Increasing and decreasing functions, concavity

and inflection points

October 21, 2011

Class info

◮ My website: www.math.umn.edu/∼daristof/teaching.html
◮ Homework:
4.3 # 1, 3, 5, 9, 13, 19, 31, 33, 43
◮ See last Friday’s lecture notes (on my website as always) for
information on how the midterm is curved and how class grades are
computed.
◮ The last day to drop a semester class is Oct. 31, according to
http://onestop.umn.edu/calendars/index.html
(I had given the wrong date previously.)
Increasing and decreasing functions
The Mean Value Theorem leads to the following result:

Theorem (Increasing/Decreasing Test).

If f ′ (x) > 0 on an interval I , then f is increasing on I .
If f ′ (x) < 0 on an interval I , then f is decreasing on I .

f’>0 f’<0 f’>0

y=f(x)
Increasing and decreasing functions
Ex) For the function graphed below, state the open intervals on which f
is increasing/decreasing.

5
y=f(x)
4

−1

−2

−3
−1 0 1 2 3 4 5

◮ f is increasing on (0, 2) and (3, 4)

◮ f is decreasing on (−1, 0), (2, 3) and (4, 5)
Increasing and decreasing functions
Ex) The function graphed below is the derivative of the function f .
What are the open intervals on which f is increasing/decreasing?

1.5

0.5

−0.5

−1

−1.5
−2 −1.5 −1 −0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2

◮ f is increasing on (−2, 0) and on (1, 2)

◮ f is decreasing on (0, 1)
Increasing and decreasing functions
Ex) Find the open intervals on which

f (x) = 2x 3 + 3x 2 − 36x

is increasing/decreasing.
Increasing and decreasing functions (continued)
The increasing/decreasing test justifies our strategy from last time of
finding local maxima and minima of a continuous function f :

◮ Increasing/Decreasing Test:
◮ For a critical point c choose points p and q on both sides of c such
that c is the only critical point in [p, q].
◮ If f ′ (p) < 0 < f ′ (q) then there is a local minimum at x = c;
◮ If f ′ (p) > 0 > f ′ (q) then there is a local maximum at x = c.

y=f(x) local min y=f(x) local max

f’(x) < 0 f’(x) > 0 f’(x) > 0 f’(x) < 0

− + + −
c c
Concavity
Definition.
If the graph of f lies above all its tangent lines on an interval I , then it is
concave up on I .
If the graph of f lies below all its tangent lines on an interval I , then it is
concave down on I .

y=f(x) concave UP

y=f(x) concave DOWN

= tangent lines
′′
If f (x) > 0 on an interval I , then f is concave up on I .
If f ′′ (x) < 0 on an interval I , then f is concave down on I .
Concavity (continued)
Ex) For the function graphed below, state the open intervals on which f
is concave up/down.

5
y=f(x)
4

−1

−2

−3
−1 0 1 2 3 4 5

◮ f is concave up on (−1, 2)
◮ f is concave down on (3, 5)
Concavity (continued)
Ex) Find the open intervals on which

f (x) = 2x 3 + 3x 2 − 36x

is concave up/down.
Concavity (continued)
Ex) Show that
√ 1 1
x≤ + x
2 2
√
by finding the tangent line to y = x at x = 1 and using a concavity
argument.
Inflection points
Definition.
A point on the graph of a continuous function y = f (x) is called an
inflection point if the graph of f changes from concave up to concave
down, or vice-versa, at that point.

y=f(x)

inflection point

Inflection points occur when the second derivative f ′′ (x) changes sign.
Concavity (continued)
Ex) Give the x-coordinates of the inflection points of f if:
i) The graph below is f .
ii) The graph below is f ′ .
iii) The graph below is f ′′ .

−c −b −a a b c

◮ i) Inflection points are a and −a.

◮ ii) Inflection points are −b, 0 and b.
◮ iii) Inflection points are −c and c.
Inflection points (continued)
Ex) Find the inflection point(s) of

f (x) = x − sin x

for 0 ≤ x ≤ 4π. On what open interval(s) is f concave up/down?

Second Derivative Test
Recall that:
If f ′′ (x) > 0 on an interval I , then f is concave up on I .
If f ′′ (x) < 0 on an interval I , then f is concave down on I .
This leads to another way to check if a critical point corresponds to a
local maximum or minimum value of f :
◮ Second Derivative Test:
◮ Let c be a critical point. (And assume f ′′ is continuous near c.)
◮ If f ′′ (c) > 0 then there is a local minimum at x = c;
◮ If f ′′ (c) < 0 then there is a local maximum at x = c.

f’’>0 f’’<0

c c
Inflection points (continued)
Ex) Use the second derivative test to find the local maximum and
minimum value(s) of
2
f (x) = e −x .
Then state the open intervals on which f is increasing/decreasing as well
as the open intervals on which f is concave up/down.
Inflection points (continued)
1 1
For the function f (x) = 1 + x − x2 , find
i) Vertical and horizontal asyptotes;
ii) Intervals of increase/decrease;
iii) Local maxima and minima;
iv) Intervals of concavity and inflection points.
Then use all this information to graph f .

1.5

0.5

inflection point
0

−0.5

y=f(x)
−1

−1.5
−10 −8 −6 −4 −2 0 2 4 6 8 10