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MTH4100 Calculus I: Lecture Notes For Week 8 Thomas' Calculus, Sections 4.1 To 4.4

This document provides lecture notes on calculus topics covered in Week 8, including: 1) The First Derivative Test and using the first derivative to find local extrema. 2) Rolle's Theorem and the Mean Value Theorem, which relate the derivative of a function to its behavior over an interval. 3) Using the first and second derivatives to determine whether a function is increasing/decreasing and convex/concave on an interval, and to sketch the graph of a function.

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52 views11 pages

MTH4100 Calculus I: Lecture Notes For Week 8 Thomas' Calculus, Sections 4.1 To 4.4

This document provides lecture notes on calculus topics covered in Week 8, including: 1) The First Derivative Test and using the first derivative to find local extrema. 2) Rolle's Theorem and the Mean Value Theorem, which relate the derivative of a function to its behavior over an interval. 3) Using the first and second derivatives to determine whether a function is increasing/decreasing and convex/concave on an interval, and to sketch the graph of a function.

Uploaded by

Roy Vesey
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MTH4100 Calculus I

Lecture notes for Week 8

Thomas’ Calculus, Sections 4.1 to 4.4

Rainer Klages

School of Mathematical Sciences


Queen Mary University of London

Autumn 2009
Theorem 1 (First Derivative Theorem for Local Extrema) If f has a local maxi-
mum or minimum value at an interior point c of its domain, and if f ′ is defined at c, then
f ′ (c) = 0.
basic idea of the proof:

note: the converse is false! (counterexample?)


Where can a function f possibly have an extreme value according to this theorem?

answer:
1. at interior points where f ′ = 0
2. at interior points where f ′ is not defined
3. at endpoints of the domain of f .

combine 1 and 2:

Why the above assumptions? Because then we have the extreme value theorem, which en-
sures the existence of such values!
3

examples: (1) Find the absolute extrema of f (x) = x2 on [−1, 1].


• f is differentiable on [−1, 1] with f ′ (x) = 2x
• critical point: f ′ (x) = 0 ⇒ x=0
• endpoints: x = −1 and x = 1
• f (0) = 0, f (−1) = 1, f (1) = 1
Therefore f has an absolute maximum value of 1 twice at x = −1 and an absolute minimum
value of 0 once at x = 0.

(2) Find the absolute extrema of f (x) = x2/3 on [−2, 3].


• f is differentiable with f ′ (x) = 23 x−1/3 except at x = 0
• critical point: f ′ (x) = 0 or f ′ (x) undefined ⇒ x=0
• endpoints: x = −2 and x = 3
√ √
• f (−2) = 3 4, f (0) = 0, f (3) = 3 9
√
3
Therefore f has an absolute maximum value of 9 at x = 3 and an absolute minimum value
of 0 at x = 0.

Rolle’s theorem

motivation:
4

Theorem 2 Let f (x) be continuous on [a, b] and differentiable on (a, b). If f (a) = f (b)
then there exists a c ∈ (a, b) with f ′ (c) = 0.
basic idea of the proof:
Apply extreme value theorem and first derivative theorem for extrema to interior points and
consider endpoints separately; for details see the textbook Section 4.2.

note: It is essential that all of the hypotheses in the theorem are fulfilled!

examples:

x3
example: Apply Rolle’s theorem to f (x) = 3
− 3x on [−3, 3].

• The polynomial f is continuous on [−3, 3] and differentiable on (−3, 3).

• f (−3) = f (3) = 0

• By Rolle’s theorem there exists (at least!) one c ∈ [−3, 3] with f ′ (c) = 0.
√
From f ′ (x) = x2 − 3 = 0 we find that indeed x = ± 3.

The Mean Value Theorem

motivation: “slanted version of Rolle’s theorem”


5

Theorem 3 (Mean Value Theorem) Let f (x) be continuous on [a, b] and differentiable
on (a, b). Then there exists a c ∈ (a, b) with
f (b) − f (a)
f ′ (c) = .
b−a
basic idea of the proof:

Define g(x) and h(x) and apply Rolle’s theorem.

example: Consider f (x) = x2 on [0, 2].

• f (x) is continuous and differentiable on [0, 2].


f (2) − f (0)
• Therefore there is a c ∈ (0, 2) with f ′ (c) = = 2.
2−0
• Since f ′ (x) = 2x we find that c = 1.
6

Know f ′ (x) ⇒ know f (x)? special case:


Corollary 1 (Functions with zero derivatives are constant) If f ′ (x) = 0 on (a, b)
then f (x) = C for all x ∈ (a, b).
basic idea of the proof:
Apply the Mean Value Theorem to all x1 , x2 ∈ (a, b)!

Know f ′ (x) = g ′ (x) ⇒ know relation between f and g?


