Final answer:
The student is seeking the partial derivative with respect to y of the function f(x, y) evaluated at the point (2, 1/4). The derivative can be found using the chain rule and evaluating the expression at the given point.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asking for the partial derivative with respect to y of the function f(x, y) = y sin⁻¹(xy) evaluated at the point (2, 1/4). To find this, we first need to compute the partial derivative of f with respect to y, fy, and then substitute the given values of x and y into the resulting expression.
To compute fy, we apply the chain rule. Let u = xy. Then the partial derivative of f with respect to y is given by:
fy = sin⁻¹(u) + y * (d/dy)sin⁻¹(u)
Since u = xy, we have du/dy = x. And the derivative of sin⁻¹(u) with respect to u is 1/√(1-u²). Therefore,
fy = sin⁻¹(xy) + y * (x/√(1-(xy)²)).
Now, substituting x = 2 and y = 1/4 we get:
fy(2, 1/4) = sin⁻¹(1/2) + (1/4) * (2/√(1-(1/2)²))
This is the value of the partial derivative of f with respect to y at the point (2, 1/4).