Maximum and minimum values,Points of inflexion

Let us concider the function y  f x  given in the graph:

Fig 2.8
-At the point A (at x=x1) a maximum value of y occurs, the y-value is greater than the values on
either side of it and close to it.
-At the point B (at x=x2) a minimum value of y occurs, the y-value is less than the y-values on
either side of it and close to it.
-Point C-point of inflection

For the point M x0 , f x0  on the curve y  f x  :

 dy  d 2 y 
-If    0 and  2   0 , then M is a point of minimum.
 dx  M  dx  M
 dy  d 2 y 
-If    0 and  2   0 , then M is a point of maximum.
 dx  M  dx  M
d 2 y  d2y
-If  2   0 and there is a change of the sign of as we go through the point , then M is
 dx  M dx 2
a point of inflexion.

102
1. Find the extreme values (maximum and minimum) of the following functions:
x 3 3x 2 1 1  3x 2
a) y    2x  4 b) y  c) y 
3 2 x2 3  x2
ex
d) y  e) y  e x sin x
e x
1 
2

Solution:
dy
a)  x 2  3x  2
dx
dy 3 1
 0  x 2  3 x  2  0  x1 / 2   x1  2; x 2  1 .
dx 2
Stationary points occur at x1  2; x2  1 .
23 3  2 2 8 10  10 
For x1  2, y1    2  2  4   6   . We obtain the point M 1  2 ,   .
3 2 3 3  3
1 3 1
3 2
1 3 19  19 
For x 2  2, y 2    2  1  4    2   . We obtain the point M 2 1,   .
3 2 3 2 6  6
d2y
 2x  3
dx 2
d2y 10
At x1  2, 2
 4  3  1 , i.e. positive  x1  2 gives y min  y1   .
dx 3
2
d y 19
At x 2  1, 2
 2  3  1 , i.e. negative  x2  1 gives y max  y 2   .
dx 6
 10   19 
So, M 1  2 ,   is a point of minimum, M 2 1,   is a point of maximum.
 3  6

y=f(x)

20

0
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
-20
y-axis

-40 Series1

-60

-80

-100
x-axis

Fig 2.9

103
   3  0, x    , 0   0,   , it follows that the function doesn’t have extreme
dy 2
b) Since
dx x
value at any point of the domain.

c)

dy 6 x 3  x 2  2 x 1  3x 2
 
 16x  
dx 3  x2
2
 3  x2   
2

dy 16x
0 0 x0
dx 3  x 2 2
1  1
For x  0 , y  . So, M  0,  is a stationary point.
3  3
d 2 y 16 3  x 2

 
2

 16x  2 3  x 2  2 x  

48 1  x 2 
dx 2 3  x  2 4
3  x 2 3

2
d y 48 1
Since at x  0 , 2
  0 , it follows x  0 gives y min  .
dx 27 3

y=f(x)

2,5

2
y-axis

1,5 Series1

0,5

0
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
x-axis

Fig 2.10

104
d)
dy e x 1  e x

 
dx ex 1
3
 
dy
0
e 1 ex x

 0  ex  1  x  0

dx e 1
x 3
 
1  1
For x  0 , y  . So, M  0,  is a stationary point.
4  4

d 2 y 2e x  e 2 x  e x  1


dx 2 ex 1
4
 
d2y 1 1
Since at x  0 , 2
   0 , it follows x  0 gives y max  .
dx 8 4

y=f(x)

0,3

0,25

0,2
y-axis

0,15 Series1

0,1

0,05

0
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
x-axis

Fig 2.11

 e x sin x  cos x 
dy
e)
dx

 0  e x sin x  cos x   0  sin x  cos x  0  tan x  1  x    k, k  Z
dy
dx 4
     2  1
k 1
2e  4 k
 1 
For x    k, k  Z , y  e   4  k
sin   k   e   4  k

  k

4  4   2  2
d2y
2
 2e x cos x
dx

105
         
 d2y    k 
      k     k 
At x    k, k  Z ,  2e  4 
cos    k   2e  4 
  1k 2
  1k
2  e  4 

 4 
2
4 dx 2
  
d2y    k 
i) If k is even number, then  2  e  4 
 0.
dx 2

 2e   4 k
In this case x    k gives y min  
4 2
  
d2y    k 
ii) If k is odd number, then 2
  2  e  4 
 0.
dx
 2e   4  k
In this case x    k gives y max 
4 2
  2e  4 2 k 
So, the local minimum occurs at the points M k    2k ,   and the local

 4 2 
  2e  42 k 1 
maximum occurs at the points N k    2k  1 ,  , k Z .

 4 2 

2. Find the points of inflexion on the graph of each of the following functions:
1
a) y  x 3  6 x 2  9 x  6 b) y  x 
x
c) y  xe  x 2 x

d) y  e 2 x 2  2 x  1 
Solution:
dy d2y
a)  3x 2  12x  9 ;  6 x  12
dx dx 2
d2y
 0  6 x  12  0  x  2
dx 2
If there is a P-of-I, it occurs at x  2 .
We take a point just before x  2 ,i.e. x  2  a , and a point just after x  2 , i.e. x  2  a , where
d2y
a is a small positive quantity. We have to investigate the sign of at these two values of x .
dx 2
d2y
-At x  2  a ,  62  a   12  6a  0
dx 2
d2y
-At x  2  a ,  62  a   12  6a  0
dx 2
d2y
There is a change in sign of as we go through x  2 . So, there is a point of inflexion at
dx 2
x  2.

