14.

7 Maximum and Minimum Values

Definition: (Local Maximum and Local Minimum)
A function f of two variables has a local maximum value, f a, b  , at
a, b  if f a, b   f x, y   x, y  in some disk with center a, b  .
If f a, b   f x, y   x, y  in such a disk, f a, b  is a local minimum
value.

1.5

1
z

0.5

0
8

6 7
6
4 5
4
3
2 2
1
0 0
Theorem: (First Derivative Test for Local Extreme Values)

If f has a local extreme at a, b  and the first partial derivatives of f

exist there, then f x a, b   0 and f y a, b   0 .

If the inequalities of the previous slide hold for all (x, y) in the
domain of f then the points are absolute extrema.

(a,b) is called a critical point of f if fx (a,b) = 0 and fy (a,b) = 0, OR if

one of these partial derivatives does not exist.
 Saddle Points
(the highest point along one curve of the surface and
the lowest point along another curve of the surface)
 EXAMPLE:
Find all critical points for the function below
f ( x, y)  3x  y  3xy  3x  y  6
2 2

SOLUTION:

f x  6x  3 y  3 f y  3x  2 y  1
0  6x  3 y  3 0  3x  2 y  1

Try the addition (algebraic elimination) method…

 0  6x  3 y  3 0  6x  3 y  3
0  3x  2 y  1 times 2 0  6 x  4 y  2

0   y 1
0  6 x  3(1)  3 y 1
 6  6x
1  x Critical Point: (1,1)
Second Derivatives Test Suppose the second partial Derivatives of f
are continuous on a disk with center (a,b), and that fx(a,b) = 0 and
fy(a,b) = 0, i.e. (a,b) is a critical point.
Consider the expression:
D  f xx f yy  ( f xy )2
a) If D > 0 at (a,b) and fxx(a,b) > 0, then f (a,b) is a local minimum.
b) If D > 0 at (a,b) and fxx(a,b) < 0, then f (a,b) is a local maximum.
c) If D < 0 at (a,b) , then f (a,b) is a saddle point.

If D = 0, the test gives no information.

 EXAMPLE:

Find the relative extreme values of:

f ( x, y)  3x  y  3xy  3x  y  6
2 2

SOLUTION:
Critical Point: (1,1)

f x  6x  3 y  3 f y  2 y  3x  1

f xx  6 f yy  2 f xy  3
D  f xx  f yy  ( f xy ) 2  (6)  (2)  (3) 2  3

D > 0 and fxx = 6 > 0, so, f has a relative

minimum at the critical point (–1, 1).
To get the relative minimum value, simply
evaluate f (x, y) using that critical point…
f (1, 1)  3  1  3  3  1  6  5
Relative minimum value: f = 5 at the point (–1, 1).
 Example
Find the local maximum and minimum values and saddle
points of
𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 = 𝑥 2 − 4𝑥𝑦 + 𝑦 3 + 4𝑦
Solution: Step 1- Locate the critical points
𝑓𝑥 = 2𝑥 − 4𝑦 = 0, 𝑓𝑦 = −4𝑥 + 3𝑦 2 + 4 = 0
Setting these partial derivatives equal to 0, we obtain
𝑥 = 2𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 − 4𝑥 + 3𝑦 2 + 4 = 0
To solve these equations we substitute 𝑥 = 2𝑦 from the
first equation into the second to obtain
3𝑦 2 − 8𝑦 + 4 = 0 ⇒ 𝑦 = 2, 2/3
The two critical points are, (4,2), and (4/3, 2/3).
9
 Solution
Step 2- Find the second derivatives
𝑓𝑥𝑥 = 2, 𝑓𝑦𝑦 = 6𝑦, 𝑓𝑥𝑦 = −4
Step 3 – Calculate 𝐷(𝑥, 𝑦)
𝑓𝑥𝑥 𝑓𝑥𝑦 2
𝐷 𝑥, 𝑦 = = 𝑓𝑥𝑥 𝑓𝑦𝑦 − 𝑓𝑥𝑦 = 12𝑦 − 16
𝑓𝑦𝑥 𝑓𝑦𝑦
Step 4 – Analyse 𝐷(𝑥, 𝑦) at the two critical points:
At (4, 2): 𝐷 4,2 = 8 > 0 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑥𝑥 4,2 = 2 > 0
So 𝑓 4,2 = 0 is a local minimum.

At (4/3, 2/3): 𝐷 4/3, 2/3 = −8 < 0

So 4/3, 2/3 is a saddle point.
10
Exp: Find the local extrema of f x, y   x 4  y 4  4 xy  1 .

f x  4 x3  4 y set f x  0  4 x 3  4 y  0  y  x 3

f y  4 y  4x
3
set f y  0  4 y  4 x  0  x
3 3 3
 x0
 x 9 x 0  x x 8
   
 1  0 x x 4  1 x 4  1  0

   
 x x 2  1 x 2  1 x 4  1  0 So the real roots are: x  0 and x  1

Hence the critical points are: 0, 0 , 1, 1 and  1,  1

 f xx  12x 2 f yy  12y 2 f xy  4

so f xx f yy  f xy2  12 x 2 12 y 2   4   144 x 2 y 2  16  D

2

at 0, 0 , D0, 0  16  0  saddle point at 0, 0

at 1, 1 , D1, 1  144  16  128  0 and f xx 1, 1  12  0

 a local minimum value of f 1, 1  1 at 1, 1

at  1,  1 , D 1,  1  144  16  128  0 and f xx  1,  1  12  0

 a local minimum value of f  1,  1  1 at  1,  1