UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

School of Mathematics & Statistics

M1010 Calculus & Linear Algebra (Semester 2, 2010)
Calculus Exercise Sheet 7-Solutions
1. Let
−x2 + 10,

1≤x≤4
f (x) =
2x3 + 3x2 + 1, −2 ≤ x < 1
Find all critical points of f . Also find where the function is increasing and decreasing and any
points of inflection. Find all global and local maxima and minima.

Solutions: At a critical point either f 0 (x) = 0 or does not exist. This function is discontin-
uous at x = 1 so that is a critical point.
Also, 
−2x, 1<x<4
f 0 (x) =
6x2 + 6x, −2 < x < 1
Hence f 0 (x) = 0 ⇒ x = 0 or x = −1. The only critical points are x − −1, 0, 1.
The function is increasing on the interval [a, b] if it is continuous on [a, b] and the derivative is
positive on (a, b); points of discontinuity must be considered separately. In this case the function
is increasing on [−2, −1] ∪ [0, 1]. [Why is the point x = 1 included?] The function is decreasing
on [−1, 0] ∪ [1, 4].

00 −2, 1<x<4
f (x) =
12x + 6, −2 < x < 1
S0 f 00 (x) = 0 at x = 1/2, is < 0 on (−2, −1/2) and > 0 on (−1/2, 1). Therefore x = −1/2 is a
point of inflection. Note that f 00 (x) also changes sign at x = 1 but we would not label this point
of discontinuity as a point of inflection.
Checking function values at all possible points of extrema gives f (−2) = −3, f (−1) = 2, f (0) =
1, f (1) = 9, f (4) = −6. Hence, given the intervals on which the function is increasing or de-
creasing, it follows that there are local maxima at x = ±1 and local minima at x = −2, 0, 4, the
global maximum occurs at x = 1 and the global minimum at x = 4.

2. Consider the function


 3 sin(π(x − 1))
, x>1
f (x) = x−1
 bx2 , x≤1

Find all values of b which make f (x) continuous at x = 1. If b = 0 what type of discontinuity
occurs at x = 1?
solution: For continuity we must have limx→1 f (x) = f (1).

lim bx2 = b = f (1)

x→1−
3 sin(π(x − 1)) 3π sin(π(x − 1))
lim = lim = 3π
x→1+ x−1 x→1 + π(x − 1)
Hence the function is continuous at 1 iff b = 3π. If b = 0 there is a jump discontinuity at 1.

3. What is wrong with the following argument?

Let
2x2 ,

x≥2
f (x) =
8x − 1, x < 2

1
Then limx→2− f 0 (x) = 8 = limx→2+ 4x = limx→2+ f 0 (x), so f 0 (2− ) = f 0 (2+ ).
Therefore f is differentiable at x = 2 and f 0 (2) = 8.
The function will be differentiable at 2 iff f 0 (2+ ) and f 0 (2− ) exist and are equal. These are not
identical with limx→2+ f 0 (x) and limx→2− f 0 (x). The argument assumes that they are identical
and therefore is invalid.

4. Find all values of a, b, c, d, which make the following function differentiable at x = 0.

 2
x + a, x≥0
f (x) =
bx3 + cx + d, x < 0

Solution: Continuity is essential for differentiability so we must have limx→0 (x2 + a) = a =

f (0) = limx→0 (bx3 + cx + d) = d; i.e.a = d.
2 3
It is also required that f 0 (0+ ) = limx→0−+ (x +a)−a
x = 0 = f 0 (0− ) = limx→2− bx +cx+a)−a
x = c.
Hence the function is differentiable at 0 iff c = 0, a = d, d & b ∈ R.