1

Applications

Module 3

Applications of
Differentials and
Derivatives

Introduction
In Module 2 we focused almost exclusively on
the computation of derivatives. Here, we will focus
on applications of differentials and derivatives.

The two main applications that we’ll be looking

at in this module are using derivatives to determine
information about graphs of functions and
optimization problems.
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As you journey through this lesson, you are

expected to:

Learning
Solve problems
Outcome
involving differentials
and derivatives

Learning
Objectives
1. Define and illustrate the differential of a
function
2. Determine the optimal points of a given
function
3. Sketch graphs of functions using optimal
points

Content
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Differentials

Given a function y = f(x) we call dy and dx differentials and the

relationship between them is given by,
dy = f′(x)dx or dy= y’dx
Note that if we are just given f(x) then the differentials
are df and dx and we compute them in the same manner.
df = f′(x)dx

Let’s compute a couple of differentials.

Example 1 Compute the differential for each of the following.

a. y = t3 − 4t2 + 7t

b. w = x2sin(2x)
4
c. f(z) = e 3−z

Solutions:

a. y = t3 − 4t2 + 7t

All we need to do is take the derivative and add on the differential of

the independent variable dt to the derivative. So,

dy = (3t2 – 8t + 7)dt

b. w = x2sin(2x)

dw = [x2cos (2x).2 + sin(2x).2x]dx

dw = [2x2cos (2x)+ 2xsin (2x)]dx

4
c. f(z) = e 3−z
 4

4
df = e 3−z . (-4 z 3) dz
4
= -4 z 3 e3− z dz

There is a nice application to differentials. If we think of Δx as the

change in x then Δy = f(x+Δx)−f(x) is the change in y corresponding
to the change in x. Now, if Δx is small we can assume that Δy≈dy.
Let’s see an illustration of this idea.

Example 2 Compute dy and Δy if y = cos(x2+1) − x as x changes from

x=2 to x=2.03.

Solution:

First let’s compute actual the change in y, Δy.

Δy = cos((2.03)2+ 1)−2.03−(cos(22+1)−2) = 0.083581127

Now let’s get the formula for dy.

dy = [−2xsin (x2+1)−1]dx

Next, the change in x from x=2 to x=2.03 is Δx=0.03 and so we then

assume that dx ≈ Δx = 0.03. This gives an approximate change in y of,

dy = [−2(2)sin(22+1)−1)(0.03) = 0.085070913

We can see that in fact we do have that Δy ≈ dy provided we keep

Δx small.

We can use the fact that Δy ≈ dy in the following way. Now we will see
that differentials can be used in approximating errors in quantities.

Example 3 A sphere was measured and its radius was found to be 45

inches with a possible error of no more that 0.01 inches. What is the
maximum possible error in the volume if we use this value of the
radius?
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Solution

First, recall the equation for the volume of a sphere.

4 3
V= πr
3

Now, if we start with r = 45 and use dr ≈ Δr = 0.01 then ΔV ≈

dV should give us maximum error.

So, first get the formula for the differential.

dV=4πr2dr

Now compute dV.

ΔV ≈ dV = 4π(45)2(0.01) = 254.47in3

The maximum error in the volume is then approximately 254.47 in 3.

Be careful to not assume this as a large error. On the surface it looks

large, however if we compute the actual volume for r=45 we get,

V = 381,703.51in3

So, in comparison the error in the volume is,

254.47
×100 = 0.067%
381,703.51

Critical Points

Definition
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We say that x = c is a critical point of the function f(x) if f(c) exists and
if either of the following are true.

f′(c) = 0 OR f′(c) doesn't exist

Note that it is required that f(c) exists in order for x = c to actually be a

critical point. This means that all critical points must be in the domain
of the function. If a point is not in the domain of the function then it is
not a critical point.

So, let’s work some examples.

Example 1 Determine all the critical points for the f(x) =

6x5+33x4−30x3+100

Solution:

We first need the derivative of the function.

f′(x) = 30x4 + 132x3 − 90x2

= 6x2(5x2+22x−15)
= 6x2(5x−3)(x+5)

Now, our derivative is a polynomial and so will exist everywhere.

Therefore, the only critical points will be those values of x which make
the derivative zero. So, we must solve.

