Selected Solutions to Homework # 12 Find the local extrema and saddle points of f = 3x2 + 6xy + 7y 2 2x + 4y.

y. We compute the partial derivatives to nd the critical points: fx = 6x + 6y 2, fy = 6x + 14y + 4.

Solving fx = 0 and fy = 0, we nd that 6x = 2 6y = 2 6y + 14y + 4 = 0 = y = 3/4, x = 13/12.

So, the only critical point is (13/12, 3/4). Computing the 2nd partial derivatives, we nd that fxx = 6, , fxy = 6, fyy = 14.

The Hessian is then 6 14 62 > 0, and fxx > 0. Therefore, there is a local minimum at (13/12, 3/4). Find the absolute extrema of D = x2 xy + y 2 + 1 on the region in the rst quadrant bounded by the lines x = 0, y = 4, and y = x. We rst look for critical points in the interior of the region: Dx = 2x y, Dy = x + 2y.

Solving, we nd that (0, 0) is the only critical point. This point lies on the boundary of the region; so there are no critical points in the interior. Next, we consider the restriction of the function to each of the boundary curves. Along the line segment x = 0, 0 y 4, we have that D = y 2 + 1. This clearly has a minimum value of 1 and a maximum value of 17 since y 2 0 and y 2 is maximal when y is maximal. Along the line segment y = 4, 0 x 4, we have that D = x2 4x + 17 = (x 2)2 + 13. This has a maximum value of 17 and a minimum value of 13. (You can nd these values by computing D = 2x 4, solving D = 0 to get x = 2, and plugging in x = 2 (the critical point) and x = 0 and x = 4 (the two endpoints). Here I have chosed instead to complete the square since the algebraic method is more elementary.) 1

Finally, along the line segment y = x, 0 x 4, we have that D = x2 x2 + x2 + 1 = x2 + 1. This has a maximum value of 17 and a minumum value of 1. Thus, having taken into account all of the boundary points and all (zero) of the critical points in the interior, we conclude that D has a maximum value of 17 and a minimum value of 1. # 2 in 11.8: Find the extreme values of f = xy subject to the constraint g = x2 + y 2 10 = 0. Using the method of Lagrange multipliers, the extreme values will occur among the solutions to the equations f = g and g = 0. We compute the gradient vectors: f = y, x , Thus, we are to solve the system: y = 2x, x = 2y, x2 + y 2 = 10. g = 2x, 2y .

If x or y or is zero, then we see that x = y = 0, which would fail to satisfy the third equation (0 = 10 is problematic!). Thus, x, y , and are nonzero. We can divide freely. Divide the rst two equations to obtain y 2x = = y 2 = x2 = 2x2 = 10. x 2y Thus, x = y = 5. (Incidentally, = 1/2, but this is not impor tant.) We thus have four points: ( 5, 5). Plugging these into f , we nd that the maximum value of f is 5 and the minimum value of f is 5. Remark: Technically, we need to prove that f has a minimum (see exercise # 39 in 11.8). This follows from the fact that the locus of the contraint g = 0 is a closed and bounded region in R2 , and continuous functions attain their maximum and minimum values on closed, bounded set. (A closed bounded set is an important type of region; in advanced texts, these are generalized to compact sets in settings more general than Rn . Such generalizations naturally arise in the study of dierential equations, variational calculus, and geometry.

 # 18 in 11.8: Find the point on the sphere x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 4 which is farthest from the point (1, 1, 1). Let f (x, y, z ) = (x 1)2 + (y + 1)2 + (z 1)2 . This function measures the square of the distance from a point (x, y, z ) to the point (1, 1, 1). Since the square of the distance is maximized when the distance is maximized, we see a maximum value of f subject to the constraint g = x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 4. We compute the gradients: f = 2(x 1), 2(y + 1), 2(z 1) , g = 2x, 2y, 2z .

According to the method of Lagrange multipliers, a minimum value can be found by solving the system 2(x1) = 2x, 2(y +1) = 2y, 2(z 1) = 2z, x2 +y 2 +z 2 = 4.

Reasoning as before, we see that if x, y , z were equal to zero, then we would have an contradictory statement (2 = 0, 2 = 0, or 2 = 0 for the cases of x = 0, y = 0, or z = 0, respectively). And if = 0, we would have that (x, y, z ) = (1, 1, 1), but this point does not satisfy the fourth equation (3 = 4). Thus, x, y, z , and are all non-zero and we can divide freely. Dividing the rst two equations, we have x1 = xy = y (x 1) = x(y + 1) = xy y = xy + x = y = x. y+1 Similarly, by dividing the rst and third equations, cross-multipliying, and simpliying, we nd that x = z . Thus, the fourth equation implies 2 that 4, i.e. x = 2/ 3. The positive solution gives 3x = the point (2/ 3, 2/ 3, 2/ 3). The negative solution gives (2/ 3, 2/ 3, 2/ 3). Plugging into f , we see that the second solution gives the larger value. (The rst solution is the point on the sphere closest to the point (1, 1, 1), not the one farthest.) The solution is also evident geometrically: the farthest point on the sphere should lie on the line passing through (1, 1, 1) and the center of the sphere. The farthest point is diametrically opposite. Using vectors, we see that the farthest point is the head of the vector 1, 1, 1 , once it has been suitably scaled so as to point to a point on the sphere. The vector presently has length 3. Scaling by a factor of 2/ 3 will do the trick. 3

 # 40 in 11.8: Find the values of A, B , and C which minimize

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f (A, B, C ) =
k=1

(Axk + Byk + C zk )2 ,

where (xk , yk , zk ), for k = 1, 2, 3, 4, are, respectively, (0, 0, 0), (0, 1, 1), (1, 1, 1) (1, 0, 1).

(The goal is to nd the equation of a plane z = Ax + By + C which best ts the four data points.) To solve this problem, we simply nd all of the critical points of f . The minimum value of f must occur at a critical point since the values of (A, B, C ) are not constrained. Note: It is not clear that there is a minimum value of f over all of R3 . We compute the partial derivatives: fA = fB = fC = 2xk (Axk + Byk + C zk ), 2yk (Axk + Byk + C zk ), 2(Axk + Byk + C zk ).

Solving the system fA = 0, fB = 0, fC = 0, and substituting in the values of (xk , yk , zk ), we obtain the system 2A + B + 2C = 0, A + 2B + 2C = 2, 2A + 2B + 4C = 1.

The solution is A = 1, B = 3/2, C = 1/4.