NAMING THE CRITICAL POINTS

Types of Critical Points:

1. Maximum point

2. Minimum point

3. Point of inflection
RELATIVE MAXIMA AND MINIMA
 RELATIVE MAXIMA AND MINIMA

1. A function f is said to have a relative maximum at x0 if

there is an open interval containing x0 on which f ( x0 ) is
the largest value, that is, f ( x0 )  f ( x) for all x in the
interval.
2. A function f is said to have a relative minimum at x0 if
there is an open interval containing x0 on which f ( x0 ) is
the smallest value, that is, f ( x0 )  f ( x) for all x in the
interval

If f has either a relative maximum or a relative minimum

at x0 , then f is said to have a relative extremum at x0
Relative Extrema

Relative
Maxima
Relative Extrema

Relative
Minima
Example
 Critical Points
A critical point for a function f to be a point in the domain of f at
which either the graph of f has a horizontal tangent line or f is
not differentiable.
A critical point is called stationary point of f if f ( x)  0
Critical Points of f
A critical number of a function f is a number c in
the domain of f such that
a. f (c)  0 (stationary point)
b. f (c ) does not exist (singular point)
Generic Example
y

f ( x )  0 7

2
f ( x)  DNE
1

-3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 6

-1
The corresponding values of x are called
Critical Points of f
 Generic Example
y

f ( x)  0 7

not a local extrema 6

f ( x)  DNE
2

1
not a local extrema
x

-3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 6

-1
Two critical points of f that do
not correspond to local extrema
 Relative extrema and critical points
Suppose that f is a function defined on an open interval
containing the point x0 . If f has a relative extremum at x  x0
then x  x0 is a critical point of f ; that is, either f ( x )  0 or f
0
is not differentiable at x0 .
Candidates for Relative Extrema
1. Stationary points: any x such that x is in the
domain of f and f ' (x)  0.
2. Singular points: any x such that x is in the
domain of f and f ' (x)  undefined
3. Remark: notice that not every critical number
correspond to a local maximum or local minimum.
We use “local extrema” to refer to either a max or
a min.
Finding absolute extrema on [a , b]
1. Find all critical numbers for f (x) in (a,b).
2. Evaluate f (x) for all critical numbers in (a,b).
3. Evaluate f (x) for the endpoints a and b of the
interval [a,b].
4. The largest value found in steps 2 and 3 is the
absolute maximum for f on the interval [a , b],
and the smallest value found is the absolute
minimum for f on [a,b].
 Example
 1 
Find the absolute extrema of f ( x)  x  3x on   ,3 .
3 2

 2 
f ( x)  3x  6 x  3x( x  2)
2

Critical values of f inside the interval (-1/2,3) are x = 0, 2

f (0)  0 Absolute Max.
f (2)  4 Absolute Min.
Evaluate  1 7
f    
 2 8
f  3  0 Absolute Max.
 Example
 1 
Find the absolute extrema of f ( x)  x  3x on   ,3 .
3 2

 2 
Critical values of f inside the interval (-1/2,3) are x = 0, 2

Absolute Max.

-2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 6

Absolute Min.
-5
 Example
 1 
Find the absolute extrema of f ( x)  x  3x on   ,1 .
3 2

 2 
f ( x)  3x  6 x  3x( x  2)
2

Critical values of f inside the interval (-1/2,1) is x = 0 only

f (0)  0 Absolute Max.

 1 7
Evaluate f    
 2 8
f 1  2 Absolute Min.
 Example
 1 
Find the absolute extrema of f ( x)  x  3x on   ,1 .
3 2

 2 
f ( x)  3x  6 x  3x( x  2)
2

Critical values of f inside the interval (-1/2,1) is x = 0 only

Absolute Max.

-2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 6

Absolute Min.

-5
 First Derivative Test
Suppose that f is continuous at a critical point x0 .
1. If f ( x)  0 on an open interval extending left from x0 and
f ( x)  0 on an open interval extending right from x0 , then
f has a relative maximum at x0 .

2. If f ( x)  0 on an open interval extending left from x0 and

f ( x)  0 on an open interval extending right from x0 , then
f has a relative minimum at x0 .
3. If f ( x) has same sign on an open interval extending left
from x0 as it does on an open interval extending right from
x0 , then f does not have a relative extrema x .
0
 Extreme value Theorem
If a function f is continuous on a finite closed interval [a, b] then
f has both an absolute maximum and an absolute minimum on
[a, b].

Procedure for finding the absolute extrema of a continuous

function f on a finite closed interval [a, b]

Step 1. Find the critical points of f in (a, b).