6x2(5x−3)(x+5)=0

Because this is the factored form of the derivative it’s easy to identify
the three critical points. They are,

3
x = 0, x = , x = -5
5

Example 2 Determine all the critical points for the function

g(t) = √3 t 2 (2t-1)

Solution:
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We need to do a little simplification before we actually differentiate.

Let’s multiply the root through the parenthesis and simplify as much as
possible. This will allow us to avoid using the product rule when taking
the derivative.
2
g(t) =t 3 (2t−1)

5 2
= 2 t 3 −t 3

Now differentiate.
2 −1
10 3 2
g’(t) = t - t 3
3 3
2
3
2
= 10t - 1
3 3t 3

It’s usually best to combine the two terms into a single rational
expression. So, getting a common denominator and combining gives
us,

10t−2
g’(t) = 1
3
3t

1
So, in this case we can see that the numerator will be zero if t = and
5
so there are two critical points for this function.

1
t=0 and t=
5

Minimum And Maximum Values

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The following definition gives the types of minimum and/or maximum

values that we’ll be looking at:

Definition

1. We say that f(x) has an absolute (or global) maximum at x =

c if f(x) ≤ f(c) for every x in the domain we are working on.

2. We say that f(x) has a relative (or local) maximum at x =

c if f(x) ≤ f(c) for every x in some open interval around x = c.

3. We say that f(x) has an absolute (or global) minimum at x =

c if f(x) ≥ f(c) for every x in the domain we are working on.

4. We say that f(x) has a relative (or local) minimum at x = c if

f(x) ≥ f(c) for every x in some open interval around x = c.

Note that when we say an “open interval around x = c” we mean that

we can find some interval (a,b), not including the endpoints, such that

a < c < b.

Or, in other words, c will be contained somewhere inside the interval

and will not be either of the endpoints.

Also, we will collectively call the minimum and maximum points of a

function the extrema of the function. So, relative extrema will refer to
the relative minimums and maximums while absolute extrema refer to
the absolute minimums and maximums.

Now, let’s talk a little bit about the subtle difference between the
absolute and relative in the definition above.

We will have an absolute maximum (or minimum) at x =

c provided f(c) is the largest (or smallest) value that the function will
ever take on the domain that we are working on. Also, when we say
the “domain we are working on” this simply means the range of x’s
that we have chosen to work with for a given problem. There may be
other values of x that we can actually plug into the function but have
excluded them for some reason.

A relative maximum or minimum is slightly different. All that’s required

for a point to be a relative maximum or minimum is for that point to be
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a maximum or minimum in some interval of x’s around x = c. There

may be larger or smaller values of the function at some other place,
but relative to x = c, or local to x = c, f(c) is larger or smaller than all
the other function values that are near it.

Note as well that in order for a point to be a relative extrema we must

be able to look at function values on both sides of x = c to see if it
really is a maximum or minimum at that point. This means that relative
extrema do not occur at the end points of a domain. They can only
occur interior to the domain.

There is actually some debate on the preceding point. Some folks do

feel

It’s usually easier to get a feel for the definitions by taking a quick look
at a graph.

For the function shown in this graph we have relative maximums at x

= b and x = d. Both of these points are relative maximums since they
are interior to the domain shown and are the largest point on the
graph in some interval around the point. We also have a relative
minimum at x = c since this point is interior to the domain and is the
lowest point on the graph in an interval around it. The far-right end
point, x = e, will not be a relative minimum since it is an end point.

The function will have an absolute maximum at x = d and an absolute

minimum at x = a. These two points are the largest and smallest that
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the function will ever be. We can also notice that the absolute extrema
for a function will occur at either the endpoints of the domain or at
relative extrema.

Let’s take a quick look at some examples to make sure that we have
the definitions of absolute extrema and relative extrema straight.

Example 1 Identify the absolute extrema and relative extrema for the
following function.

f(x) = x2 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,

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.

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As we saw in the previous example, functions do not have to have

relative extrema. It is completely possible for a function to not have a
relative maximum and/or a relative minimum.

Example 2 Identify the absolute extrema and relative extrema for the
following function.

f(x) = x2 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) = x2

Solution:
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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 (of any kind,
relative or absolute) in a graph.

