Lecture 9 - Increasing and Decreasing Functions, Extrema, and

the First Derivative Test

9.1 Increasing and Decreasing Functions

One of our goals is to be able to solve max/min problems, especially economics related
examples.
We start with the following definitions:

Definition 9.1 A function f is called increasing on an interval (a, b) if for any x1 , x2 ∈

(a, b), we have that
x1 < x2 ⇒ f (x1 ) < f (x2 )
A function f is called decreasing on an interval (a, b) if for any x1 , x2 ∈ (a, b), we have
that
x1 < x2 ⇒ f (x1 ) > f (x2 )

Note that some books call these strictly increasing and strictly decreasing respectively.
Examples:

1. f (x) = x2 . f (x) is increasing on (0, ∞) and decreasing (−∞, 0).

2. f (x) = x3 . f (x) is increasing on (−∞, ∞).

As you may have guessed, we can use the derivative to test for increasing/decreasing. Let
f be differentiable on the interval (a, b).

1. If f 0 (x) > 0 for all x in (a, b), then f is increasing on (a, b).
2. If f 0 (x) < 0 for all x in (a, b), then f is decreasing on (a, b).
3. If f 0 (x) = 0 for all x in (a, b), then f must be constant on (a, b).

FACT: If f is a continuous function, then f 0 (x) can only change signs at values of x where
f 0 (x) = 0 or f 0 (x) doesn’t exist.
Examples:

x3
1. Let f (x) = 4
− 3x. Find the intervals on which f (x) is increasing or decreasing.
solution: We will use the test and fact above. The derivative is
3x2 3 3
f 0 (x) =− 3 = (x2 − 4) = (x − 2)(x + 2)
4 4 4
Because of the above, we split our real line up where f 0 (x) = 0:
 −2 2
f (x) % & %

On (−∞, −2), (x − 2) and (x + 2) are both negative, so f 0 (x) = 43 (x − 2)(x + 2) > 0,

so f is increasing.
On (−2, 2), (x − 2) is negative while (x + 2) is positive, so f 0 (x) = 43 (x − 2)(x + 2) < 0,
so f is decreasing.
On (2, ∞), (x − 2) and (x + 2) are both positive, so f 0 (x) = 43 (x − 2)(x + 2) > 0, so f
is increasing.
To summarize, f (x) is increasing on (−∞, −2) and (2, ∞) while f (x) is decreasing on
(−2, 2).
32
2. Let g(x) = x + x2
. Find the intervals on which g(x) is increasing and decreasing.
solution: We first need to find the derivative.
64
g 0 (x) = 1 −
x3
Note that g 0 (x) = 0 when x3 = 64 ⇒ x = 4. The derivative is also not defined when
x = 0, so these are the places we divide our real line.

0 4
g(x) % & %

To find out what sign the derivative is on (−∞, 0), we can substitute in a test point
in that interval and see if the result is positive or negative. The point x = −1 is a
convenient one to use:

64
g 0 (−1) = 1 − = 65 > 0
(−1)3
Because of our fact, g 0 (x) will be positive everywhere in (−∞, 0), and thus g is in-
creasing on (−∞, 0).
Similarly,
64
g 0 (1) = 1 − = −63 < 0
(1)3
So g 0 (x) will be negative everywhere in (0, 4), and thus g is decreasing on (0, 4).
 Lastly,

64 64
g 0 (5) = 1 − = 1 − >0
(5)3 125
So g 0 (x) will be positive everywhere in (4, ∞), and thus g is increasing on (4, ∞).

9.2 Extrema and the First Derivative Test

We now have enough information to sketch these graphs.

x3
1. First let’s graph f (x) = 4
− 3x. First we find the intercepts.
To get the x-intercept we solve f (x) = 0:
x3
 2 
x
− 3x = 0 ⇒ x −3 =0
4 4
√
So the x-intercepts are x = 0, ± 12 ≈ ±3.5. The y-intercept is at (0, 0).
We know that the function changes from increasing to decreasing and vice-versa when
x = ±2. Plugging those values into our function we see that the points (2, −4) and
(−2, 4) are on our graph.

