Extreme Values of Functions

One of the most important applications of differential calculus are

optimization problems. We often want to know when the output of a
function is at its maximum or minimum.

In such problems there may be a largest or smallest output value over the
entire input interval of interest or within a local neighborhood of an input
value.

Both absolute and local maximum and minimum values are of interest in
many contexts.

Absolute Extreme Values of a Function

When an output value of a function is a maximum or a minimum over the

entire domain of the function, the value is called the absolute
maximum or the absolute minimum, as defined below.

Let f be a function with domain D and let c be a fixed constant in D. Then

the output value f(c) is the

a. absolute maximum value of f on D if and only if f(x) f(c) for all x in D.

b. absolute minimum value of f on D if and only if f(c) f(x) for all x in D.

Absolute Extreme Values - An Example

Example 1 Identify the absolute extrema and relative extrema for the
following function.
𝑓(𝑥 ) = 𝑥 2 on 〈−1,2〉
Solution
Since this function is easy enough to graph let’s do that. However, we only
want the graph on the interval [-1,2]. Here is the graph,
Note that we used dots at the end of the graph to remind us that the
graph ends at these points.

We can now identify the extrema from the graph.

It looks like we’ve got a relative and absolute minimum of zero at x = 0 and
an absolute maximum of four at x = 2. Note that x = -1 is not a relative
maximum since it is at the end point of the interval.

This function doesn’t have any relative maximums.

Example 2 The domain of f(x) = x2 is all real numbers and the range is all
nonnegative real numbers. The graph in the figure below suggests that the
function has no absolute maximum value and has an absolute minimum of
0, which occurs at x = 0.
𝑓(𝑥 ) = 𝑥 2 on 〈−2,2〉

Solution
Here is the graph for this function.
In this case we still have a relative and absolute minimum of zero at x =
0. We also still have an absolute maximum of four. However, unlike the
first example this will occur at two points, x = - 2 and x = 2 .

Again, the function doesn’t have any relative maximums.

Example 3 Identify the absolute extrema and relative extrema for the
following function.
𝑓(𝑥 ) = 𝑥 2
Solution
In this case we’ve given no domain and so the assumption is that we will
take the largest possible domain. For this function that means all the real
numbers. Here is the graph.

In this case the graph doesn’t stop increasing at either end and so there
are no maximums of any kind for this function. No matter which point we
pick on the graph there will be points both larger and smaller than it on
either side so we can’t have any maximums (or any kind, relative or
absolute) in a graph.

We still have a relative and absolute minimum value of zero at x = 0.

Extreme Value Theorem

Theorem 1 below is called the Extreme Value theorem. It describes a
condition that ensures a function has both an absolute minimum and an
absolute maximum. The theorem is important because it can guide our
investigations when we search for absolute extreme values of a function.
Theorem 1 If f is continuous on a closed interval 〈𝑎, 𝑏〉, then f has both an
absolute maximum value and an absolute minimum value on the interval.
This theorem says that a continuous function that is defined on
a closed interval must have both an absolute maximum value and an
absolute minimum value. It does not address how to find the extreme
values.

Local Extreme Values of a Function

One of the most useful results of calculus is that the absolute extreme
values of a function must come from a list of local extreme values, and those
values are easily found using the first derivative of the function.
Local extreme values, as defined below, are the maximum and minimum
points (if there are any) when the domain is restricted to a small
neighborhood of input values.
Let c be an interior point of the domain of the function f. Then the
function f has a
a. local maximum at c if and only if f(x) f(c) for all x in some open
interval containing c.
b. local minimum at c if and only if f(c) f(x) for all x in some open interval
containing c.
Endpoints as Local Extrema
The definition of local extrema given above restricts the input value to an
interior point of the domain. The definition can be extended to include
endpoints of intervals.
A function f has a local maximum or local minimum at an endpoint c of its
domain if the appropriate inequality holds for all x in some half-open
interval contained in the domain and having c as its one endpoint.
It is clear from the definitions that for domains consisting of one or more
intervals, any absolute extreme point must also be a local extreme point.
So, absolute extrema can be found by investigating all local extrema

1. For each of the following functions, determine intervals of increase and

decrease and
identify extreme values. (Graphing first will likely help.)
a) y = 2x2 − 8x
𝑥2
b) y =
𝑥 2 −9

c) y = x + 5
d) y = |10 − 5x|

2. Use the following graph of f to determine its intervals of increase and

decrease and identify extreme values. (Assume the graph continues the
same growth style on the left and the right of the pictured interval.)

Answers:
a) decrease: (−∞, 2) c) decrease: nowhere
increase: (2, ∞) increase: (−∞, +∞)
minimum: y = −8 (occurs at x = 2) no extrema

b) decrease: (0, 3) ∪ (3, +∞) d) decrease: (−∞, 2)

increase: (−∞, −3) ∪ (−3, 0) increase: (2, +∞)
maximum: y = 0 (occurs at x = 0) minimum: y = 0 (occurs at x = 2)

2. decrease: (−∞, 2) ∪ (2, +∞)

increase: (−2, 2)
minimum: y = 1 (occurs at x = −2)
maximum: y = 3 (occurs at x = 2)