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

Example 4 Identify the absolute extrema and relative extrema for the
following function.

f(x) = x3 on [−2,2]

Solution:

Here is the graph for this function.

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This function has an absolute maximum of eight at x=2 and an

absolute minimum of negative eight at x=−2. This function has no
relative extrema.

So, a function doesn’t have to have relative extrema as this example

has shown.

Example 5 Identify the absolute extrema and relative extrema for the
following function.

f(x) = x3

Solution:

Again, we aren’t restricting the domain this time so here’s the graph.
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In this case the function has no relative extrema and no absolute

extrema.

As we’ve seen in the previous example functions don’t have to have

any kind of extrema, relative or absolute.

Example 6 Identify the absolute extrema and relative extrema for the
following function.

f(x) = cos (x)

Solution:

We’ve not restricted the domain for this function. Here is the graph.

Cosine has extrema (relative and absolute) that occur at many points.
Cosine has both relative and absolute maximums of 1 at

x = …−4π,−2π,0,2π,4π,…

Cosine also has both relative and absolute minimums of -1 at

x = …−3π,−π,π,3π,…

As this example has shown a graph can in fact have extrema occurring
at a large number (infinite in this case) of points.
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We’ve now worked quite a few examples and we can use these
examples to see a nice fact about absolute extrema. First let’s notice
that all the functions above were continuous functions. Next notice
that every time we restricted the domain to a closed interval (i.e. the
interval contains its end points) we got absolute maximums and
absolute minimums. Finally, in only one of the three examples in which
we did not restrict the domain did we get both an absolute maximum
and an absolute minimum.

These observations lead us the following theorem.

Extreme Value Theorem

Suppose that f(x) is continuous on the interval [a,b] then there are
two numbers a≤c, d ≤ b so that f(c) is an absolute maximum for the
function and f(d) is an absolute minimum for the function.

So, if we have a continuous function on an interval [a,b] then we are

guaranteed to have both an absolute maximum and an absolute
minimum for the function somewhere in the interval. The theorem
doesn’t tell us where they will occur or if they will occur more than
once, but at least it tells us that they do exist somewhere. Sometimes,
all that we need to know is that they do exist.

This theorem doesn’t say anything about absolute extrema if we aren’t

working on an interval. We saw examples of functions above that had
both absolute extrema, one absolute extrema, and no absolute
extrema when we didn’t restrict ourselves down to an interval.

The requirement that a function be continuous is also required in order

for us to use the theorem. Consider the case of

1
f(x) = 2 on [-1,1]
x

Here’s the graph.

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This function is not continuous at x = 0 as we move in towards zero the

function is approaching infinity. So, the function does not have an
absolute maximum. Note that it does have an absolute minimum
however. In fact the absolute minimum occurs twice at both x = -
1 and x = 1.

If we changed the interval as

1 1
f(x) = 2 on [ ,1]
x 2

the function would now have both absolute extrema. We may only run
into problems if the interval contains the point of discontinuity. If it
doesn’t then the theorem will hold.

We should also point out that just because a function is not continuous
at a point that doesn’t mean that it won’t have both absolute extrema
in an interval that contains that point. Below is the graph of a function
that is not continuous at a point in the given interval and yet has both
absolute extrema.
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This graph is not continuous at x = c, yet it does have both an absolute

maximum (x = b) and an absolute minimum (x = c). Also note that, in
this case one of the absolute extrema occurred at the point of
discontinuity, but it doesn’t need to. The absolute minimum could just
have easily been at the other end point or at some other point interior
to the region. The point here is that this graph is not continuous and
yet does have both absolute extrema

The point of all this is that we need to be careful to only use the
Extreme Value Theorem when the conditions of the theorem are met
and not misinterpret the results if the conditions aren’t met.

In order to use the Extreme Value Theorem we must have an interval

that includes its endpoints, often called a closed interval, and the
function must be continuous on that interval. If we don’t have a closed
interval and/or the function isn’t continuous on the interval then the
function may or may not have absolute extrema.

Finding Absolute Extrema

Given a continuous function, f(x), on an interval [a,b] we want to

determine the absolute extrema of the function. To do this we will
need many of the ideas that we looked at in the previous section.

