 + (1/r)dz/dr + (1/r2)d2z/dtheta2 in a red box, followed by the expanded line and the simplified result d2z/dx2 + d2z/dy2 in a red box.
 
renormalize said:
Sorry, I don't see any difference between the problem-statement equation (top box) and your derived equation (bottom boxes):
View attachment 354357
my bad I have edited #3
 
laser1 said:
my bad I have edited #3
The partial derivative of ##z## wrt ##x## is a function of both ##x## and ##y##. The second order derivative of ##z## wrt ##r## should have terms like ##\frac{\partial^2 z}{\partial x \partial y}##.

Try ##f(x,y) = xy## as an example to check your working.
 
That said, the cross terms cancel. But, you are also missing the terms arising from the product rule when taking the second derivative wrt ##\theta##.
 
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PeroK said:
That said, the cross terms cancel. But, you are also missing the terms arising from the product rule when taking the second derivative wrt ##\theta##.
Good catch, it all works out now, thanks!