Step 2. Evaluate f at all the critical points and at the end points
a and b.
Step 3. The largest of the value in step 2 is the absolute
maximum value of f on [a, b] and the smallest value is
the absolute minimum
• Critical Points – points on a graph in which a line
drawn tangent to the curve is horizontal or vertical
• Maximum
• Minimum
• Point of Inflection
Maximum
• When the graph of a function is increasing to the
left of x = c and decreasing to the right of x = c.
Minimum
• When the graph of a function is decreasing to the
left of x = c and increasing to the right of x = c
Point of Inflection
• Not a maximum or minimum
• “Leveling-off Point”
• When a tangent line is drawn here, it is vertical
Example
Find the absolute maximum and minimum values of the function
f ( x)  2 x3  15 x 2  36 x
on the interval [1, 5], and determine where these values occur.
solution
f ( x)  6 x 2  30 x  36

f ( x)  6( x 2  5 x  6)

 6( x  2)( x  3)

f ( x)  0 at x=2 and x=3

So x=2 and x=3 are stationary points
Evaluating f at the end points, at x=2 and at x=3 and at the ends
points of the interval.
Example Use the first derivative test to show that

f ( x)  3 x 2  6 x  1 has a relative minimum at x=1

Solution
f ( x)  3x 2  6 x  1 f has relative
f ( x)  6 x  6 minima at x=1
 6( x  1)
x=1 is a critical point as f ( x)  0 at x  1.

Interval x 1 x 1
c 0 2
f (c) f (0)  6  0 f (2)  6  0
Test Value
f (c)
Sing of - +
f f
is decreasing on
Conclusion x 1 is decreasing on
x 1
f (1)  2(1)3  15(1) 2  36(1)  23

f (2)  2(2)3  15(2) 2  36(2)  28

f (3)  2(3)3  15(3) 2  36(3)  27

f (5)  2(5)3  15(5) 2  36(5)  55

Absolute minimum is 23 at x=1

Absolute maximum is 55 at x=5
 Second Derivative Test
Suppose that f is twice differentiable at the x0 .
(a) If f ( x0 )  0 and f ( x0 )  0, then f has relative minimum at x0 .

(b) If f ( x0 )  0 and f ( x0 )  0, then f has relative maximum at 0

x .

(c) If f ( x0 )  0 and f ( x0 )  0, then the test is inconclusive;

that is, f may have a relative maximum, a relative minimum,

or neither at x0 .
Example
Find the relative extrema of f ( x)  3 x5  5 x3

Solution
f ( x)  15 x 4  15 x 2

 15 x 2 ( x 2  1)
 f ( x)  15 x 2 ( x  1)( x  1)

f ( x)  60 x3  30 x
 30 x(2 x 2  1)
Critical Points
Setting f ( x)  0

15 x 2 ( x  1)( x  1)  0
15 x 2  0 or x  1  0 or x  1  0
x  1,0,1 are critical points
Stationary Second Derivative
30 x(2 x  1)
2
f ( x)
Point Test
x  1 f has a relative
-30 -
maximum
x0 0 0 Inconclusive

x 1 f has a relative
30 +
minimum
 Second Derivative Test

Theorem . Let f be continuous on interval I with only

critical value c in I.

If f ‘ (c) = 0 and f “ (c) > 0, then f (c) is the absolute

minimum of f on I.

If f ‘ (c) = 0 and f “ (c) < 0, then f (c) is the absolute

maximum of f on I.

If f’’(c) = 0 , the test fails

Therefore, f(x) is a point of inflection
 1. y = x 3 − 3x + 2 To test for max-min points:

dy/ dx = 3x − 3 2 d2y/ dx 2 = 6x

Let dy/ dx = 0 when x = 1: d 2 y/ dx 2 = 6x = 6(1) = 6

and so (1,0) is minimum point
3x 2 − 3 = 0
when x = −1: d 2 y dx 2 = 6x = 6(−1) = −6.
3(x 2 − 1) = 0
(-1,4) is maximum point.
3(x − 1)(x + 1) = 0
x−1=0 x+1=0
x=1 x = −1.

when x = 1: y = 13 − 3(1) + 2 = 0

. when x = −1: y = (−1)3 − 3(−1) + 2 = 4.

2. y  x 3  3 x 2  9 x  10
dy
  3x2  6x  9 
d2y
 6x  6
dx 2
dx
dy
0  3x2  6x  9  0
dx
 3( x 2  2 x  3)  0
 3( x  3)( x  1)  0
 x  3 or x  1

x  3  y  (  3 ) 3
 3(  3 ) 2
 9( 3)  10  37

x  1  y  1  3  9  10  5
 d2y
2
 6x  6
dx
d2y
At x  3 , 2
 6( 3)  6  12  0
dx
 max at (3, 37 )

d2y
At x  1 ,  6  6  12  0
2
dx

 min at (1, 5)
Determine for critical points and evaluate whether max.,min.,
or point of inflection:

1. y  x 3
 3 x 2
2 2. y  2  3x  x3

3. y= x2- 4 4. y = x4 − 2x2 + 3

x2 1 1
5. y  y  3x  2
2
6.
x x

7. y = x3− 9x2 + 24x

 Determine for critical points and evaluate whether max.,min.,
or point of inflection:
4x
1. 2. f ( x) 
x  15
2

20𝑥 1 4
3. 𝑓 𝑥 = 2 - 4. 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 + 2
𝑥 +1 𝑥 𝑥 +1

−2𝑥
5. 𝑓 𝑥 =
𝑥2 + 7