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PieceWise Functions and Extremas

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9 views

PieceWise Functions and Extremas

Uploaded by

snalo mdludlu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1. Absolute Maximum/Minimum vs.

Local Maximum/Minimum

Def: Let f be a function with domain D. Then f has an absolute maximum


value on D at a point c if

f (x) ≤ f (c) for all x in D

and an absolute minimum value on D at c if

f (x) ≥ f (c) for all x in D.

Def: Let f be a function with domain D. Then f has a local maximum value
at a point c in D if

f (x) ≤ f (c) for all x in D lying in some open interval containing c

and a local minimum value at c in D if

f (x) ≥ f (c) for all x in D lying in some open interval containing c.

An absolute maximum occurs at the x value where the function is the biggest,
while a local maximum occurs at an x value if the function is bigger there than
points around it (i.e. an open interval around it).

Similarly, an absolute minimum occurs at the x value where the function is


the smallest, while a local minimum occurs at an x value if the function is
smaller there than points around it (i.e. an open interval around it).

2. The Extreme Value Theorem

THM: If f is continuous on a closed interval [a, b], then f attains both an


absolute maximum value M and an absolute minimum value m in [a, b]. That
is, there are numbers x1 and x2 in [a, b] with f (x1 ) = m, f (x2 ) = M , and
m ≤ f (x) ≤ M for every other x in [a, b].

If a function is continuous somewhere (i.e. an interval) (including the end-


points - i.e. it can’t go off to ∞ or −∞ at the ends) then it has a biggest value
and a smallest value and they occur at some x values. (if the function wasn’t
continuous then it could go off to ∞ or −∞ at some point in our interval, but
continuity keeps the function nice and finite)

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3. The First Derivative Theorem for Local Extreme Values

THM: If f has a local maximum or minimum value at an interior point c


of its domain, and if f 0 is defined at c, then

f 0 (c) = 0.

When functions have a local max or min at c (i.e. the function is bigger or
smaller around a point c) then the function must be flat at c so, if the derivative
exists at c, then f 0 (c) = 0. Note this is also true for absolute extrema because
they are also local extrema.

4. Finding Absolute Extrema of a Continuous Function f on a Finite Closed In-


terval

(a) Evaluate f at all critical points and endpoints.

(b) Take the largest and smallest of these values.

If we are looking at a function f on a closed interval and it is continous then


the only places that absolute extrema can occur are places where the function
is “turning around” - local extrema (i.e. f 0 (x) = 0) or at the endpoints. The
absolute extrema are the biggest and smallest function values at these places
(critical points/endpoints).

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5. Linearization

Def: If f is differentiable at x = a, then the approximating function

L(x) = f (a) + f 0 (a)(x − a)

is the linearization of f at a. The approximation

f (x) is about equal to L(x)

of f by L is the standard linear approximation of f at a.

Curves are hard, sometimes with functions that are complicated, we’d rather es-
timate what the function value is than to actually calculate the function value.
We can do this by using the tangent line to a point. If we have a point (a, f (a)),
the tangent line is defined in point-slope form (y−y1 = m(x−x1 )). The slope of
the function at (a, f (a)) is f 0 (a). Then the tangent line is y−f (a) = f 0 (a)(x−a)
and we can call the line L(x) = f (a) + f 0 (a)(x − a).
6. Differential

Def: Let y = f (x) be a differentiable function. The differential dx is an


independent variable. The differential dy is

dy = f 0 (x)dx.

The derivative is the instaneous rate of change of the function at a point. If we


have a function and we know what the derivative is, we can estimate changes
in y by using changes in x. Just like with the tangent line, if want to know
what the change in y is for some small change in x around a point x0 , we know
that the “change in y” = f 0 (x0 ) ∗ “the change in x” (i.e. dy = f 0 (x)dx).
7. Rolle’s Theorem

THM: Suppose that y = f (x) is continuous at every point of the closed interval
[a, b] and differentiable at every point of its interior (a, b). If f (a) = f (b), then
there is at least one number c in (a, b) at which f 0 (c) = 0.

If a function is the same at two different x values, a and b, then it must


have “turned around” at some point c between a and b (i.e. f 0 (c) = 0) or it
must have been constant between them (i.e. f 0 (c) = 0 for c between a and b).

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8. The Mean Value Theorem

THM: Suppose y = f (x) is continuous on a closed interval [a, b] and differ-


entiable on the interval’s interior (a, b). Then there is at least one point c in
(a, b) at which
f (b) − f (a)
= f 0 (c).
b−a
If a function is continuous between a and b then the derivative at some point
must be the slope of the secant line between (a, f (a)) and (b, f (b)).

9. Corollary 1

Cor: If f 0 (x) = 0 at each point x of an open interval (a, b), then f (x) = C for
all x ∈ (a, b), where C is a constant.

If a function’s slope is 0 at every point then it must be a constant function.


Note that the Mean Value THM tells us that if f 0 (c) = 0 for every c then for a
and b with a c between it f (b)−f
b−a
(a)
= f 0 (c) = 0 so f (b)−f (a) = 0 or f (b) = f (a)
so f is a constant function!

10. Corollary 2

Cor: If f 0 (x) = g 0 (x) at each point x in an open interval (a, b), then there
exists a constant C such that f (x) = g(x) + C for all x ∈ (a, b). That is, f − g
is a constant function on (a, b).

If two functions have the same slope everywhere then they must be the same
functions, just differing by a constant additive (i.e. they’re the same function,
but they can be ”lifted” from each other).

Note that Corollary 1 tells us that if f 0 (x) − g 0 (x) = 0 then f (x) − g(x) = C
so f (x) = g(x) + C.

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