10-13-2010

Absolute Maxima and Minima

Ill begin with a couple of examples to illustrate the kinds of problems I want to solve.
Example. A string 6 light years in length is cut into two pieces. One piece is used to make a circle, while
the other piece is used to make a square.
0 6
x 6 - x
How should the string be cut so that the sum of the areas is largest? How should the string be cut so
that the sum of the areas is smallest?
It turns out that you can make the sum of the areas smallest by cutting the string at a certain point in
the middle. You can make the sum of the areas largest by using all of the string to make the circle.
Example. A square piece of cardboard has sides 24 miles long. Equal squares are cut out of each corner, as
shown below.
24
24
The tabs are then folded up along the dotted lines to make a box (with no top). How large should the
cut-out squares be to produce a box with the largest possible volume?
It turns out the squares should have sides 4 miles long.
In general, the problem is to nd the largest or smallest value of something, usually subject to certain
conditions. The something will be modelled by a function f(x); here is a precise denition of what I mean
by largest and smallest.
Suppose c is a point in the domain of a function f(x). Then:
1. An absolute maximum occurs at c if f(x) f(c) for all x in the domain of f.
2. An absolute minimum occurs at c if f(x) f(c) for all x in the domain of f.
1
Sometimes its important to consider points which are only largest or smallest in small parts of a graph.
1. A relative (or local) maximum occurs at c if f(x) f(c) for all x in an open interval containing
c.
2. A relative (or local) minimum occurs at c if f(x) f(c) for all x in an open interval containing c.
If a local max is like being the toughest guy on your block, an absolute max is like being the toughest
guy in the world.
Local maxima and minima are important in graphing functions, among other things. However, today
Ill concentrate on absolute maxima and minima. Ill begin by looking at some pictorial examples.
Examples.
11 42
f(x)
absolute max at x = 42
absolute min at x = 11
-4 13
f(x)
absolute max at x = 4
absolute min at x = 13
1 2 5
f(x)
absolute max at x = 1
absolute min at x = 2
endpoint max at x = 5
2
-3 4 10 97
f(x)
absolute max at x = 4
absolute min at x = 10
endpoint max at x = 97
endpoint min at x = 3
f(x)
a hole in
the graph
-1 4 6
absolute max at x = 1
no absolute min
endpoint max at x = 6
f(x)
a hole in
the graph
-1 4 6
absolute max at x = 1
absolute min at x = 4
endpoint max at x = 6
y
x
y = 1/x
no absolute max
no absolute min
3
-20 -10 10 20
-1
-0.5
0.5
1
innitely many
absolute maxima and minima
Some conclusions may be drawn from these examples:
A function need not have an absolute max or absolute min. It can have both, one or the other, or
neither.
A continuous function must have an absolute max and an absolute min on a closed interval.
The second observation is important: It says that if you look for an absolute max or min on a closed
interval, at least in principle you wont be disappointed. The proof requires more advanced knowledge about
the topology of the real numbers, so Ill omit it.
Where can you expect an absolute max or min to occur? Heres a reasonable guess based on the
examples above. Ill assume that Im looking at a function that is continuous on a closed interval, so the
secon observation guarantees that I have an absolute max and an absolute min.
An absolute max or min can occur at:
1. A critical point for f(x) that is, a value c in the domain of f where f

(c) is undened or f

(c) = 0.
2. An endpoint of the interval.
Ill give a sketch of the proof of this result. Assume that f is continuous on an interval a x b and
dierentiable on a < x < b.
Suppose that c is a max or a min, but c is not an endpoint (a or b) or a place where f

is undened.
Ill show that f

(c) = 0.
If f

(c) = 0, then its either positive or negative. Assume f

(c) > 0 the argument if f

(c) < 0 is
similar.
Recall that
f

(c) = lim
xc
f(x) f(c)
x c
.
This means that
lim
xc

f(x) f(c)
x c
f

(c)

= 0.
Another way of saying this is that I can make

f(x) f(c)
x c
f

(c)

as small as I want by making x

suciently close to c. So make x close enough to c so that

f(x) f(c)
x c
f

(c)

<
1
2
f

(c).
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Writing this absolute value inequality as a pair of inequalities, I have

1
2
f

(c) <
f(x) f(c)
x c
f

(c) <
1
2
f

(c)
1
2
f

(c) <
f(x) f(c)
x c
<
3
2
f

(c)
I got the second set of inequalities by adding
1
2
f

(c) to each term of the rst.

Now f

(c) > 0, so the last set of inequalities has

f(x) f(c)
x c
caught between two positive numbers.
Therefore,
f(x) f(c)
x c
must be positive. Therefore, the top and bottom of this fraction are either both
positive or both negative.
If x > c that is, x is to the right of c then x c is positive, so f(x) f(c) > 0, and f(x) > f(c).
In other words, the function f increases as you move from c to the right. Since there are bigger values of f
to the right of c, it means that c cant be a max.
If x < c that is, x is to the left of c then x c is negative, so f(x) f(c) < 0, and f(x) < f(c).
In other words, the function f decreases as you move from c to the left. Since there are smaller values of f
to the left of c, it means that c cant be a min.
But now Im stuck, because I assumed that c was either a max or a min.
The only possibility is that my assumption that f

