CHAPTER

2
PARTIAL
DERIVATIVES
2.5 ABSOLUTE EXTREMA

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝐷𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 2.5 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛.

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑚 2.7
𝐼𝑓 𝑎 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ
𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚
𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐹𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎
𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒
𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛.
• To find the absolute extrema of a function
on a closed and bounded region using
Theorem 2.7, we need to do the following
steps:
(i) Find the critical points of f in the region,
and compute the values of f at the
critical points
(ii) Find the extremum values of f on the
boundary
(iii) Compare the values of f at the critical
points with the maximum and
minimum values of f on the boundary
of the region. The highest value of f is
the maximum value and the lowest
value of f is the minimum value.
****** in this case there is no need to use
Second Derivative Test
 𝐸𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 10
𝑈𝑠𝑒 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑚 2.7 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓
𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 = 𝑥 2 − 𝑦 2 𝑜𝑛 𝑅 = 𝑥, 𝑦 : −1 ≤ 𝑥 ≥ 1, −1 ≪ 𝑦 ≥ 1
𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑅 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑

𝑖 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓; 𝑓𝑥 = 2𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑦 = −2𝑦. 𝐻𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑅 𝑖𝑠 0,0 .
𝑓(0,0) = 02 − 02 = 0 .
1
(-1,1) (1,1)
𝑖𝑖 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦
-1 (0,0) 1
∗ 𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑥 = −1, 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑓 −1, 1 = (−1)2 −(1)2
=0
(-1,-1)
-1 (1,-1)
𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑓 −1, −1 = (−1)2 −(−1)2 = 0 -1
𝑓 −1, 𝑦 = (−1)2 − 𝑦 2 . 𝑓𝑦 = −2𝑦; −2𝑦 = 0, 𝑦 = 0
*𝐴𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡, 𝑓 −1,0 = (−1)2 −(0)2 = 1
(-1,1) (1,1)
∗ 𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑥 = 1, 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑓 1, 1 = (1)2 −(1)2 = 0
𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑓 1, −1 = (1)2 −(−1)2 = 0 -1 (0,0) 1
𝑓 1, 𝑦 = (1)2 − 𝑦 2 . 𝑓𝑦 = −2𝑦; −2𝑦 = 0, 𝑦 = 0
(-1,-1) (1,-1)
∗𝐴𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡, 𝑓 1,0 = (1)2 −(0)2 = 1 -1
. (-1,1) (1,1)

𝑖𝑖 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 -1 (0,0) 1

(-1,-1) (1,-1)
2 2
∗ 𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑦 = −1, 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑓 1, −1 = (1) −(1) = 0 -1

𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑓 −1, −1 = (−1)2 −(−1)2 = 0

𝑓 𝑥, −1 = 𝑥 2 − (−1)2 . 𝑓𝑥 = 2𝑥; 2𝑥 = 0, 𝑥 = 0 1

*𝐴𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡, 𝑓 0, −1 = (0)2 −(−1)2 = −1

(-1,1) (1,1)

∗ 𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑦 = 1, 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑓 1, 1 = (1)2 −(1)2 = 0 -1 (0,0) 1

-1
𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑓 −1, 1 = (1)2 −(−1)2 = 0
𝑓 𝑥, −1 = 𝑥 2 − (−1)2 . 𝑓𝑥 = 2𝑥; 2𝑥 = 0, 𝑥 = 0 (-1,-1) (1,-1)
-1
*𝐴𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡, 𝑓 0, −1 = (0)2 −(−1)2 = −1

𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓 𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 0, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒
𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 − 1,
𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑅, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚
𝑜𝑓 𝑓 𝑖𝑠 1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑓 𝑖𝑠 − 1
*** in many practical cases, we only want to find either an absolute maximum or an absolute minimum in a
given R. Furthermore the region R may not be closed or bounded and hence we cannot use Theorem 2.7. In
this case the following theorem will be useful.

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑚 2.8 𝑆𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑅

𝑖 𝐼𝑓 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒
𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝑖𝑖 𝐼𝑓 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜

𝑠𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒
𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛.
 𝐸𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 11
𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑅 = 𝑥, 𝑦 : 0 < 𝑥 < ∞, 0 < 𝑦 < ∞ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 = 𝑥 3 + 𝑦 3 − 6𝑥𝑦.
𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑓 𝑜𝑛 𝑅.
𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛:
𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑝 1: 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠
𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑥, 𝑦 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑥 𝑥, 𝑦 = 0 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑦 𝑥, 𝑦 = 0 ; 𝑓𝑥 = 3𝑥 2 − 6𝑦 = 0; 𝑓𝑦 = 3𝑦 2 − 6𝑥 = 0

𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦, 𝑤𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠 (0,0) and (2,2). Since (0,0) is outside
the region R 𝑤𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 (2,2).

𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑝 2: 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑥𝑥 2,2 , 𝑓𝑦𝑦 2,2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑥𝑦 (2,2)

𝑓𝑥 = 3𝑥 2 − 6𝑦; 𝑓𝑥𝑥 = 6𝑥 , 𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑠𝑓𝑥𝑥 (2,2) = 12 𝑓𝑦 = 3𝑦 2 − 6𝑥; 𝑓𝑦𝑦 = 6𝑦 , 𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑦𝑦 (2,2) = 12

𝑓𝑥 = 3𝑥 2 − 6𝑦; 𝑓𝑥𝑦 = −6 , 𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑠𝑓𝑥𝑦 2,2 = −6

𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑝 3: 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝐺 𝑎, 𝑏 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒

𝐺 2,2 = 12 12 − (−6)2 = 108 > 0 𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑓𝑥𝑥 (2,2) = 12 > 0
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑓 2,2 = 23 − 23 − 6 2 2 = −8 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚
 𝐸𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 12
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑥 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑛𝑜 𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑥 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 1296 𝑐𝑢𝑏𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑚. 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠
𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑥.
 4/3

3
 4
3 − 12 = 3 > 0
3
4
>0
3

Therefore M(18,12) is a local minimum in the region R,

therefore M (18,12) is the absolute minimum in the region.
Thus, the dimensions of the box that will require the
minimum amount of material are length = 18 cm,
width y =12 cm and height, y = 1296/(18*12) = 6 cm
 Tutorial 2A

In question 1-9, find the critical points of f (x,y) and determine

whether f (x,y) at that point is a local maximum or a local
minimum, or the value of a saddle point.
 Tutorial 2B
Use Theorem 2.7 to find the absolute maximum and absolute minimum of
the function

Use Theorem 2.6 and/or Theorem 2.8 to solve the problem