First, since we have a closed interval (i.e. and interval that includes the
endpoints) and we are assuming that the function is continuous
the Extreme Value Theorem tells us that we can in fact do this.
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Next, we saw in the previous section that absolute extrema can occur
at endpoints or at relative extrema. Also, from the previous section
that we know that the list of critical points is also a list of all possible
relative extrema. So, the endpoints along with the list of all critical
points will in fact be a list of all possible absolute extrema.

Now we just need to recall that the absolute extrema are nothing more
than the largest and smallest values that a function will take so all that
we really need to do is get a list of possible absolute extrema, plug
these points into our function and then identify the largest and
smallest values.

Here is the procedure for finding absolute extrema.

Finding Absolute Extrema of f(x) on [a,b]

1. Verify that the function is continuous on the interval [a,b].

2. Find all critical points of f(x) that are in the interval [a,b]. Since
we are only interested in what the function is doing in this
interval we don’t care about critical points that fall outside the
interval.

3. Evaluate the function at the critical points found in step 1 and

the end points.

4. Identify the absolute extrema.

Let’s do some examples.

Example 1 Determine the absolute extrema for the following function

and interval.

g(t) = 2t3 + 3t2 − 12t + 4 on [−4,2]

Solution

All we really need to do here is follow the procedure given above. So,
first notice that this is a polynomial and so is continuous everywhere
and therefore is continuous on the given interval.

Now, we need to get the derivative so that we can find the critical
points of the function.
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g′(t) = 6t2+6t−12 = 6(t+2)(t−1)

It looks like we’ll have two critical points, t=−2 and t=1. Note that we
actually want something more than just the critical points. We only
want the critical points of the function that lie in the interval in
question. Both of these do fall in the interval as so we will use both of
them. That may seem like a silly thing to mention at this point, but it is
often forgotten, usually when it becomes important, and so we will
mention it at every opportunity to make sure it’s not forgotten.

Now we evaluate the function at the critical points and the end points
of the interval.

g(−2) = 24 g(1) = −3
g(−4) = −28 g(2) = 8

Absolute extrema are the largest and smallest the function will ever be
and these four points represent the only places in the interval where
the absolute extrema can occur. So, from this list we see that the
absolute maximum of g(t) is 24 and it occurs at t = −2 (a critical point)
and the absolute minimum of g(t) is -28 which occurs at t = −4 (an
endpoint).

In this example we saw that absolute extrema can and will occur at
both endpoints and critical points. One of the biggest mistakes that
students make with these problems is to forget to check the endpoints
of the interval.

Example 2 Determine the absolute extrema for the following function

and interval

g(t) = 2t3 + 3t2 − 12t + 4 on [0,2]

Solution:

Note that this problem is almost identical to the first problem. The only
difference is the interval that we’re working on. This small change will
completely change our answer however. With this change we have
excluded both of the answers from the first example.
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The first step is to again find the critical points. From the first example
we know these are t = −2 and t = 1. At this point it’s important to
recall that we only want the critical points that actually fall in the
interval in question. This means that we only want t = 1 since t =
−2 falls outside the interval.

Now evaluate the function at the single critical point in the interval and
the two endpoints.

g(1) = −3 g(0) = 4 g(2) = 8

From this list of values we see that the absolute maximum is 8 and will
occur at t = 2 and the absolute minimum is -3 which occurs at t = 1.

Example 3 Suppose that the amount of money in a bank account

after t years is given by,
2
t
A(t) = 2000−10t e 5− 8

Determine the minimum and maximum amount of money in the

account during the first 10 years that it is open.

Solution:

Here we are really asking for the absolute extrema of A(t) on the
interval [0,10]. As with the previous examples this function is
continuous everywhere and so we know that this can be done.

We’ll first need the derivative so we can find the critical points.

( )
−1
2 2
t t
A′(t) = -10t. e 5− 8 . t + 5− 8 . (-10)
4 e
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2
t 2

= 10 t 2 e 8 - 10e 5− 8
5− t

(
1 2
)
2
t
= 10e 5− 8 t −1
4

The derivative exists everywhere and the exponential is never zero.