106
 dy 1
b)  1 2
dx x
2
 0, x    ,0  0,  , it follows that there isn’t any point of inflexion of the
d y 2
Since 
dx2 x 3
graph of the function.

2
 e  xe ; 2  e  x  e  x  xe  x  e  x x  2
dy x x d y
c)
dx dx
2
 0  e  x x  2  0  x  2 .
d y
2
dx
If there is a P-of-I, it occurs at x  2 .
We use again the same procedure:
Let a is a small positive quantity and x  2  a , x  2  a are points just before and after x  2 ,
respectively.
d2y 2 a d2y
At x  2  a , 2
  e a  0 and at x  2  a , 2
 e 2a a  0 .
dx dx
2
d y
So, because there is a change in the sign of as we go through x  2 , it follows that there is
dx 2
a point of inflexion at x  2 .

d)
dy
dx
 
 2e  2 x 2 x 2  2 x  1  e  2 x 4 x  2  4 x 2 e  2 x
2
 8 xe 2 x  8 x 2 e 2 x  8 xe  2 x x  1
d y
dx 2
d2y
2
 0  8 xe  2 x x  1  0  x  0  x  1
dx

If there is a P-of-I, it occurs at x  0 , x  1 or both. Now comes the test for change of a sign. For
each of the two values of x we have found, i.e. x  0 and x  1, take points on either side of it,
differing from it by a very small amount a , where 0  a  1 .

i) For x  0
d2y 
At x  a,  8ae 2 a  a  1       positive
dx 2

2
Change in sign  P  of  I

At x  a, 2  8ae a  1       negative
d y 2a

dx 

107
ii) For x  1
d2y 
At x  1  a,  81  a e  21 a   a        negative
dx 2

2
Change in sign  P  of  I
 21 a  
At x  1  a, 2  81  a e a       positive
d y

dx 

 5 
Therefore, the points of inflexion occur when x  0 and x  1, i.e. at the points 0, 1 and 1, .
 e2 

3. Find the values of x at which maximum and minimum values of y and points of inflexion
occur on the curve y  12 ln x  x 2  10x .
Solution:
Remark: D f  0, 
dy 12 2 x 2  10x  12 2x 2  5 x  6
  2 x  10  
dx x x x
d y x4 x  10  2 x  10x  12 2 x  12 2x 2  6
2 2 2
  
dx 2 x2 x2 x2

dy 2x 2  5 x  6 5 1
0  0  x 2  5 x  6  0  x1 / 2   x1  3  x 2  2
dx x 2
d2y 2
For x  3 , 2
  0 ; It follows x  3 gives y min  12 ln 3  32  10  3  7,817 .
dx 3
2
d y
For x  2 , 2
 1  0 ; It follows x  2 gives ymax  12 ln 2  2 2  10  2  7,682 .
dx

d2y 2x 2  6
2
 0  2
 0  x 2  6  0  x1 / 2   6 . Because  6  D f , it follows that if
dx x
there is a point of inflexion, it occurs only at x  6 .

Let a is a very small positive amount, 0  a  1 .

For x  6
2 
6  a  6 
2

  negative

At x  6  a, 2  
d2y
dx 6 a 
2
 

Change in sign  P  of  I
d2y
2


6  
a
2
 6 


 
At x  6  a, 2   positive 
dx 6a 
2
 

Therefore, the point of inflexion occur only when x  6 .

108
 y=f(x)

40
30
20
10
y-axis

0 Series1
-10 0 5 10 15
-20
-30
-40
x-axis

Fig 2.12

4. Between the rectangles with perimeter 2s , find the one with maximum area.
Solution:
Let x and y are the lengths of the sides of the rectangle. The perimeter of the rectangle is:
2 x  2 y  2 s , which implies y  s  x .
Area of the rectangle is: Px   xy  xs  x   sx  x 2 ( P is expressed as a function of the length
of one of the sides)
dP
 s  2x
dx
dP s s s
 0  s  2 x  0  x  . It follows that y  s   .
dx 2 2 2
2 2
d P s s
2
 2  0 so x  gives Pmax  .
dx 2 4
s s2
The conlusion is that the square with side length x  has maximum area Pmax  .
2 4

109
6. The motion of a particle performing damped vibrations is given by y  e t sin 2t , y beeing
the displacement from its mean position at time t . Show that y is a maximum when
t  tan 1 2  and determine this maximum displacement to three d.p.
1
2
Solution:
 e t sin 2t  2e t cos 2t  e t 2 cos 2t  sin 2t 
dy
dx
dy sin 2t
 0  e  t  2 cos 2t  sin 2t   0  2 cos 2t  sin 2t  0   2  tan 2t  2
dx cos 2t
1
 2t  tan 1  2   t  tan 1  2  (  0,554 rad )
2

d2y
 e  t  2 cos 2t  sin 2t   e  t  4sin 2t  2 cos 2t   e  t  3sin 2t  4 cos 2t 
dx 2
 e  t cos 2t   3 tan 2t  4 

tan 1 2 ,
1
For t 
2
 tan 1  2   tan 1  2 
     
1 1
d2y
  e 2
cos tan 1
2   3 tan tan 1
2   4  4,5e 2
0
dx2

tan 1 2 gives ymax  e 0,554 sin2  0,554  e 0,554 sin1,108  0,575 0,895  0,515.
1
So t 
2

110