Corollary 2 (Functions with the same derivative differ by a constant) If f ′ (x) =
g ′(x) for all x ∈ (a, b), then f (x) = g(x) + C.
Proof: Consider h(x) = f (x) − g(x). As h′ (x) = f ′ (x) − g ′(x) = 0 for all x ∈ (a, b),
h(x) = C by the previous corollary and so f (x) = g(x) + C. q.e.d.

example:

Increasing and decreasing functions

motivation:
7

• make increasing/decreasing mathematically precise


• clarify relation to positive/negative derivative

example: f (x) = x2 decreases on (−∞, 0] and increases on [0, ∞). It is monotonic on


(−∞, 0] and [0, ∞) but not monotonic on (−∞, ∞).
Corollary 3 (First derivative test for monotonic functions) Suppose that f is con-
tinuous on [a, b] and differentiable on (a, b).
If f ′ (x) > 0 at each point x ∈ (a, b), then f is increasing on [a, b].
If f ′ (x) < 0 at each point x ∈ (a, b), then f is decreasing on [a, b].
sketch of the proof:
The Mean Value theorem states that f (x2 ) − f (x1 ) = f ′ (c)(x2 − x1 ) for any x1 , x2 ∈ [a, b]
with x1 < x2 . Hence, the sign of f ′ (c) determines whether f (x2 ) < f (x1 ) or the other way
around, which in turn determines the type of monotonicity.
example: Find the critical points of f (x) = x3 − 12x − 5 and identify the intervals on which
f is increasing and decreasing.
f ′ (x) = 3x2 − 12 = 3(x2 − 4) = 3(x + 2)(x − 2) ⇒ x1 = −2, x2 = 2
These critical points subdivide the natural domain into (−∞, −2), (−2, 2), (2, ∞).
rule: If a < b are two nearby critical points for f , then f ′ must be positive on (a, b) or
negative there. (proof relies on continuity of f ′ ). This implies that for finding the sign
of f ′ it suffices to compute f ′ (x) at one x ∈ (a, b)!
Here: f ′ (−3) = 15 , f ′ (0) = −12 , f ′ (3) = 15.
intervals −∞ < x < −2 −2 < x < 2 2 < x < ∞
sign of f’ + - +
behaviour of f increasing decreasing increasing
8

First derivatives and local extrema

example:

• Whenever f has a minimum, f ′ < 0 to the left and f ′ > 0 to the right.

• Whenever f has a maximum, f ′ > 0 to the left and f ′ < 0 to the right.

⇒ At local extrema, the sign of f ′ (x) changes!

example: Find the critical points of f (x) = x4/3 − 4x1/3 . Identify the intervals on which f
is increasing and decreasing. Find the function’s extrema.
4 4 4x−1
f ′ (x) = x1/3 − x−2/3 = ⇒ x1 = 1 , x2 = 0
3 3 3 x2/3
intervals x<0 0<x<1 1<x
sign of f’ - - +
behaviour of f decreasing decreasing increasing
Apply the first derivative test to identify local extrema:

• f ′ does not change sign at x = 0 ⇒ no extremum

• f ′ changes from − to + at x = 1 ⇒ local minimum


9

Since limx→±∞ = ∞, the minimum at x = 1 with f (1) = −3 is also an absolute minimum.


Note that f ′ (0) = −∞!

Concavity and curve sketching


example:

intervals x<0 0<x


turning of curve turns to the right turns to the left
tangent slopes decreasing increasing
The turning or bending behaviour defines the concavity of the curve.
10

In the literature you often find that ‘concave up’ is denoted as convex, and ‘concave down’
is simply called concave.

If f ′′ exists, the last corollary of the mean value theorem implies that f ′ increases if f ′′ > 0
on I and decreases if f ′′ < 0:

examples: (1) y = x3 ⇒ y ′′ = 6x: For (−∞, 0) it is y ′′ < 0 and graph concave down.
For (0, ∞) it is y ′′ < 0 and graph concave up.

(2) y = x2 ⇒ y ′′ = 2 > 0: graph is concave up everywhere.


11

y = x3 changes concavity at the point (0, 0); specify:

At a point of inflection it is y ′′ > 0 on one, y ′′ < 0 on the other side, and either y ′′ = 0 or
undefined at such point.

If y ′′ exists at an inflection point it is y ′′ = 0 and y ′ has a local maximum or minimum.

examples: (1) y = x4 ⇒ y ′′ = 12x2 : y ′′ (0) = 0 but y ′′ does not change sign – no inflection
point at x = 0.

2 ′
  5
(2) y = x1/3 ⇒ y ′′ = 13 x− 3 = − 92 x− 3 : y ′′ does change sign – inflection point at x = 0
but y ′′ (0) does not exist.

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