Therefore, the derivative will only be zero where,

t −1 = 0 ⇒ t2 = 4 ⇒ t = ±2
1 2
4

We’ve got two critical points, however only t = 2 is actually in the

interval so that is the only critical point that we’ll use.

Let’s now evaluate the function at the lone critical point and the end
points of the interval. Here are those function evaluations.

A(0) = 2000 A(2) = 199.66 A(10) = 1999.94

So, the maximum amount in the account will be $2000 which occurs
at t=0 and the minimum amount in the account will be $199.66 which
occurs at the 2 year mark.

The Shape Of A Graph

Let’s start this section off by revisiting a familiar topic from the
previous chapter. Let’s suppose that we have a function, f(x). We know
from our work in the previous chapter that the first derivative, f′(x), is
the rate of change of the function. We used this idea to identify where
a function was increasing, decreasing or not changing.

Before reviewing this idea let’s first write down the mathematical
definition of increasing and decreasing. We all know what the graph of
an increasing/decreasing function looks like but sometimes it is nice to
have a mathematical definition as well. Here it is.
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Definition

1. Given any x1 and x2 from an interval I with x1 < x2 if f(x1) <

f(x2) then f(x) is increasing on I.

2. Given any x1 and x2 from an interval I with x1 < x2 if f(x1) >

f(x2) then f(x) is decreasing on I.

Now, recall that in the previous we constantly used the idea that if the
derivative of a function was positive at a point then the function was
increasing at that point and if the derivative was negative at a point
then the function was decreasing at that point. We also used the fact
that if the derivative of a function was zero at a point then the function
was not changing at that point. We used these ideas to identify the
intervals in which a function is increasing and decreasing.

The following fact summarizes up what we were doing in the previous

section.

Fact

1. If f′(x) > 0 for every x on some interval I, then f(x) is increasing

on the interval.

2. If f′(x) < 0 for every x on some interval I, then f(x) is decreasing

on the interval.

3. If f′(x) = 0 for every x on some interval I, then f(x) is constant on

the interval.

Let’s take a look at an example. This example has two purposes. First,
it will remind us of the increasing/decreasing type of problems that we
were doing in the previous chapter. Secondly, and maybe more
importantly, it will now incorporate critical points into the solution.

Example 1 Determine all intervals where the following function is

increasing or decreasing.

5 4 40 3
f(x) = −x5 + x + x +5
2 3
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Solution:

To determine if the function is increasing or decreasing we will need

the derivative.

f′(x) = −5x4 + 10x3 + 40x2

= −5x2(x2−2x−8)
= −5x2(x−4)(x+2)

Note that when we factored the derivative we first factored a “-1” out
to make the rest of the factoring a little easier.

From the factored form of the derivative we see that we have three
critical points : x = −2, x = 0, and x = 4.

We now need to determine where the derivative is positive and where

it’s negative. Since the derivative is a polynomial it is continuous and
so we know that the only way for it to change signs is to first go
through zero.

In other words, the only place that the derivative may change signs is
at the critical points of the function. We’ve now got another use for
critical points. So, we’ll build a number line, graph the critical points
and pick test points from each region to see if the derivative is positive
or negative in each region.

Here is the number line and the test points for the derivative.

Make sure that you test your points in the derivative. One of the more
common mistakes here is to test the points in the function instead!
Recall that we know that the derivative will be the same sign in each
region. The only place that the derivative can change signs is at the
 24

critical points and we’ve marked the only critical points on the number
line.

So, it looks we’ve got the following intervals of increase and decrease.

Increase : −2 < x < 0 and 0 < x < 4

Decrease : −∞ < x < −2 and 4 < x < ∞

These ideas can be generalized to arrive at a nice way to test if a

critical point is a relative minimum, relative maximum or neither. If x =
c is a critical point and the function is decreasing to the left of x =
c and is increasing to the right then x = c must be a relative minimum
of the function. Likewise, if the function is increasing to the left of x =
c and decreasing to the right then x = c must be a relative maximum
of the function. Finally, if the function is increasing on both sides of x =
c or decreasing on both sides of x = c then x = c can be neither a
relative minimum nor a relative maximum.

These ideas can be summarized up in the following test.

First Derivative Test

Suppose that x = c is a critical point of f(x) then,

1. If f′(x) > 0 to the left of x = c and f′(x) < 0 to the right of x =

c then x = c is a relative maximum.

