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    Partials

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    Peeran Ditta
    Partial derivatives are similar to total derivatives but are used when differentiating functions with more than one variable. When taking a partial derivative, one variable is treated as a constant while differentiating with respect to the other. For a function f(x,y)=x^2y^3, the partial derivative with respect to x is 2xy^3 and the partial derivative with respect to y is 3x^2y^2. Notations for partial derivatives include ∂f/∂x and fx(x,y). Examples show calculating partial derivatives and using the chain rule for functions like f(x,y)=e^(xy).

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    Partials

    Uploaded by

    Peeran Ditta
    103 views2 pages
    Partial derivatives are similar to total derivatives but are used when differentiating functions with more than one variable. When taking a partial derivative, one variable is treated as a constant while differentiating with respect to the other. For a function f(x,y)=x^2y^3, the partial derivative with respect to x is 2xy^3 and the partial derivative with respect to y is 3x^2y^2. Notations for partial derivatives include ∂f/∂x and fx(x,y). Examples show calculating partial derivatives and using the chain rule for functions like f(x,y)=e^(xy).

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    Partial derivatives are similar to total derivatives but are used when differentiating functions with more than one variable. When taking a partial derivative, one variable is treated as a constant while differentiating with respect to the other. For a function f(x,y)=x^2y^3, the partial derivative with respect to x is 2xy^3 and the partial derivative with respect to y is 3x^2y^2. Notations for partial derivatives include ∂f/∂x and fx(x,y). Examples show calculating partial derivatives and using the chain rule for functions like f(x,y)=e^(xy).

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    103 views2 pages

    Partials

    Uploaded by

    Peeran Ditta
    Partial derivatives are similar to total derivatives but are used when differentiating functions with more than one variable. When taking a partial derivative, one variable is treated as a constant while differentiating with respect to the other. For a function f(x,y)=x^2y^3, the partial derivative with respect to x is 2xy^3 and the partial derivative with respect to y is 3x^2y^2. Notations for partial derivatives include ∂f/∂x and fx(x,y). Examples show calculating partial derivatives and using the chain rule for functions like f(x,y)=e^(xy).

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    Partial Derivatives - Notation and examples

    “Total” derivatives are what one learns about in an introductory calculus


    course. For instance
    d ³ 2 ´
    x + sin(x) = 2x + cos(x)
    dx
    Alternately if one defines the function f (x) = x2 + sin(x) the same
    calculation can be written with the following equivalent notations:
    df
    = f 0 (x) = 2x + cos(x)
    dx
    “Partial” derivatives are very similar. Typically one takes a partial deriva-
    tive of a function of two or more variables. Since these functions contain
    more than one variable, one must stipulate which variable one is differ-
    entiating with respect to. As a template example consider the function
    f (x, y) = x2 y 3
    The partial derivative of f in x is found by differentiating f in x treating
    y as a constant. So for example,
    ∂f
    = 2xy 3
    ∂x
    Similarly, the partial derivative of f in y is found by differentiating f in
    y treating x as a constant. Thus,
    ∂f
    = 3x2 y 2
    ∂y
    Note from this example that ∂f
    ∂x
    and ∂f∂y
    can be different! Also, the “d” in
    d
    dx
    has been replaced with the “partial” sign ∂. This is done so one can
    distinguish between the regular total derivative and the partial derivative.
    As with total derivatives, different notations are used. The following
    notations are equivalent:
    ∂f
    = fx (x, y) = Dx f (x, y)
    ∂x
    Likewise for partial derivatives in y we have
    ∂f
    = fy (x, y) = Dy f (x, y)
    ∂y
    Now for some examples.

    1
    Example 1 Let f (x, y) = x3 sin(y) + y 2 . Then
    ∂f ∂f
    = 3x2 sin(y) , = x3 cos(y) + 2y
    ∂x ∂y
    ∂
    Note, in particular, ∂x (y 2 ) = 0 since y is being treated as a constant!!
    Alternate notations would be
    fx (x, y) = 3x2 sin(y) , fy (x, y) = x3 cos(y) + 2y
    y
    Example 2 Let f (x, y) = x2 +1
    = y(x2 + 1)−1 . Then

    ∂f 2xy ∂f 1
    =− 2 , = 2
    ∂x (x + 1)2 ∂y x +1
    2
    Example 3 Here’s an example using the chain rule: Let f (x, y) = e xy .
    Then
    ∂f ∂u 2 ∂ ³ 2´ 2
    = eu = exy · xy = y 2 exy
    ∂x ∂x ∂x
    In a similar fashion
    ∂f ∂u 2 ∂ ³ 2´ 2
    = eu = exy · xy = 2xyexy
    ∂y ∂y ∂y

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