32
2. Similarly, g(x) = x + x2
.
This function has no y-intercept, because 0 is not in its domain. To find the x-intercept
we solve g(x) = 0:
32 3
√
3
x+ 2
= 0 ⇒ x = −32 ⇒ x = − 32 ≈ −3.2
x
 We have a vertical asymptote at x = 0 because

lim g(x) = +∞ = lim− g(x).

x→0+ x→0

Finally, we calculate the value of g at x = 4 and find that the point (4, 6) is on the
graph.

The point (4, 6) in the above graph is called a relative minimum.

Definition 9.2 Let f be a function defined at a point c. Then

1. We say that f has a relative minimum (or local minimum) at x = c if there is an

interval (a, b) containing c such that f (c) < f (x) for all x in (a, b).

2. We say that f has a relative maximum (or local maximum) at x = c if there is

an interval (a, b) containing c such that f (c) > f (x) for all x in (a, b).

The word “relative” is significant here. We are not saying that a relative max is largest
value f (x) ever takes. We will get to such points soon.
Together, relative maxes and mins are called relative extrema.

Theorem 9.1 If f (x) has a relative max or min at x = c, then either f 0 (c) = 0 or f 0 (c)
doesn’t exist.

Definition 9.3 If a point c is in the domain of f and either f 0 (c) = 0 or f 0 (c) doesn’t
exist, then we call x = c a critical point or critical value of f .
Examples:

1. f (x) = x2 .

x = 0 is a critical point and a local min. f 0 (0) = 0

2. f (x) = |x|.

x = 0 is a critical point and a local min. f 0 (0) is undefined.

We notice that in the examples above that we have local mins with intervals of negative
slope to the left and positive slope to the right. Under some conditions, this is what happens
in general.
Theorem 9.2 (The First Derivative Test): Let f be continuous on the interval (a, b)
and suppose that c is the only critical point of (a, b). Suppose f is differentiable on (a, b)
except possibly at c. Then:

1. If f 0 (x) is negative to the left of c and positive to the right of c, then f has a local min
at c.

2. If f 0 (x) is positive to the left of c and negative to the right of c, then f has a local max
at c.

3. If f 0 (x) is the same sign to the right and left of c then c is neither a max nor a min.

In cases like 3 above we call the point c a saddle point if f 0 (c) = 0.

Examples: Find the critical points and identify their type for the following functions.

1. f (x) = 2x3 + 9x2 − 108x + 30.

solution: We first have to find the critical points

f 0 (x) = 6x2 + 18x − 108 = 6(x2 + 3x − 18) = 6(x + 6)(x − 3)

So the critical points are x = −6, x = 3. To fill in our real line we plug in some test
points from (−∞, −6), (−6, 3) and (3, ∞):

f 0 (−7) = 6(−7 + 6)(−7 − 3) = 60 > 0

f 0 (0) = 6(6)(−3) = −108 < 0

f 0 (4) = 6(4 + 6)(4 − 3) = 60 > 0
Thus we have the following

−6 3
f 0 (x) + 0 − 0 +

f (x) % & %

So by the first derivative test we can conclude that f (x) has a local max at x = −6
and a local min at x = 3.
2. h(x) = x2 e3x .
solution: We first have to find the critical points:
h0 (x) = 3x2 e3x + 2xe3x = x(3x + 2)e3x
So the critical points are x = 0, x = − 23 . Notice that the e3x doesn’t give us any
critical points because it is defined everywhere and is never 0. To fill in our real line
we plug in some test points from (−∞, − 23 ), (− 23 , 0) and (0, ∞):
h0 (−1) = (−1)(−3 + 2)e−3 = e−3 > 0
    
0 1 1 3 1
h − = − − + 2 e−3/2 = − e−3/2 < 0
2 2 2 4
h0 (1) = (1)(3 + 2)e3 = 5e3 > 0
Thus we have the following

− 23 0
h0 (x) + 0 − 0 +

h(x) % & %

So by the first derivative test we can conclude that h(x) has a local max at x = − 23
and a local min at x = 0.
3. f (x) = x1/3 ex/6 .
solution: Notice that this function is defined everywhere, i.e. its domain is R. We
once again find the critical points:
 
0 1 x/6 1
f (x) = x 1/3
e + x−2/3 ex/6
6 3
 1/3 
x/6 x 1
= e + 2/3
6 3x
 
x/6 x 2
= e +
6x2/3 6x2/3
 
x/6 x+2
= e
6x2/3
So f 0 (x) = 0 at x = 2 and is undefined at x = 0, and thus we have two critical points.
To fill in our real line we plug in some test points from (−∞, 0), (0, 2) and (2, ∞):
 
0 −3/6 −1
f (−3) = e <0
6(−3)2/3
 Notice that the denominator is always positive (why?).
 
