MATH 122 Critical Points

Work through the examples and questions on this worksheet in groups, or on your own. Focus on
understanding when and why you look at the derivative of a function for these new concepts.

A critical point (or stationary point) of f (x) is a point (a, f (a)) such that f 0 (a) = 0.

Recall that, geometrically, these are points on the graph of f (x) who have a “flat” tangent line, i.e. a constant tangent
line.

f (x)

Critical Points

Example 1:

Find all critical points of f (x) = x3 − 3x2 − 9x + 5.

We see that the derivative is f 0 (x) = 3x2 − 6x − 9. We need to solve f 0 (x) = 0.

f 0 (x) = 3x2 − 6x − 9 = 3(x2 − 2x − 3) = 3(x + 1)(x − 3) = 0 =⇒ x = −1, x = 3

Thus the critical points of f (x) are (−1, f (−1)) = (−1, 10) and (3, f (3)) = (3, −22).

Example 2:

Find all critical points of f (t) = e−3t + 2t.

Differentiating yields f 0 (t) = −3e−3t + 2. Now we solve f 0 (t) = 0.

   
2 2 1 3
f 0 (t) = −3e−3t + 2 = 0 =⇒ 2 = 3e−3t =⇒ =⇒ ln = −3t =⇒ ln =t
3 3 3 2

Thus the only critical point of f (t) is 31 ln (1.5) , f 31 ln (1.5) = 13 ln (1.5) , 23 (1 + ln (1.5)) ≈ (0.135, 0.937).

Problems
Find all critical points of the given functions.

1. f (x) = x3 − 6x + 1 6. y = xe−3x 11. f (x) = x2 ln(x)

2. f (x) = x3 + 6x + 1 7. f (x) = x + 1
x
12. y = (x + 1)5
x
3. f (x) = 3x5 − 5x3 8. f (x) = 3x4 − 4x3 + 6 13. y = x2 +1
√
4. f (x) = ex − 10x 9. y = (x2 − 4)7 14. y = x2 + 1
5. y = x ln(x), (x > 0) 10. y = (x3 − 8)7 15. g(x) = (4x2 + 1)7
MATH 122 Critical Points Page 2 of 4

You may notice, particularly from the graph on page 1, that the critical points seem to coincide with the peaks of the
graph. These is almost true. In fact we have the following definition:

Suppose (a, f (a)) is a critical point of f (x). Then,

(a, f (a)) is a local minimum ⇐⇒ f 00 (a) > 0
(a, f (a)) is a local maximum ⇐⇒ f 00 (a) < 0
(a, f (a)) is a point of inflection ⇐⇒ f 00 (a) = 0
We can think of this definition as a test to identify the local maximum and local minimum points of a function f (x). If
f 00 (a) < 0 or f 00 (a) > 0 then we have a local maximum or minimum, respectively, and if f 00 (a) = 0 then we know nothing.
Different cases of f 00 (a) = 0 will be explored later.

Example 1:

Find all local extrema of f (x) = x3 − 3x2 − 9x + 5.

In Example 1 on the previous page we found f 0 (x) = 3x2 − 6x − 9 and that the critical points occur at (−1, 10) and
(3, −22). To apply the second derivative test we must first compute the second derivative;
f 00 (x) = 6x − 6
Then we simply take the points x = −1 and x = 3 and plug them into f 00 (x).

x = −1 : x=3:
f 00 (−1) = 6(−1) − 6 = −6 − 6 = −12 < 0 f 00 (3) = 6(3) − 6 = 18 − 6 = 12 > 0
=⇒ Local Maximum =⇒ Local Minimum

So the function f (x) has a local maximum at the point (−1, 10) and a local minimum at the point (3, −22).

Example 2:

Find all local extrema of f (t) = e−3t + 2.

In Example 2 on the previous page we found f 0 (t) = −3e−3t + 2 and that the only critical point occurs at t = 1
3 ln(1.5).
To apply the second derivative test we must first compute the second derivative;
f 00 (t) = 9e−3t
Now we simply plug in t = 31 ln(1.5) into f 00 (t).

f 00 13 ln(1.5) = 9e−3(ln(1.5)/3) = 9e− ln(1.5) = 9eln(2/3) = 9(2/3) = 6 > 0 =⇒ Local Minimum.

