Maxima and Minima of Functions of Two Variables
Locate relative maxima, minima and saddle points of functions of two variables. Several examples with detailed solutions are presented. 3-Dimensional graphs of functions are shown to confirm the existence of these points. More on Optimization Problems with Functions of Two Variables in this web site.
Theorem
Let f be a function with two variables with continuous second order partial derivatives f xx , f yy and f xy at a critical point (a,b). Letb) If D > 0 and f xx (a,b) < 0, then f has a relative maximum at (a,b).
c) If D < 0, then f has a saddle point at (a,b).
d) If D = 0, then no conclusion can be drawn.
Examples with Detailed Solutions
We now present several examples with detailed solutions on how to locate relative minima, maxima and saddle points of functions of two variables. When too many critical points are found, the use of a table is very convenient.
Example 1Determine the critical points and locate any relative minima, maxima and saddle points of function f defined bySolution to Example 1: Find the first partial derivatives fx and fy. fx(x,y) = 4x + 2y - 6 fy(x,y) = 2x + 4y The critical points satisfy the equations fx(x,y) = 0 and fy(x,y) = 0 simultaneously. Hence. 4x + 2y - 6 = 0 2x + 4y = 0 The above system of equations has one solution at the point (2,-1). We now need to find the second order partial derivatives fxx(x,y), fyy(x,y) and fxy(x,y). fxx(x,y) = 4 fyy(x,y) = 4 fxy(x,y) = 2 We now need to find D defined above. D = fxx(2,-1) fyy(2,-1) - fxy2(2,-1) = ( 4 )( 4 ) - 22 = 12 Since D is positive and fxx(2,-1) is also positive, according to the above theorem function f has a local minimum at (2,-1). The 3-Dimensional graph of function f given above shows that f has a local minimum at the point (2,-1,f(2,-1)) = (2,-1,-6). ![]()
Example 2Determine the critical points and locate any relative minima, maxima and saddle points of function f defined by
Solution to Example 2:
A 3-Dimensional graph of function f shows that f has two local minima at (-1,-1,1) and (1,1,1) and one saddle point at (0,0,2). ![]()
Example 3Determine the critical points and locate any relative minima, maxima and saddle points of function f defined by
Solution to Example 3:
A 3-Dimensional graph of function f shows that f has two local maxima at (-1,-1,2) and (1,1,2) and a saddle point at (0,0,0). ![]() ExercisesDetermine the critical points of the functions below and find out whether each point corresponds to a relative minimum, maximum, saddle point or no conclusion can be made.1. f(x , y) = x2 + 3 y2 - 2 xy - 8x 2. f(x , y) = x3 - 12 x + y3 + 3 y2 - 9y Answers to the Above Exercises1. relative maximum at (1,1) and (-1,-1) and a saddle point at (0,0) 2. relative maximum at (2,-3), relative minimum at (2,1), saddle points at (-2,-3) and (-2,1). More Links on Partial Derivatives and Multivariable FunctionsMultivariable FunctionsHome Page |