0 −1/6 1
f (−1) = e >0
6(−1)2/3
 
0 1/6 3
f (1) = e >0
6(1)2/3
Thus we have the following

−2 0
f 0 (x) − 0 + UN +

f (x) & % %

So there is a local min at x = −2 and at x = 0 there is neither a max nor a min (notice
that there is not a saddle point there because the derivative doesn’t exist there). It is
important to note that x = 0 is still a critical point.

THIS IS A CRUCIAL ISSUE

In the previous example, there was a critical point at x = 0 since f 0 was undefined at x = 0,
but 0 was not in the domain of f .

If x = c is not in the domain, you cannot have a critical point at x = c.

Example: Let f (x) = x1 . Then f 0 (x) = − x12 . f 0 is undefined at x = 0, but there is no critical
point there since f is also undefined at x = 0.
Absolute Extrema
In ecomonics applications, we are generally uninterested in local maxes and mins. Instead
we want to know when our function is maximal or minimal on its entire domain.

Definition 9.4 Let f be defined on an interval I (possibly all of R) containing c. Then

f is said to have an absolute maximum or global maximum on I if f (c) ≥ f (x) for
every x in I.

There is an analogous statement for absolute/global minimums.

The next theorem is both deep and extremely important.
Theorem 9.3 (Extreme Value Theorem): If f is continuous on a closed interval [a, b],
then f has both an absolute max and an absolute min on [a, b].

Note that the word “extreme” in the name of the theorem above is modifying “value” and
not “theorem”. I am not making any claims as to how extreme this theorem is.
The theorem is certainly false for other intervals like R. f (x) = ex has no maxes or mins
on R.
To find extrema on a closed interval [a, b] proceed as follows:

1. Evaluate f at each critical point in [a, b].

2. Evaluate f at the endpoints a and b.

3. The least of these values is the absolute min and the greatest is the absolute max.

Examples:

1. Find the absolute max and min of f (x) = 2x3 − 3x2 − 36x + 2 on the interval [0, 5].
solution: We first find the critical points

f 0 (x) = 6x2 − 6x − 36 = 6(x2 − x − 6) = 6(x − 3)(x + 2)

So the critical points are x = 3 and x = −2. We can throw away x = −2 because it
isn’t in [0, 5]. Now we calculate f at all relevant points.

f (0) = 2

f (3) = 2(27) − 3(9) − 36(3) + 2 = −79

f (5) = 2(125) − 3(25) − 180 + 2 = −3
So the absolute max occurs at x = 0 and the absolute min is at x = 3. Note that the
absolute maxes and mins can occur at endpoints.

2. A company finds that the profit P (x) where x represents thousands of units, is given
by
P (x) = −x3 + 9x2 − 15x − 9
If the company can only make a maximum of 6000 units, what is the absolute maximum
profit?
solution: Since x is in thousands of units, we must find the absolute max of P (x) on
the interval [0, 6].

P 0 (x) = −3x2 + 18x − 15 = −3(x2 − 6x + 5) = −3(x − 5)(x − 1)

 So there are two critical points at x = 1, 5. They are both in [0, 6], so we have four
points to calculate:
P (0) = −9
P (1) = −(1)3 + 9(1)2 − 15(1) − 9 = −16
P (5) = −125 + 225 − 75 − 9 = 16
P (6) = −216 + 324 − 90 − 9 = 9
The absolute max occurs at x = 5, so the company should make 5000 units to maximize
profit.

We close out this section with a helpful theorem.

Theorem 9.4 If f is a continuous function on an interval and has only one critical value
in that interval, then a relative max or min is also an absolute max or min.