Lagrange Multipliers

1. Here is the level set diagram of f (x, y) = 2xy.

-4

-2

0
1
3

-3
-1
-2
1

1
1

-1

2
-1

-3
-1
0
-4
4

2 -2

-2

(a) Estimate the maximum and minimum values of f on the ellipse

x2
+ y 2 = 1.
4

Solution. Lets draw in the ellipse on the level set diagram:

-4

-2

0
3

-3
-1

-1
3

-3
0
-4
4

-2

From this picture, we can see that the highest value f achieves on the ellipse is 2, and the lowest
value is 2.
(b) Find the maximum and minimum values of f on the ellipse
2

x2
+ y 2 = 1.
4

Solution. Lets write g(x, y) = x4 + y 2 . Then, we are trying to extremize f (x, y) = 2xy subject
to the constraint that g(x, y) = 1. Therefore, the method of Lagrange multipliers says that we
should look for points where g = ~0 or f = g.


g = x2 , 2y , so g can only be ~0 at (x, y) = (0, 0). However, the point (0, 0) does not lie on the
2
ellipse x4 + y 2 = 1, so we can ignore it.


So, we need f = g, or h2y, 2xi = x2 , 2y . We also need to make sure we are on the ellipse,

so we are really trying to solve three equations simultaneously:

x
2y =
2
2x = (2y)
x2
+ y2 = 1
4

(1)
(2)
(3)
2

(2) tells us that x = y; if we plug this into (1), we get that 2y = 2y , or 4y = 2 y. Rewriting this
as (4 2 )y = 0, we find that either 2 = 4 (so = 2) or y = 0. Lets look at these possibilities
separately:
If y = 0, then the equation x = y tells us that x = 0. But (0, 0) does not lie on the ellipse,
so this does not satisfy all three equations.
If = 2, then x = 2y. Plugging this into (3), 2y 2 = 1, so y = 12 . Since x = 2y, this gives




us two candidate points 22 , 12 and 22 , 12 . (We can check that all three equations
are satisfied.)
If = 2, then x = 2y. Plugging this into (3), 2y 2 = 1, so y = 12 . Since x = 2y, this




gives us two candidate points 22 , 12 and 22 , 12 .
We have four candidate points, and we just evaluate f
and minimum values of f on the ellipse:


2
1
f ,
2
2


2
1
f ,
2
2


2
1
f ,
2
2


2
1
f ,
2
2

at each of them to figure out the maximum

= 2
= 2

So, the maximum value of f on the ellipse is 2 , and the minimum value is -2 .
(c) Find the absolute maximum and minimum values of f in the ellipse

x2
+ y 2 1.
4

2. Minimize 2x + 4y + 6z if x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 14.
Solution. Let f (x, y, z) = 2x + 4y + 6z and g(x, y, z) = x2 + y 2 + z 2 . Then, f = h2, 4, 6i and
g = h2x, 2y, 2zi.
We want g = ~0 or f = g. The former happens when x = y = z = 0, but this point does not
satisfy our constraint x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 14.
To have f = g, we need 1 = x, 2 = y, and 3 = z, so x = 1 , y = 2 , and z =
use the fact that x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 14: we need 12 + 42 + 92 = 14, so = 1.

3
.

To find , we

Therefore, our candidate points are (1, 2, 3) and (1, 2, 3). Evaluating f at each point, we have
f (1, 2, 3)

28

f (1, 2, 3)

28

So, the minimum value is f (1, 2, 3) = 28.

3. Maximize and minimize V (x, y, z) = xyz subject to the constraint that x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1.
Solution.Let g(x, y, z) = x2 + y 2 + z 2 , so that we can write our constraint as g(x, y, z) = 1. Then, we
want to solve g = ~0 or f = g.
Since g = h2x, 2y, 2zi, g = ~0 only when (x, y, z) = (0, 0, 0), but this point does not satisfy the
constraint.
So, lets focus on f = g. Since f = hyz, xz, xyi, we have three equations:
yz

2x

xz

2y

xy

2z

We also have a fourth equation, the constraint x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1. There are a number of ways to tackle
solving these equations. Here, notice that if we multiply the first equation by x, the second by y, and
the third by z, then we end up with three equations with xyz on the left side:
xyz

2x2

xyz

2y 2

xyz

2z 2

So, 2x2 = 2y 2 = 2z 2 . There are two ways this could happen: either = 0 or x2 = y 2 = z 2 .
If = 0, then the three equations each say xyz = 0. We could try to figure out what values of x,
y, and z work out with this, but we actually dont really need to: no matter what points we find,
we already know that xyz = 0, so f (x, y, z) = xyz will be 0.
If x2 = y 2 = z 2 , then the constraint x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1 tells us that each of x2 , y 2 , and z 2 must be
1
1
1

3 . So, x, y, and z are each 3 . Therefore, f (x, y, z) = xyz will be 3 3 .

1
1
So, the minimum value of f (x, y, z) on x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1 is , and the maximum value is .
3 3
3 3
Notice that we did not need to completely solve for x, y, z, and to answer the question.
4. Minimize x2 + y 2 + z 2 subject to the constraints x + y + z = 6 and x + 2y 3z = 14.
Solution. Let f (x, y, z) = x2 + y 2 + z 2 , g(x, y, z) = x + y + z, and h(x, y, z) = x + 2y 3z. Then,
f (x, y, z)

= h2x, 2y, 2zi

g(x, y, z)

= h1, 1, 1i

h(x, y, z)

= h1, 2, 3i

Since g and h are not parallel, we just need to solve f = g + h. That is, we need
2x

= +

2y

= + 2

2z

= 3

So,
x =
y

+
2
+ 2
2
3
2

Now we use our constraints: x + y + z = 6 and x + 2y 3z = 14. Plugging in our expressions for x,
y, and z, we need 3
2 = 6 and 7 = 14. The first condition tells us that = 4, and the second tells us
that = 2. Therefore, x = 3, y = 4, and z = 1.
The minimum is therefore f (3, 4, 1) = 26.