2. If f′(x) < 0 to the left of x = c and f′(x)>0 to the right of x =

c then x = c is a relative minimum.

3. If f′(x) is the same sign on both sides of x = c then x = c is

neither a relative maximum nor a relative minimum.

It is important to note here that the first derivative test will only
classify critical points as relative extrema and not as absolute
extrema.

Example 3 Find and classify all the critical points of the following
function. Give the intervals where the function is increasing and
decreasing.
 25

g(t) = t √3 t 2 −4

Solution:

First, we’ll need the derivative to find the critical points. Note as well
that we’ll do some simplification on the derivative to help us find the
critical points. We will also change the radical to its exponential form.
1
g(t) = t ( t 2−4 ) 3

Hence, using the product rule together with the GPR,

−2
g’(t) = t . 1 ( t 2−4 ) 3 .(2t) + ( t 2−4 ) 3 ‘ (1)
1

3
−2
2
= t ( t −4 ) 3 + ( t 2−4 ) 3
2 2
1

3
2
2t 1
= 2 + ( t 2−4 ) 3
3 ( t 2−4 ) 3

2t 2 +3 ( t 2 −4 )
= 2

3 ( t −4 )
2 3

5 t 2−12
= 2

3 ( t −4 )
2 3

So, it looks like we’ll have four critical points here. They are,

t = ±2 The derivative doesn't exist

here.

t=±
√ 12
5
= ±1.549 The derivative is zero here.
 26

Finding the intervals of increasing and decreasing will also give the
classification of the critical points so let’s get those first. Here is a
number line with the critical points graphed and test points.

So, it looks like we’ve got the following intervals of increasing and
decreasing.

Increase :−∞ < x < −2, −2 < x < −

Decrease : −125<x<125
√ √
12 12
5
,
5
< x < 2, & 2 < x < ∞

From this it looks like t = −2 and t = 2 are neither relative minimum or

relative maximums since the function is increasing on both side of
them. On the other hand, t =−
is a relative minimum.
√ 12
5
is a relative maximum and t =
√12
5

For completeness sake here is the graph of the function. Note that this
graph is a little trickier to sketch based only on the increasing and
decreasing information. It is only presented here for reference so you
can see what it looks like.
 27

Now, we are going to look at the information that the second derivative
of a function can give us a about the graph of a function.

Before we do this we will need a couple of definitions out of the way.

The main concept that we’ll be discussing in this section is concavity.
Concavity is easiest to see with a graph (we’ll give the mathematical
definition in a bit).
 28

So, a function is concave up if it “opens” up and the function

is concave down if it “opens” down. Notice as well that concavity has
nothing to do with increasing or decreasing. A function can be concave
up and either increasing or decreasing. Similarly, a function can be
concave down and either increasing or decreasing.

It’s probably not the best way to define concavity by saying which way
it “opens” since this is a somewhat nebulous definition. Here is the
mathematical definition of concavity.

Definition 1

Given the function f(x) then

1. f(x) is concave up on an interval I if all of the tangents to the

curve on I are below the graph of f(x).

2. f(x) is concave down on an interval I if all of the tangents to the

curve on I are above the graph of f(x).

There’s one more definition that we need to get out of the way.

Definition 2

A point x = c is called an inflection point if the function is continuous

at the point and the concavity of the graph changes at that point.

Now that we have all the concavity definitions out of the way we need
to bring the second derivative into the mix. We did after all start off
this section saying we were going to be using the second derivative to
get information about the graph.

Fact

Given the function f(x) then,

1. If f″(x)>0 for all x in some interval I then f(x) is concave up on I.

 29

2. If f″(x)<0 for all x in some interval I then f(x) is concave down

on I.

So, what this fact tells us is that the inflection points will be all the
points were the second derivative changes sign. This in turn tells us
that a list of possible inflection points will be those points where the
second derivative is zero or doesn’t exist, as these are the only points
where the second derivative might change sign. Let’s take a look at an
example of that.

