Edexcel International AS Your notes
Maths: Pure 2
Applications of Differentiation
Contents
Increasing & Decreasing Functions
Stationary Points & Turning Points
Sketching Gradient Functions
Modelling with Differentiation (Optimisation)
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 1
Increasing & Decreasing Functions
Your notes
Increasing & decreasing functions
What are increasing and decreasing functions?
A function f(x) is increasing on an interval [a, b] if f'(x) ≥ 0 for all values of x such that
a< x < b.
If f'(x) > 0 for all x values in the interval then the function is said to be strictly
increasing
In most cases, on an increasing interval the graph of a function goes up as x
increases
A function f(x) is decreasing on an interval [a, b] if f'(x) ≤ 0 for all values of x such that a
<x<b
If f'(x) < 0 for all x values in the interval then the function is said to be strictly
decreasing
In most cases, on a decreasing interval the graph of a function goes down as x
increases
To identify the intervals on which a function is increasing or decreasing you need to:
1. Find the derivative f'(x)
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 2
2. Solve the inequalities f'(x) ≥ 0 (for increasing intervals) and/or f'(x) ≤ 0 (for decreasing
intervals)
Your notes
Examiner Tips and Tricks
On an exam, if you need to show a function is increasing or decreasing you can
use either strict (<, >) or non-strict (≤, ≥) inequalities
Worked Example
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 3
Your notes
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 4
Stationary Points & Turning Points
Your notes
Stationary points & turning points
What are stationary points?
A stationary point is any point on a curve where the gradient is zero
To find stationary points of a function f(x)
Step 1: Find the first derivative f'(x)
Step 2: Solve f'(x) = 0 to find the x-coordinates of the stationary points
Step 3: Substitute those x-coordinates into f(x) to find the corresponding y-coordinates
A stationary point may be either a local minimum, a local maximum, or a point of
inflection
Turning points are maximum points or minimum points only
The graph turns from going up to down (or down to up)
How do I determine the type of stationary point on
a quadratic?
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 5
The graph of a quadratic function (ie a parabola) only has a single stationary point
For an 'up' parabola this is the minimum; for a 'down' parabola it is the maximum (no Your notes
need to talk about 'local' here)
The y value of the stationary point is thus the minimum or maximum value of the quadratic
function
Quadratics can only have minimum and maximum points
so quadratics have turning points (also called a vertex)
How do I determine the type of stationary point on
a curve?
For a function f(x) there are two ways to determine the nature of its stationary points
Method A: Compare the signs of the first derivative (positive or negative) a little bit to
either side of the stationary point
(After completing Steps 1 - 3 above to find the stationary points)
Step 4: For each stationary point find the values of the first derivative a little bit 'to the left' (ie
slightly smaller x value) and a little bit 'to the right' (slightly larger x value) of the stationary
point
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 6
Your notes
Step 5: Compare the signs (positive or negative) of the derivatives on the left and right of the
stationary point
If the derivatives are negative on the left and positive on the right, the point is a local
minimum
If the derivatives are positive on the left and negative on the right, the point is a local
maximum
If the signs of the derivatives are the same on both sides (both positive or both negative)
then the point is a point of inflection
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 7
Your notes
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 8
Your notes
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 9
Method B: Look at the sign of the second derivative (positive or negative) at the stationary
point
Your notes
(After completing Steps 1 - 3 above to find the stationary points)
Step 4: Find the second derivative f''(x)
Step 5: For each stationary point find the value of f''(x) at the stationary point (ie substitute
the x-coordinate of the stationary point into f''(x) )
If f''(x) is positive then the point is a local minimum
If f''(x) is negative then the point is a local maximum
If f''(x) is zero then the point could be a local minimum, a local maximum OR a point of
inflection (use Method A to determine which)
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 10
Your notes
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 11
Your notes
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Usually using the second derivative (Method B above) is a much quicker way of
determining the nature of a stationary point.
However, if the second derivative is zero it tells you nothing about the point.
In that case you will have to use Method A (which always works – see the
Worked Example).
Worked Example
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 12
Your notes
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 13
Your notes
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 14
Sketching Gradient Functions
Your notes
Sketching gradient functions
How do I sketch the gradient function from the
original function?
Using your knowledge of gradients and derivatives you can use the graph of a function
to sketch the corresponding gradient function
The behaviour of a function tells you about the behaviour of its gradient function
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 15
Your notes
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 16
Your notes
Examiner Tips and Tricks
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 17
If f(x) is a smooth curve then f'(x) will also be a smooth curve.
Take what you know about f'(x) (based on the table above) and then 'fill in the
blanks' in between. Your notes
If all you have is the graph of f(x) you will not be able to specify the coordinates of
the y-intercept or any stationary points of f'(x).
Be careful – points where f(x) cuts the x-axis don't tell you anything about the
graph of f'(x)!
Worked Example
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 18
Your notes
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 19
Modelling with Differentiation (Optimisation)
Your notes
Modelling with differentiation
(optimisation)
How do I find the maximum or minimum values of
models?
Derivatives can be calculated for any variables – not just y and x
In every case the derivative is a formula giving the rate of change of one variable with
respect to the other variable
Differentiation can be used to find maximum and minimum points of a function (see
Stationary Points)
Therefore it can be used to solve maximisation and minimisation problems in modelling
questions
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 20
Your notes
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Exam questions on this topic will often be divided into two parts:
First a 'Show that...' part where you derive a given formula from the information in
the question
And then a 'Find...' part where you use differentiation to answer a question about
the formula
Even if you can't answer the first part you can still use the formula to answer the
second part.
Worked Example
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 21
Your notes
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 22
Your notes
© 2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at [Link] 23