MATH6102

Business Mathematics
Week 8

Curve Sketching
 Chapter Outline

 Relative Extreme
 Concavity
 Applied Maxima and Minima
RELATIVE EXTREME
Increasing or Decreasing Nature of a Function
• Increasing f(x) if x1 < x2 and f(x1) < f(x2).
• Decreasing f(x) if x1 < x2 and f(x1) > f(x2).
Extreme
RULE 1 - Criteria for Increasing or Decreasing Function
• f is increasing on (a, b) when f’(x) > 0
• f is decreasing on (a, b) when f’(x) < 0

RULE 2 - A Necessary Condition for Relative Extrema

 f ' a   0
relative extremum  
implies
   or
at a   f ' a  does not exist


RULE 3 - Criteria for Relative Extrema

1. If f’(x) changes from + to –, then f has a relative maximum at a.
2. If f’(x) changes from - to +, then f has a relative minimum at a.
First-Derivative Test for Relative Extrema
1. Find f’(x).
2. Determine all critical values of f.
3. For each critical value a at which f is continuous,
determine whether f’(x) changes sign as x increases
through a.
4. For critical values a at which f is not continuous,
analyze the situation by using the definitions of
extrema directly.
Example: First-Derivative Test
If y  f x   x 
4
for x  1 , use the first-derivative test to find where relative
x 1
extrema occur.

Solution:
x 2  2x  3 x  3x  1
STEP 1 - f ' x    for x  1
x  12
x  12

STEP 2 - Setting f’(x) = 0 gives x = −3, 1.

STEP 3 - Conclude that at−3, there is a relative
maximum.
STEP 4 – There are no critical values at which f is not
continuous.
Example: Finding Extreme Values on a Closed Interval
Find absolute extrema for f x   x 2  4x  5 over the closed interval [1, 4].

Solution:
Step 1: f ' x   2x  4x  2x  2

Step 2: f 1  2
f 4   5 values of f at endpoints
f 2  1 values of f at critical value 2 in 1, 4

Step 3: max is f 4  5 and min is f 2  1

CONCAVITY
• Cases where curves concave upward:

• Cases where curves concave downward:

• f is said to be concave up on (a, b) if f is increasing on
(a, b).
• f is said to be concave down on (a, b) if f is decreasing
on (a, b).
• f has an inflection point at a if it is continuous at a and f
changes concavity at a.

Criteria for Concavity

• If f’’(x) > 0, f is concave up on (a, b).
• If f”(x) < 0, f is concave down on (a, b).
Example:
Determine where the given function is concave up and where it is concave down.
y  f  x    x  1  1
3

Solution:
• Applying the rule, y '  3x  1
2

y ' '  6x  1

• Concave up when 6(x − 1) > 0 as x > 1.
• Concave down when 6(x − 1) < 0 as x < 1.
Example: The Second-Derivative Test
Test the following for relative maxima and minima. Use the second-
derivative test, if possible.
y  18 x  23 x 3

Solution:
y '  23  x 3  x 
y ' '  4 x
When y '  0, we have x  3
When x  3, y ' '  43   12  0
When x  3, y ' '  4 3   12  0
Relative minimum when x = −3.
APPLIED MAXIMA AND MINIMA
Example: Minimizing Cost
• A manufacturer plans to fence in a 10,800-ft2 rectangular
storage area adjacent to a building by using the building as
one side of the enclosed area. The fencing parallel to the
building faces a highway and will cost $3 per foot installed,
whereas the fencing for the other two sides costs $2 per foot
installed. Find the amount of each type of fence so that the
total cost of the fence will be a minimum.
• What is the minimum cost?
Solution:
• Cost function is C  3 x  2y  2y  C  3 x  4 y
10800
• Storage area is xy  10,800  y 
x
• Analyzing the equations,
 10800 
C x   3 x  4
43200
  3 x 
 x  x
dC 43200
0 3
dx x2
x  120 since x  0 , Only critical value is 120.
d 2C 86400

dx 2 x3
d 2C
When x  120, 0 , x =120 gives a relative minimum.
dx 2
• Thus, C 120  3 x  43200  720
120
Thank You