7 APPLICATIONS OF THE DERIVATIVE: CURVE SKETCHING

Chapter 7

APPLICATIONS OF THE DERIVATIVE: CURVE SKETCHING

I. The First Derivative

Another application of the derivative is that it can assist us in locating

some special points of the function. For instance, the peak, pit and inflection
points of the function can be found even without the actual graph. In addition,
it helps us in determining in what interval the function is increasing and
decreasing.

Definition 7.1: Relative Maxima, Relative Minima, and Saddle points

Let f be a function.
1. The point is a relative maximum point for if

for all values of near a on either side of .

2. The point is a relative minimum point for if

for all values of near b on either side of .

3. The point is a saddle point for if

for all values of near and on one side of , and

for all values of near and on the other side of .

Figure 7.1

From Figure 7.1, the relative maximum point for has a unique tangent
line. Moreover, the tangent line is horizontal and that would imply that its

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slope at this point is zero. In other words, . The same can

be observed for the relative minimum and saddle points. There are
exceptional cases, however, wherein the slope of the line tangent to at a
relative maximum or minimum point is not zero but does not exists, i.e.,
does not exist. In all these cases, we define such values of as
critical values.

Definition 7.2 : Critical Values for .

If is a function, the value is a critical value or critical number for if
either or does not exist.

Example 7.1: Find the critical values for the functions and defined by
a.
b.
c.

Definition 7.3 : Increasing and decreasing functions

1. A function f is increasing on an interval for any and in the interval,
means that implies .
2. A function f is decreasing on an interval for any x1 and x2 in the interval,
means that implies .

The sign of the derivative will tell us something about the behavior of
the function in a certain interval. Let us consider the following cases:

Test for increasing or decreasing functions

1. If for all in an interval , then is increasing over the
interval.
2. If for all in an interval , then is decreasing over the
interval.
3. If for all in an interval , then is constant over the
interval.

Figure 7.2
Determine the sign of the derivative of each of the figures in Figure 7.2.

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Example 7.2:
A drug is administered to a patient. A model giving the drug
concentration in the patient’s bloodstream over a two-hour period is

where . is measured in milligrams and is the time in minutes.

Find the intervals on which is increasing or decreasing.

Example 7.3:
After birth, an infant will normally lose weight for a few days and then
start gaining again. A model for the average weight W of infants over the first
two weeks following birth is W  7.3032  0.3974t  0.033t 2 where 0  t  14 and t is
measured in days. Find the intervals on which W is increasing or decreasing.

We will now find the relative maximum, relative minimum and saddle
points of f using a method called the first derivative test.

The First Derivative Test for relative extrema and saddle points

1. Find the critical values of .

2. Plot the critical values on the -axis, thus dividing the -axis into
intervals.
3. Examine the sign of on each of the intervals obtained in step 2.
a. If for all in an interval, we draw an upward-slanting
arrow to indicate that the f is increasing over the interval.
b. If for all in an interval, we draw a downward-slanting
arrow
4. If on the interval , there is one critical value c and
a. if in but in , then is a relative
maximum point;
b. if in but in then is a relative
minimum point;
c. if both in and in then is a saddle
point; or
d. if both in and in , then is a saddle point.

The diagram obtained in step 3 shows which critical values yield relative
maxima, which yield relative minima, and which yield saddle points.

Example 7.4: Use the first derivative test to find all the relative maxima,
relative minima and saddle points of the given function:
a.
b.
c.

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Exercises:

I. Determine the relative extremum points of the following:

1. 4. 7.

2. 5. 8.

3. 6. 9.

II. Applications:

1. The number of birds in a wildlife sanctuary in month of the year is

estimated to be . The maximum bird
population occurs at a relative maximum of this function. Find the
maximum bird population and the time during the year when it occurs.
2. During an epidemic the number of people inoculated during month was
given by . If the maximum number
inoculated during a month occurred at a relative maximum of this function,
find this maximum and when it occurred.
3. Suppose that minutes after the injection of a temperature-reducing drug a
patient’s temperature is , where . The
maximum temperature occurs at a relative maximum of this function. How
long after the injection of the drug does the maximum temperature occur?
What is the maximum temperature?

Let us now look at the second derivative of a function.

II. The Second Derivative

The second derivative gives us information regarding the concavity of

the function. We first define the concavity of a function f.

Definition 7.4: Concavity

Let be differentiable (derivative exists) on an open interval . The
graph of is
1. concave upward on if is increasing on the interval;
2. concave downward on if is decreasing on the interval.

If the second derivative is positive, i.e., , over an interval, then

is increasing over the interval. It implies that the slopes of the tangent lines of
f are decreasing. Thus, the graph of f bends upward over the interval.
Similarly, if over an interval, then decreases over the interval.
Thus, the graph of f bends downward over the interval. See figure below:

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Figure 7.3

Test for Concavity

1. I for all in an interval, the graph of bends upward over the
interval and is said to be concave upward over the interval.
2. If for all in an interval, the graph of bends downward over
the interval and is said to be concave downward over the interval.

Another method in determining the relative maximum or relative

minimum point is by the use of the second derivative test. This is easier to
apply although it fails in some cases. If the second derivative test fails, we
simply resort back to the first derivative test.

The Second Derivative Test for relative extrema

Suppose is a critical number of
1. If , then is a relative minimum point.
2. If , then is a relative maximum point.
3. If , or does not exist, then the test fails.

We now look into another special point in the graph that can be located
using the second derivative. We call it the inflection point. An inflection
point is a point where the function changes its concavity. It can be construed
as a turning point between the two types of concavity. We note that a saddle
point is a special type of an inflection point.

The Inflection Point

is an inflection point of if it is a critical point of and if
a. to the left of and to the right of , or
b. to the left of and to the right of .

To find the inflection points:

1. Find the critical values of . That is, find all solutions of the equation
and also all values of for which does not exist.
2. Plot the values of obtained in step 1 on the -axis thus dividing the
-axis into intervals.
3. Determine the sign of on each interval of step 2.
4. Locate all points where the function changes its concavity, these are
the points of inflection.

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Example 7.5: Find the point of inflection:

a.
b.
c.
d.

At this level, we can now sketch an accurate graph of the function. We

will outline the procedure.

The Curve-Sketching Procedure

To sketch the graph of a function , we proceed as follows:
1. Use the first derivative test or the 2nd derivative test to locate the
relative extrema.
2. Determine the intervals where the function is increasing and those over
which it is decreasing.
3. Locate all inflection points.
4. Determine the intercepts of .
5. Find the asymptotes for .
6. Sketch the graph of using the information obtained in steps 1 through
5.

Using the Curve-Sketching procedure, graph the functions in Example 7.5.

Example 7.6: The number of deer in a region is ,

where represents 1976, in years. Sketch the graph and discuss the
changes in the deer population from 1976 through 1986. At one time deer
hunting was banned in the region for a 4-year period. Can you tell when this
occurred?

Exercises:
5000
1. y 
1  4999e 0.5t
2.
3. Graph the functions of the problems given on limited growth and
decline in Chapter 3.

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