CALCULUS 3

NAME: ________________________________

LAB 17

14.7

MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM VALUES

Lab Time: ____________ Date: ___________

Useful Formulas:
If z f x, y , then the critical points of f are places where f x x, y 0 and f y x, y 0 or where one of these
derivatives fails to exist. If the function has any local maximum or minimum points, then they must occur at
these critical points.
To determine which of the critical points are local maximums or local minimums, use the following method:
2
Find the second partial derivatives f xx , f yy , and f xy and use them to construct D f xx f yy f xy
Case 1: If D 0 and f xx 0 , then the critical point is a local min.
Case 2: If D 0 and f xx 0 , then the critical point is a local max.
Case 3: If D 0 , then the critical point is a saddle point.
(If D 0 , the test fails to give any useful information.)
To find an absolute max or an absolute min, the function must live on a restricted domain (a region that is both
closed and bounded). If this is the case, begin by identifying all critical points that lie within the region. Then
find equations for the boundaries of your region and simplify the problem into a corresponding Calculus 1
problem on those regions, making note of any potential critical points and endpoints that arise along the way.
Once you have done this for all of the edges of the region, you will have a complete list of all of the critical
points and endpoints that you will need to check. Plug them back into the original equation and determine the
resulting z-value. The location with the highest z-value will be the absolute max, and the location with the
lowest z-value will be the absolute min.

1.

Find the critical points of the function f x, y x 2 y 4 4 xy 2 6 y 2 and identify each as a relative max,
relative min, or a saddle point.
f
2 x 4 y 2 fx 0 2 x 4 y 2 0 x 2 y 2
x
f
y

4 y 3 8 xy 12 y

f
y

0 4 y 3 8 xy 12 y 0 y 3 2 xy 3 y 0

Now if x 2 y 2 y 3 2 2 y 2 y 3 y 0 y 3 4 y 3 3 y 0 3 y 3 3 y 0 3 y 3 3 y 0

3 y y 2 1 0 3 y y 1 y 1 0 y 0 or y 1 or y 1

If y 0 x 0 . If y 1 x 2 . If y 1 x 2 .
So 0,0 and 2,1 and 2,1 are the critical points.

Since f x 2 x 4 y 2 and f y 4 y 8 xy 12 y ,
2
then the second derivatives are: f xx 2 and f yy 12 y 8 x 12 and f xy 8 y
3

At 0,0 f xx 2 and f yy 12 and f xy 0 D 212 0 2 24

Since D 0 and f xx 2 , then 0,0 is a relative max.
At 2,1 f xx 2 and f yy 8 and f xy 8 D 2 8 8 2 48
Since D 0 , then 2,1 is a saddle point.
At 2,1 f xx 2 and f yy 8 and f xy 8 D 2 8 8 2 48
Since D 0 , then 2,1 is a saddle point.
2.

Find the absolute maximum and minimum of the function f x, y x 2 2 xy 2 y on the triangular
region defined by lines connecting the points 0,0 and 2,0 and 2,4

f
x
f
y

2x 2 y

f
x

0 2x 2 y 0 x y

2 x 2

f
y

0 2 x 2 0 x 1

If x 1 and x y y 1 and so the only critical point is 1,1

We already have the three endpoints 0,0 and 2,0 and 2,4 to check.
Let us look at the equations of the boundaries to see if there are any others.
Along the bottom edge of the triangle, y 0 f x,0 x 2 .
The only point we get from f 0 here is x 0 , which we had already.
Along the right edge of the triangle, we have x 2 f 2, y 4 4 y 2 y 4 2 y
Trying to let f 0 here produces nothing because the derivative cannot be zero.
Along the slanted edge of the triangle, we have y 2 x f x,2 x x 2 2 x 2 x 2 2 x 3 x 2 4 x
Trying to let f 0 here produces 6 x 4 0 x 23 . This is new, and produces another point
to check.
So there are five points that we need to plug into the original function and evaluate:

0,0 0 2 2 0 0 2 0 0
2,0 2 2 2 2 0 2 0 4 *ABS MAX *
2,4 2 2 2 2 4 2 4 4 16 8 4 *ABS MIN *
1,1 1 2 211 21 1 2 2 1
23 , 43 23 2 2 23 43 2 43 94 169 249 129 43 1.333

23 , 43 for us