1
So the function f (t) has a local minimum at the point t = 3 ln(1.5).

Example 3:
1
Find all local extrema of y = x + .
x
First we calculate the critical point(s) of y. Differentiating gives y 0 = 1 − x−2 . Solving y 0 = 0 gives
1
y 0 = 1 − x−2 = 0 =⇒ 1 = x−2 =⇒ 1 = =⇒ 1 = x2 =⇒ x = −1 or x = 1
x2
Next we find the second derivative,
2
y 00 = 2x−3 =
x3
Finally we plug both x = −1 and x = 1 into y 00 .

Cont.
MATH 122 Critical Points Page 3 of 4

x = −1: x = 1:
2 2 2 2
y 00 (−1) = = = −2 < 0 =⇒ Local Maximum y 00 (1) = = = 2 > 0 =⇒ Local Minimum.
(−1)3 −1 13 1
Thus y has a local maximum at the point (−1, y(−1)) = (−1, −2) and a local minimum at the point (1, y(1)) = (1, 2).

Problems
Go back and classify the critical points in questions 1 − 15 on page 1 as maximum, minimum or neither (points of inflection).

Cont.
MATH 122 Critical Points Page 4 of 4

Answers
Critical Points

1. f 0 (x) = 3x2 − 6 6. y 0 = e−3x − 3xe−3x (0, −2097152)

C.
√ Pts: √ C. Pts: (2, 0)
1 1


( √ 2, 1 − 4 √
2) ≈ (1.414, −4.657) 3 , 3e
(− 2, 1 + 4 2) ≈ (−1.414, 6.657) 11. f 0 (x) = 2x ln(x) + x
7. f 0 (x) = 1 − x−2 C. Pts: 

0 2 √1 , 1 1
2. f (x) = 3x + 6 C. Pts: e 2e
C. Pts: (−1, −2)
None. (1, 2) 12. y 0 = 5(x + 1)4
C.Pts:
3. f 0 (x) = 15x4 −15x2 = 15x2 (x2 −1) 8. f 0 (x) = 12x3 − 12x2 = 12x2 (x − 1) (−1, 0)
C. Pts: C. Pts: 13. y 0 = (x2 + 1)−1 − 2x2 (x2 + 1)−2
(0, 0) (0, 6) C. Pts:

(1, −2) (1, 5) −1,
− 21
(−1, 2)
6 1, 12
9. y 0 = 14x x2 − 4
4. f 0 (x) = ex − 10 C. Pts: √ −1/2
14. y 0 = x x2 + 1
C. Pts: (0, −16384) C. Pts:
(ln(10), 10(1 − ln(10))) ≈ (2.302, −13.026) (2, 0) (0, 1)
(−2, 0)
5. y 0 = ln(x) + 1 15. g 0 (x) = 56x(4x2 + 1)6
0 2 3 6
C. Pts:
10. y = 21x (x − 8) C. Pts:
1 1
e , − e ≈ (0.368, −0.368) C. Pt.s (0, 1)

Local Extrema

00
1. f√ (x) = 6x√ 7. f 00 (x) = 2x−3 11. f00 (x) = 2ln(x) + 3
( √ 2, 1 − 4 √2) Min. (−1, −2) Min. √1 , − 1 Min.
e 2e
(− 2, 1 + 4 2) Max. (1, 2) Max.
2. f 00 (x) = 6x 8. f 00 (x) = 36x2 − 24x = 12x(3x − 2) 12. y 00 = 20(x + 1)3
None. (0, 6) Neither (−1, 0) Neither
(1, 5) Min.
3. f 00 (x) = 60x3 −30x = 30x(2x2 −1)
(0, 0) Neither
6 13. y 00 = −2x(x2 + 1)−2 − 4x(x2 + 1)−2 + 8x3 (x2 +
00
(1, −2) Min. 9. y = 14 x − 4 + 168x2 (x2 − 4)5
2 1)−3

−1,
− 21 Min.


(−1, 2) Max. (0, −16384) Min.
(2, 0) Neither 1, 12 Max.
4. f 00 (x) = ex
(−2, 0) Neither
(ln(10), 10(1 − ln(10))) Min. −1/2 −1/2
14.
q q
y 00 = x2 + 1 − x2 x2 + 1
00 −1
5. y = x
(0, 1) Min.
1 1 10. y 00 = 42x(x3 − 8)6 + 378x4 (x3 − 8)5
e , − e Min. (0, −2097152) Neither
6. y 00 = −6e −3x
+ 9xe−3x (2, 0) Neither 15. g 00 (x) = 56(4x2 + 1)6 + 3088x2 (4x2 + 1)5
1 1


3 , 3e Max. (0, 1) Min.

The End.