# Get variables number in Symbolics

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/get-variables-number-in-symbolics/87739>\
**Category:** Modelling & Simulations\
**Tags:** modelingtoolkit, symbolics\
**Created:** [September 24, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/get-variables-number-in-symbolics/87739 "2022-09-24T11:23:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![qwerty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@qwerty](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/qwerty)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/get-variables-number-in-symbolics/87739/1 "2022-09-24T11:23:08Z")

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Symbolics/ModelingToolkit  
How do I know the number of independent variables and their names in an equation or expression?

```julia
@variables x u(x)
get_variables(u+x+cos(x)) # [x, y(x)] but I want only x
get_variables(0 ~ x^2 + y - 3) # [x, y(x)]

```

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**Author:** ![ChrisRackauckas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/chrisrackauckas/32/77_2.png) [@ChrisRackauckas](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ChrisRackauckas)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/get-variables-number-in-symbolics/87739/2 "2022-09-24T13:57:30Z")

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Open an issue. I don’t think there is a built-in for this.