(c) = 0 was incorrect. So indeed, f

(c) = 0.
This leads to the following procedure for nding the absolute max or min of a function f(x) on a closed
interval a x b:
1. Locate the critical points of f which lie in the interval.
2. Plug the critical points and the endpoints of the interval into f.
3. The largest values of f correspond to the absolute maxima; the smallest values of f correspond to
the absolute minima.
(A remark for people who know some calculus: Do not confuse this with the First or Second Derivative
test! You plug the candidate points into f(x), not into f

(x) or f

(x).)
Example. Find the absolute max and absolute min of f(x) = x
2
for 1 x 2.
First, Ill nd the critical points. f

(x) = 2x, so f

(x) = 0 for x = 0. Note that x = 0 lies in the interval

1 x 2. There are no values of x for which f is undened.
The endpoints are x = 1 and x = 2.
I plug x = 0, x = 1, and x = 2 into f(x):
x 1 0 2
f(x) 1 0 4
absolute min absolute max
Next, Ill nd the absolute max and absolute min of f(x) = x
2
for 2 x 2.
x = 0 is the only critical point, and its in the interval 2 x 2.
The endpoints are x = 2 and x = 2.
x 2 0 2
f(x) 4 0 4
absolute max absolute min absolute max
5
Here is a case where two points are tied for absolute max.
Finally, Ill nd the absolute max and absolute min of f(x) = x
2
for 1 x 3.
x = 0 is a critical point, but it is not in the interval 1 x 3. Therefore, it doesnt count.
The endpoints are x = 1 and x = 3.
x 1 3
f(x) 1 9
absolute min absolute max
Let me repeat the warning, since it sometimes trips people up: If a critical point is not in the interval
under consideration, it is not tested.
Finally, notice that I used the same function f(x) = x
2
in these three examples, but the answers were
dierent. The interval under consideration is important it determines which critical points are to be
tested, and it contributes its endpoints as candidates.
Example. Find the absolute maximum and absolute minimum of f(x) = 2x
3
9x
2
24x+2 on the interval
0 x 5.
The derivative is
f

(x) = 6x
2
18x 24 = 6(x
2
3x 4) = 6(x 4)(x + 1).
Its a good idea to write the derivative in factored form, since this makes it easier to read o the critical
points.
f

(x) = 0 for x = 4 and x = 1. f

(x) is dened for all x. The only critical point in the interval
0 x 5 is x = 4. I test the critical point and the endpoints by plugging them into f:
x 0 4 5
f(x) 2 110 93
absolute max absolute min
The absolute min is 110 and it occurs at x = 4; the absolute max is 2 and it occurs at x = 0.
Example. Find the largest and smallest values of
f(x) =
9
2
x
2/3

3
5
x
5/3
for 1 x 5.
Ill do the easy part rst: The endpoints are x = 1 and x = 5.
Next, Ill nd the critical points. Compute the derivative:
f

(x) = 3x
1/3
x
2/3
.
I would like to simplify f

(x) so that I can read o the critical points. The idea is to get it to look like
one chunk, with everything factored. You can often accomplish this by:
(a) Writing negative powers as fractions.
(b) Combining fractions over common denominators.
6
(Some people prefer negative powers, but I think fractions are more visual and easier to work with.)
So
f

(x) = 3x
1/3
x
2/3
=
3
x
1/3
x
2/3
=
3
x
1/3
x
2/3

x
1/3
x
1/3
=
3
x
1/3

x
x
1/3
=
3 x
x
1/3
.
There is nothing to factor, so Im done.
f

(x) = 0 for x = 3. And f

(x) is undened for x = 0 (because x = 0 would cause division by zero.) Not

so fast! Is f dened at x = 0? Checking the original equation, I see that f(0) = 0. Since f

is undened
at x = 0 but f is dened at x = 0, x = 0 is a critical point.
Note also that both 0 and 3 are in the interval 1 x 5.
You can see the critical points and the endpoints in the graph of the function. Notice that there is a
corner at x = 0, where the derivative is undened.
-2 2 4 6
2
4
6
8
Now I plug the critical points and the endpoints into f:
x 1 0 3 5
f(x) 5.1 0 5.61623 4.38603
absolute min absolute max
Notice that if Id forgotten to check for places where f

(x) is undened, I would have missed the absolute

min!
Example. Find the largest and smallest values of
f(x) =
3
7
x
7/3
3x
1/3
for 2 x 8.
The endpoints are 2 and 8.
The derivative is
f

(x) = x
4/3
x
2/3
.
I write the negative power as a fraction, combine fractions over a common denominator, then factor:
f

(x) = x
4/3
x
2/3
= x
4/3

1
x
2/3
= x
4/3

x
2/3
x
2/3

1
x
2/3
=
x
2
x
2/3

1
x
2/3
=
x
2
1
x
2/3
=
(x 1)(x + 1)
x
2/3
.
f

(x) = 0 for x = 1 and for x = 1. f

(x) is undened at x = 0; since f(0) is dened, x = 0 is a critical

point. Since 1, 0, and 1 are in the interval 2 x 8, all of them must be tested.
x 2 8 1 0 1
f(x) 1.61990 48.85714 2.57143 0 2.57143
The absolute max is at x = 8 and the absolute min is at x = 1.
c 2010 by Bruce Ikenaga 7