Lecture 18: Maximum and Minimum Values

and The Mean Value Theorem

Gustavo Felisberto Valente
2018-07-05

Maximum and Minimum Values

Definition: Let c be a number in the domain D of a function f . Then

f (c) is the
• absolute maximum value of f on D if f (c) ≥ f (x) for all x in
D.

• absolute minimum value of f on D if f (c) ≤ f (x) for all x in D.

Definition: The number f (c) is a

• local maximum value of f if f (c) ≥ f (x) when x is near c.

• local minimum value of f if f (c) ≤ f (x) when x is near c.

The Extreme Value Theorem: If f is continuous on a closed

interval [a, b], then f attains an absolute maximum value f (c) and
an absolute minimum value f (d) at some numbers c and d in [a,
b].

1
 Definition: A critical number of a function f is a number c in
the domain of f such that either f J (c) = 0 or f J (c) does not exist.

Example: Find the critical numbers of f (x) = x3/5(4 − x).

Solution: Using the Product Rule:

3 3(4 − x)
f J (x) = x3/5 (−1) + (4 − x) . x−2/5 Σ = −x3/5 +
5 5x2/5
−5x + 3(4 − x) 12 −
=x
8 =
5x 2/5 5x2/5
Therefore f J (x) = 0 if 12 − 8x = 0, that is, x = 32 , and f J (x) does not exist
when x = 0. Thus the critical numbers are 32 and 0.

Fermat’s Theorem: If f has a local maximum or minimum at c,

then
c is a critical number of f .
Remark: Not all critical numbers are maximum or minimum.

Example 1: If f (x) = x3 then f J (x) = 3x2 , so f J (0) = 0. But f has

no maximum or minimum at 0.

Example 2: If f (x) = x3/5(4 − x) then one of the critical numbers is

a local maximum (namely, x2 = 3 ), while the other (x = 0) is neither.
 The Closed Interval Method: To find the absolute maximum and
minimum values of a continuous function f on a closed interval [a,
b]:
1. Find the values of f at the critical numbers of f in (a, b).

2. Find the values of f at the endpoints of the interval.

3. The largest of the values from Steps 1 and 2 is the absolute

max- imum value; the smallest of these values is the absolute
minimum value.
Example: Find the absolute maximum and minimum values of the
func- tion
1
f (x) = x3 − 3x2 +
− ≤x≤4
1 2
Σ Σ
Solution: Since f is continuous on − 1 , 4 , we can use the Closed Interval
2
Method:

f (x) = x3 − 3x2 + 1
f J (x) = 3x2 − 6x = 3x(x − 2)

Since f J (x) exists for all x, the only critical numbers of f occur when f J (x) =
0, that is, x = 0 or x = 2. Notice that each of these critical numbers lies in
 . Σ
the interval −12 , 4 . The values of f at these critical numbers are
f (0) = 1 f (2) = −3
The values of f at the endpoints of the intervals are
1 1
f .− Σ = f (4) = 17
2 8
Comparing these four numbers, we see that the absolute maximum value is
f (4) = 17 and the absolute minimum value is f (2) = −3.

The Mean Value Theorem

Rolle’s Theorem: Let f be a function that satisfies the following

three hypotheses:
1. f is continuous on the closed interval [a, b].

2. f is differentiable on the open interval (a,

b). 3. f (a) = f (b)

Then there is a number c in (a, b) such that f J (c) = 0.

Example: Prove that the equation x3 +x−1 = 0 has exactly one real root.

Solution: It’s easy to see that it has a root. Since f (0) = −1 < 0 and
f (1) = 1 > 0 the, by the Intermediate Value Theorem1, f has a root. The
question is: does it have another root?
If it did, then there exists two roots, say, a and b. They have the
property f (a) = 0 and f (b) = 0. By the Rolle’s Theorem2 , there exists
a number c between a and b such that f J (c) = 0. However,
f J (x) = 3x2 + 1 ≥ 1 for all x
So f J (x) can never be 0. This gives a contradiction! Therefore the equation
cannot have two real roots.
1
Every continuous functions that admits a positive and a negative value has a root
2
Note that f is a polynomials, thus it is continuous and differentiable everywhere
(satisfying the hypothesis of the theorem)
 The Mean Value Theorem:Let f be a function that satisfies the
following hypotheses:
f is continuous on the closed interval [a, b].
f is differentiable on the open interval (a, b). Then there is a number c in (a, b) such that

f j (c) = f (b) − f (a)

b−a

or, equivalently, f (b) − f (a) = f j(c)(b − a)

Example: Suppose that f (0) =− 3 and f J (x) 5 for all values of x.

How large can f (2) possibly be?

Solution: Since f is differentiable for all values of x then f is

continuous for all values of x. Thus we can apply the Mean Value
Theorem (using a = 0 and b = 2): there exists a number c such that
f (2) − f (0) = f J (c)(2 − 0)
so
f (2) = f (0) + 2f J (c) = −3 + 2f J (c)
Since f J (x) ≤ 5 for all values of x then, in particular, for x = c:
f (2) = −3 + 2f J (c) ≤ −3 + 2 · 5 = 7
Therefore, the largest possible value for f (2) is 7.

Theorem: If f J (x) = 0 for all x in an interval (a, b), then f is constant

on (a, b).

Proof: Let x1 and x2 be any two numbers in (a, b) with x1 < x2. Since f is
differentiable on (a, b), it must be differentiable on (x1, x2) and
continuous on [x1, x2]. Using the Mean Value Theorem, there exists a
number c in (x1, x2) such that
f (x2 ) − f (x1 ) = f J (c)(x2 − x1 )
Since f J (x) = 0 for all x then, in particular, f J (c) = 0. So

f (x2) − f (x1) = 0 or f (x2) = f (x1)

Therefore f has the same value at any two numbers x1 and x2 in (a, b). This
means that f is constant on (a, b).

Corollary: If f J (x) = g J (x) for all x in an interval (a, b), then f− g is

constant on (a, b).

Proof: Let F (x) = f (x) − g(x). Then

F J (x) = f J (x) − g J (x) = 0

for all x in (a, b). Thus, by the previous theorem, F is constant; that −
is, f g
is constant.