Concavity

Let f be differentiable on an open interval I. The graph of f is concave upward on I when ′ is increasing on the
interval and concave downward on I when ′ is decreasing on the interval.

Test for concavity.

Let f be a function whose second derivative exist on an open interval I.

1. If > 0 for all x in I, then the graph of f is concave upward on I.

2. If < 0 for all x in I, then the graph of f is concave downward on I.

Example.

1. Determine the open intervals on which the graph of = is concave upward or downward.
Solution
= = 6 +3
= −6 +3 +3
=−
" = −

" =−

" =− factor out +3

" = !

"
" = !

" = ! #$ !

" = 0 if = ±1
" −2 = ! = =+
)
" 0 = ! = =−
)

" 2 = ! = =+
Interval Test Sign of Conclusion
value "
−∞. −1 −2 + Concave upward
−1,1 0 − Concave downward
1, +∞ 2 + Concave upward

2. Determine the open intervals on which the graph of = is concave upward or concave downward.
Solution
=

=
)
=
 )
" = −
) )
" =−
) )
=−
) )
=−
) )
=− !

) )
= !

)
= !

Equate = 0, then 3 = −4, x = imaginary

Therefore there are no points at which =0
Consider the domain of the function
D (−∞, −2 ∪ −2,2 ∪ 2, +∞
) 7
−3 = ! = =+
7
)
1 = ! = =−
) 7
3 = ! = =+
7
Interval Test Value Sign of " Conclusion
−∞, −2 −3 + Concave upward
−2,2 1 − Concave downward
2, +∞ 3 + Concave upward

Points of inflection

Let f be a function that is continuous on an open interval, and let c be a point in the interval. If the graph of f has
a tangent line at this point (c, f(c)), then this point is a point of inflection of the graph of f when the concavity of
f changes from upward to downward or downward to upward at the point.

If (c, f(c)) is a point of inflection of the graph of f, then either 8 = 0 or ′′ does not exist at x = c.

Example:

Determine the points of inflection and discuss the concavity of the graph of = −4 .

Solution

= −4

=4 −4 3

=4 − 12 =4 −3

" = 4 − 12

" = 12 − 24 = 12 −2

Points of inflection

" = 12 −2 =0

9 = :, 9 = ;
 " −1 = 12 −1 −1 − 2 = − − = +

" 1 = 12 1 1 − 2 = + − = −

" 3 = 12 3 3 − 2 = + + = +

Interval Test Value Sign of " Conclusion

−∞, 0 −1 + Concave upward
0,2 1 − Concave downward
2, +∞ 3 + Concave upward

Second derivative test

Let f be a function such that 8 = 0 and the second derivative of f exist on an open interval containing c.

1. If 8 > 0, then f has a relative minimum at (c, f(c)).

2. If 8 < 0, then f has a relative maximum at (c, f(c)).
If 8 = 0, then the test fails. That is, f may have a relative maximum, a relative minimum, or neither. In
such cases, you can use the First Derivative Test.
Example Using the second derivative test, find the relative extrema of = −3 < + 5 .
Solution
<
= −3 +5
= −15 + 15
" = − 15 + 15
" = −60 + 30
" = −30 2 − 1
Solving for the critical numbers
−15 + 15 = 0
−15 −1 =0
= −1, 0, 1
Apply the second derivative test
" −1 = −30 −1 2 −1 − 1
= − − + = + relative minimum
" 0 = −30 0 −1 = 0 test fail
" 1 = −30 1 2 1 − 1
= − + + = − relative maximum