Department of Mathematics, School of Natural Sciences, Shiv Nadar University

Monsoon Semester 2014-15

MAT 101 Calculus I

Lecture Notes Amber Habib November 3

1 Review of Key Concepts from Previous Lectures

1. First Derivative Test (Notes of Oct 31)

2 Concavity, Second Derivative and Curve Plotting

We have seen that the first derivative tells us whether a function is increasing or de-
creasing, and how fast. We can apply the same logic to get information from the second
derivative.

This lecture was based on pages 214 to 217 of Section 4.3 in Stewarts Essential Calculus.
You should read these pages, paying particular attention to:

1. The definition of concave upward and concave downward via comparison with
tangent lines.

2. The definition of inflection point as one where the concavity switches.

3. The Concavity Test for using the sign of f (x) to identify the concavity.

4. The Second Derivative Test which applies the concept of concavity to determine
if a critical point is a local maximum or minimum (but sometimes fails).

Example 2.1 f (x) = x2 ex . We saw in the previous lecture that this has a local maximum
at 2 and a local (as well as absolute) minimum at 0. Now we identify the inflection points
and concavity. First we calculate the second derivative:

f (x) = (x2 + 2x)ex = f (x) = (x2 + 4x + 2)ex

Then identify the possible inflection points:

f (c) = 0 c2 + 4c + 2 = 0 c = 2 2 3.4, 0.6

x < 2 2 2 2 < x < 2 + 2 x > 2 + 2
f (x) + +
Concavity Upward Downward Upward

Note that f (2) = 2e2 < 0 confirms the local maximum at 2 and f (0) = 2 > 0
confirms the local minimum at 0.

Here is the graph of f (x) showing the concave upwards intervals in blue and the concave
downwards interval in red:
 1

0.5

-2 - 2 -2 2 -2

Example 2.2 Let f (x) = x + sin(x) on the interval [0, 2]. We saw in the last lecture
that the only critical point is at x = and this is not a local maximum or minimum.
Now we calculate the second derivative:

f (x) = 1 + cos(x) = f (x) = sin(x) = f (c) = 0 at x = 0, , 2

0<x< < x < 2

f (x) +
Concavity Downward Upward

3
2
2
2

References

1. Stewart, Essential Calculus, Sections 4.3.

Exercises

Stewart, Sec 4.3: 8, 9, 13, 30, 34, 57