Chapter 3: Applications

of Differentiation
Lecture 2
By
Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 Outline
1. Optimization Problems
2. Applications to Economics
3. Newton’s Method
4. Antiderivatives

9/11/2016
Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 Optimization Problem
• Methods for finding extreme values have practical
applications in many areas:
A businessperson wants to minimize costs and
maximize profits
 A traveler wants to minimize transportation
time,…
• Challenge: to convert the word problem into a
mathematical optimization problem by setting up
the function to be maximized or minimized

9/11/2016
Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 Steps in Solving Optimization Problems
1. Understand Problem: What is the unknown? What are
the given quantities and conditions?

2. Draw a Diagram: draw a diagram and identify the given

and required quantities on the diagram.

3. Introduce Notation: Symbol (Q for example) for the

quantity to be optimized, and for other quantities

4. Express Q in terms of some of the other symbols from

Step 3.

5. Eliminate all but one of variables in Q so that Q=f(x).

Write the domain of this function.
6. Find the absolute maximum (minimum) of the objective
function.
 Optimization
Ex. An open box is formed by cutting identical
squares from each corner of a 4 in. by 4 in. sheet of
paper. Find the dimensions of the box that will
yield the maximum volume.
x

4 – 2x

x
x 4 – 2x x

V  lwh  (4  2 x)(4  2 x) x ; x in 0, 2

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Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 V  x   16 x  16 x  4 x
2 3

V ( x)  16  32 x  12 x 2
 4(2  3x)(2  x)
2
Critical points: x  2,
3
V (2)  0
V (0)  0
2
V    4.74 in 3
3

The dimensions are 8/3 in. by 8/3 in. by 2/3 in.

giving a maximum box volume of 4.74 in3.
9/11/2016
Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 Example
An metal can with volume 60 in3 is to be constructed
in the shape of a right circular cylinder. If the cost of
the material for the side is $0.05/in.2 and the cost of
the material for the top and bottom is $0.03/in.2 Find
the dimensions of the can that will minimize the cost.

V   r h  60
2

C  (0.03)(2) r 2  (0.05)2 rh
cost top and side
bottom

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Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 60
V   r h  60
2
So h  2
r
C  (0.03)(2) r 2  (0.05)2 rh
60
 (0.03)(2) r  (0.05)2 r 2 Sub. in for h
2

r
6
 0.06 r 
2

r
6
C   0.12 r  2
r
6
C   0 gives 0.12 r  2
r
6
r  r*  3  2.52 in. which yields h  3.02 in.
0.12
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Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 Graph of cost function to verify absolute
minimum:

2.5

So with a radius ≈ 2.52 in. and height ≈ 3.02 in.

the cost is minimized at ≈ $3.58.

9/11/2016
Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 2. Applications to Business and Economics

C(x): the cost function, is the cost of producing x units of

a certain product

Marginal cost C’(x) is the rate of change of C(x) with

respect to x.

Given a cost function C, the average cost

function is given by:

C ( x)
C ( x) 
x
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Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
Applications to Business and Economics

• Let p(x) be the price per unit that the company can
charge if it sells x units
• Then, p is called the demand function (or price
function), which is expected to be decreasing w.r.t. x
• Total Revenue is R(x)=xp(x), called revenue
function
• R’(x): marginal revenue function
• P(x)=R(x)-C(x), called profit function
• P’(x): marginal profit function

9/11/2016
Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 3. Newton’s Method
• How to solve the equation f ( x)  0?
Example: f ( x)  x3  6 x  sin(2 x)  5

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Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 Newton’s Method
Problem: Find approximations of r satisfying f (r )  0

The x-intercept of the tangent line approximates the root:

f ( xn )
y  f ( xn )  f '( xn )( x  xn )  0  x  xn 
f '( xn )
Set an iterative formula, called Newton’s method:

f ( xn )
xn 1  xn  , n  0,1, 2,...
f '( xn )

r
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13
 Stopping criterion
• We want to achieve a given accuracy, say to
eight decimal places. How do we know when
to stop?
• Rule: We stop when successive
approximations xn and xn+1 agree to the given
precision

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14
 Example

Given the equation

f ( x)  cos x  x  0
a) Show that the above equation admits a root in
the interval (0, 1)
b) Use Newton’s method to find the root in the
part a) with starting point x0 =1, correct to
three decimal places
9/11/2016
Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 Solution
a) The function f(x) = cos(x) – x is continuous.
We have
f (0)  cos 0  0  1  0
f (1)  cos1  1  0
By Intermediate Value Theorem, there is a value
r in (0, 1) such that f(r)=0. So, the equation
f(x)=0 has a root in the interval (0, 1)
9/11/2016
Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 Solution (continued)
b) Find the approximate root:
f ( x)  cos x  x, f '( x)   sin x  1
f ( xn ) cos xn  xn
xn 1  xn   xn 
f '( xn )  sin xn  1
cos xn  xn
 xn 1  xn  , n  0,1, 2,...
sin xn  1
x0  1, x1 =0.7504
x2 =0.7391, x3 =0.739085
 r  0.739085
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Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 Exercise
f ( xn )
xn 1  xn  , n  0,1, 2,...
f '( xn )
Given the equation

f ( x)  e  x  2  sin x  0
x

a) Show that the above equation admits a root in

the interval (0, 1)
b) Use Newton’s method to find the root in the
part a) with starting point x0 =1, correct to
three decimal places
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Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 4. Antiderivatives
An antiderivative of a function f is a
function F such that
F  f

Ex. An antiderivative of f ( x)  6 x
is F ( x)  3x2  2
since F ( x)  f ( x).

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Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 Constant of Integration
Every antiderivative F of f must be of
the form F(x) = G(x) + C, where C is a
constant.

 6xdx  3x C
2
Notice

Represents every possible

9/11/2016
antiderivative of 6x.
Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 Exercise

1. Given the equation f ( x)  cos( x 1)  2 x  0

a) Show that the above equation admits a unique root in the
interval (0, 1)
b) Use Newton’s method to find the root in the part a) with
starting point x0 =1, correct to three decimal places

9/11/2016
Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh
 Exercise
1. The top and bottom margins of a poster are each 6 cm and the
side margins are each 4 cm. If the area of printed material on
the poster is fixed at 384 cm2 , find the dimensions of the
poster with the smallest area
2. Use Newton’s method to find a root of the equation correct to
three decimal places by taking x0=0 and x0=1

 x2
4e sin x  2 x3  x  1
3. Find f, if

f ''( x)  2  cos x, f (0)  1, f ( / 2)  0

9/11/2016
Assoc.Prof. Mai Duc Thanh