Example 1 For the following function identify the intervals where the
function is increasing and decreasing and the intervals where the
function is concave up and concave down. Use this information to
sketch the graph.

h(x) = 3x5 − 5x3 + 3

Solution:

Okay, we are going to need the first two derivatives so let’s get those
first.

h′(x) = 15x4−15x2 = 15x2(x−1)(x+1)

h″(x) = 60x3−30x = 30x(2x2−1)

Let’s start with the increasing/decreasing information since we should

be fairly comfortable with that after the last section.

There are three critical points for this function : x = −1, x = 0, and x =
1. Below is the number line for the increasing/decreasing information.
 30

So, it looks like we’ve got the following intervals of increasing and
decreasing.

Increasing : −∞ < x < −1 and 1 < x < ∞

Decreasing : −1 < x < 0, 0 < x < 1

Note that from the first derivative test we can also say that x = −1 is a
relative maximum and that x = 1 is a relative minimum. Also, x = 0 is
neither a relative minimum or maximum.

Now let’s get the intervals where the function is concave up and
concave down. If you think about it this process is almost identical to
the process we use to identify the intervals of increasing and
decreasing. The only difference is that we will be using the second
derivative instead of the first derivative.

The first thing that we need to do is identify the possible inflection

points. These will be where the second derivative is zero or doesn’t
exist. The second derivative in this case is a polynomial and so will
exist everywhere. It will be zero at the following points.

1
x = 0, x = ± = ±0.7071
√2

As with the increasing and decreasing part we can draw a number line
up and use these points to divide the number line into regions. In these
regions we know that the second derivative will always have the same
sign since these three points are the only places where the
function may change sign. Therefore, all that we need to do is pick a
point from each region and plug it into the second derivative. The
second derivative will then have that sign in the whole region from
which the point came from.

Here is the number line for this second derivative.

 31

So, it looks like we’ve got the following intervals of concavity.

1 1
Concave Up : − < x < 0 and <x<∞
√2 √2
1 1
Concave Down : −∞ < x < − and 0 < x <
√2 √2
This also means that

1
x = 0, x=± = ±0.7071
√2
are all inflection points.

All this information can be a little overwhelming when going to sketch

the graph. The first thing that we should do is get the critical points
and inflection points and graph them.

From these points there are several ways to proceed with sketching
the graph. The way that we find to be the easiest is to start with the
increasing/decreasing information and start sketching the graph from
just that information as we did in the previous section. However, unlike
the previous section, this time as we draw an increasing or decreasing
portion of the curve we will also pay attention to the concavity of the
curve as we are doing this.

So, if we start with x < −1 we know that we have an increasing

function. At the same time, we know that we also have to be concave
down in this range. So, we can start off with sketching an increasing
curve that has is also concave down until we reach x=−1.

At this point the graph starts to decrease and will continue to decrease
until we hit x=1. However, as we decrease the concavity needs to
switch to concave up at x≈−0.707 and then switch back to concave
down at x=0 with a final switch to concave up at x≈0.707.

Once we hit x=1 the graph starts to increase and is still concave up
and both of these behaviors continue for the rest of the graph.

Putting all this information together will give us the following graph of
the function.
 32

Here is the test that can be used to classify some of the critical points
of a function.

Second Derivative Test

Suppose that x = c is a critical point of f(x) such that f′(c) = 0 and

that f″(x) is continuous in a region around x = c. Then,

1. If f″(c) < 0 then x = c is a relative maximum.

2. If f″(c) > 0 then x = c is a relative minimum.

3. If f″(c) = 0 then x = c can be a relative maximum, relative

minimum or neither.

The third part of the second derivative test is important to notice. If the
second derivative is zero then the critical point can be anything. Below
are the graphs of three functions all of which have a critical point at x
= 0, the second derivative of all of the functions is zero at x = 0 and
yet all three possibilities are exhibited.

The first is the graph of f(x) = x4. This graph has a relative minimum
at x = 0.
 33

Next is the graph of f(x) = −x4 which has a relative maximum at x = 0.

Finally, there is the graph of f(x) = x3 and this graph had neither a
relative minimum or a relative maximum at x = 0.
 34

So, we can see that we have to be careful if we fall into the third case.
For those times when we do fall into this case we will have to resort to
other methods of classifying the critical point. This is usually done with
the first derivative test.

Let’s go back and take a look at the critical points from the first
example and use the Second Derivative Test on them, if possible.

