November 9, 2010

Concavity & the Second

Derivative Test
What is Concavity?

 If the graph looks like a cup that would hold

water, it is concave upwards (or just up).
 If the graph looks like a cup that would spill
water, it is concave downwards (or just down).
Concavity…

 If a graph is concave up on an interval, its

graph lies entirely above its horizontal
tangent lines.
 If a graph is concave down on an interval, its
graph lies entirely below its horizontal
tangent lines.
Concavity…

 The graph of f is concave up on an interval if f’

is increasing on the interval.
 The graph of f is concave down on an interval
if f’ is decreasing on the interval.
Testing for Concavity

 Let f be a function whose second derivative

exists on an open interval.
 If f’’(x) > 0 on the interval, then the graph of f is
concave up on the interval.
 If f’’(x) < 0 on the interval, then the graph of f is
concave down on the interval.
Example 1

 Determine the open intervals on which the

graph of f(x)=(1/3)x^3 – x is concave up or
concave down.
Example 2

 Determine the open intervals on which the

graph of f(x)=(1/4)x^4-2x^2
Inflection Points

 The points where the concavity of a graph

changes are called inflection points.
 The tangent lines go through the graph.
 See book picture…
 How to find inflection points?
 (c,f(c)) is an inflection points if f’’(c)=0 or f’’(c) is
undefined.
 Be sure to check for change in concavity.
 Some c values may not be inflection points.
Inflection Points…

 Look at example 1 and 2 again

 Where are the inflection points?
Second Derivative Test

 What else is the second derivative good for?

 Finding Relative Exrema
▪ If the graph of a function is concave up at a critical point
(aka, f’(c)=0), then the point is a relative minimum.
▪ If the graph of a function is concave down at a critical
point, then the point is a relative maximum.
Example 3

 Use the second derivative test to discuss the

relative extrema of the function f(x)=sin x
over the interval [0, 2pi).
Homework =(

 Section 3.4, page 184.

 #1-6
 Complete a table to discuss the concavity of the
functions in #7-17 odd