Example 2 Use the second derivative test to classify the critical points
of the function,

h(x) = 3x5 − 5x3 + 3

Solution:

Note that all we’re doing here is verifying the results from the first
example. The second derivative is,

h″(x) = 60x3−30x

The three critical points (x = −1, x = 0, and x = 1) of this function are

all critical points where the first derivative is zero so we know that we
at least have a chance that the Second Derivative Test will work. The
value of the second derivative for each of these are,
 35

h″(−1)=−30 h″(0)=0 h″(1)=30

The second derivative at x=−1 is negative so by the Second Derivative

Test this critical point is a relative maximum as we saw in the first
example. The second derivative at x=1 is positive and so we have a
relative minimum here by the Second Derivative Test as we also saw in
the first example.

In the case of x=0 the second derivative is zero and so we can’t use
the Second Derivative Test to classify this critical point. Note however,
that we do know from the First Derivative Test we used in the first
example that in this case the critical point is not a relative extrema.

Let’s work one more example.

Example 3 For the following function find the inflection points and use
the second derivative test, if possible, to classify the critical points.
Also, determine the intervals of increase/decrease and the intervals of
concave up/concave down and sketch the graph of the function.
2
f(t) = t( 6−t )3
Solution:

We’ll need the first and second derivatives to get us started. We’ll
leave it to you to verify these derivatives but be aware that we did a
little simplification after taking each derivative.

18−5 t 10t−72
f(t) = 1 f″(t) = 4
3 ( 6−t ) 3
9 ( 6−t ) 3

The critical points are,

18
t= = 3.6 t=6
5
 36

Notice as well that we won’t be able to use the second derivative test
on t = 6 to classify this critical point since the derivative doesn’t exist
at this point. To classify this, we’ll need the increasing/decreasing
information that we’ll get to sketch the graph.

We can however, use the Second Derivative Test to classify the other
critical point t = 3.6. So let’s do that before we proceed with the
sketching work.

f″(3.6) = −1.245 < 0

So, according to the second derivative test t = 3.6 is a relative

maximum.

Now let’s proceed with the work to get the sketch of the graph and
notice that once we have the increasing/decreasing information we’ll
be able to classify t = 6.

Here is the number line for the first derivative.

So, according to the first derivative test we can verify that t = 3.6 is in
fact a relative maximum. We can also see that t = 6 is a relative
minimum.

Okay, let’s finish the problem out. We will need the list of possible
inflection points. These are,

72
t=6 t= = 7.2
10
 37

Here is the number line for the second derivative. Note that we will
need this to see if the two points above are in fact inflection points.

So, the concavity only changes at t=7.2 and so this is the only
inflection point for this function.

Here is the sketch of the graph.

The change of concavity at t = 7.2 is hard to see, but it is there it’s just
a very subtle change in concavity.
 38

Assessment Tasks 3

1. The sides of a cube are found to be 6 feet in length with a possible

error of no more than 1.5 inches. What is the maximum possible error
in the volume of the cube if we use this value of the length of the side
to compute the volume?

2. For g(t) = t5 − 5t4 + 8 answer each of the following.

a. Identify the critical points of the function.

b. Determine the intervals on which the function increases and

decreases.

c. Classify the critical points as relative maximums, relative

minimums or neither.

d. Determine the intervals on which the function is concave up and

concave down.
 39

e. Determine the inflection points of the function.

f. Use the information from steps (a) – (e) to sketch the graph of
the function.

References
1. Love and Rainville. Differential and Integral Calculus 6th Ed. Copyright
1962. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc
Ayres and [Link] and Problems of Differential Calculus 3rd ed,
2. Peterson. Calculus with Analytic Geometry
3. Smith, R.T. & Minton, R.B. Calculus 3rd ed. Copyright 2007. McGraw-Hill Co.,
Inc.
4. Tan, J. & Reyes, F. Elements of Differential and Integral Calculus. Copyright
1997. UST Publishing House
5. Masaoy, EJ et al. Calculus with Analytic Geometry Part 1. Copyright 1986.
National Book Store, Inc.
 40

Prepared by:

Sharon M. Galicha, LPT, MS MATH ED

Asst Professor 2