MATHEMATICS 21 ES13 1ST SEMESTER, AY 2018-2019

THE MEAN VALUE THEOREM; RELATIVE EXTREMA 2018 SEPTEMBER 27

Exercises for Discussion

I. Determine if Rolle’s Theorem applies to the following functions on the given intervals, and if so, find all
values of c satisfying the conclusion of the theorem.

1. f (x) = x2 − x − 2 on [−1, 2] x2 − x − 12
4. f (x) = on [−3, 4]
2. f (x) = x3/4 − 2x1/4 on [0, 4] x−3
 
2 π 3π
3. f (x) = 3 cos x on , 5. f (x) = 1 − |x| on [−1, 1]
2 2

II. Determine if the Mean Value Theorem applies to the following functions on the given intervals, and if so,
find all values of c satisfying the conclusion of the theorem.

1. f (x) = x2 + 2x − 1 on [0, 1] 3. f (x) = 3(x − 4)2/3 on [−4, 5]

√ h π πi
4. f (x) = 1 + cos x on − ,
2 2
 
4 5
2. f (x) = on ,4 5. f (x) = (1 + sin x)2 on [−π, 0]
9 − 2x 2

III. Determine the intervals on which the graph of the following functions is increasing or decreasing. Use the
first derivative test to find its relative extremum points.
√
1. f (x) = 1 − 4x − x2 6. f (x) = 3
x+2
√
2. f (x) = x2 (x − 1)3 7. f (x) = 2x 3 − x
3. f (x) = x2/3 (x − 1)2 x
8. f (x) = 2 − sin x
x2
4. f (x) = 2
x +√2 e2x + 16e−x
9. f (x) =
1+ x 2
5. f (x) = √ 2
10. f (x) = ln(x + 1)
1− x

IV. Given the graph of the derivative of f and assuming f is continuous everywhere, find the intervals where f
is increasing, decreasiing and the x-coordinates of the relative extrema of f .

1. 2.

3 2

(0, 2) 1
2
(−2, 0) (2, 0)

1 −2 −1 1 2 3
−1

−2 −1(−1, 0) 1 2 −2

−1 −3
MATHEMATICS 21 ES13 1ST SEMESTER, AY 2018-2019
THE MEAN VALUE THEOREM; RELATIVE EXTREMA 2018 SEPTEMBER 27

V. Do as indicated.

A. (Mean Value Theorem)

1. Using the function f (x) = x4 −2x2 +4x, show that the Rolle’s Theorem confirms there exist x ∈ [−2, 0]
such that x is a root of the equation x3 − x + 1 = 0.
2. Prove that the equation x3 + 2x + 5 = 0 cannot have more than one real root.
3. Let g be a function such that g 0 (x) ≥ −6 for all x ∈ [0, 2]. If g(0) = 0, determine the least possible
value of g(2).
4. Show that sin b − sin a ≤ b − a whenever b ≥ a. In particular, show that sin x < x for all x > 0.
5. Let f (x) be differentiable at everywhere and suppose that f (1) = 1, f 0 (x) < 0 on (−∞, 1), and
f 0 (x) = 1 on (1, ∞).
a. Show that f (x) ≥ 1 for all x.
b. Must f 0 (1) = 0? Explain your answer.
6. Suppose two runners in a 100m dash finish a tie. Show that there is at least one instant during the
race where they had the same velocity.
B. (Monotonicity)

R
 
1
1. Suppose f (x) in increasing on (0, 1]. Show that f is decreasing on .
x2 + 1
2. The population P of a new species of frogs in a conservation facility is modelled by

2500t2
P (t) = 50 + ,
25 + t2
where t is the number of years after the introduction of the new species.
a. How many frogs will populate the area in the long run?
b. Describe the behavior of the population. Is this a good model? Why or why not?

Supplementary Exercises

I. Determine if Rolle’s Theorem applies to the following functions on the given intervals, and if so, find all
values of c satisfying the conclusion of the theorem.

1. f (x) = x2 − 4x + 3 on [1, 3] 4. f (x) = |x − 2| − 1 on [1, 3]

2. f (x) = sin πx − x2 + 2x on [0, 2]
(
x2 − 4 if x < 1
 
8
5. f (x) = on −2,
3. f (x) = sin3 x cos x on [0, 2π] 5x − 8 if 1 ≤ x 5

II. Determine if the Mean Value Theorem applies to the following functions on the given intervals, and if so,
find all values of c satisfying the conclusion of the theorem.

−2 3. f (x) = ex + e4−x on [0, 4]

1. f (x) = on [−2, −1]
3x + 7
4. f (x) = ln 3x on [1, e]
2. f (x) = (2x − 11)−2 on [4, 6] 5. f (x) = csc−1 (x − 1) on [1, 3]
MATHEMATICS 21 ES13 1ST SEMESTER, AY 2018-2019
THE MEAN VALUE THEOREM; RELATIVE EXTREMA 2018 SEPTEMBER 27

III. Determine the intervals on which the graph of the following functions is increasing or decreasing. Use the
first derivative test to find its relative extremum points.
x
1. f (x) = 4x3 + 3x2 − 18x 5. f (x) = 7. f (x) = sin2 x − 2 cos x
(3x + 1)2
2. f (x) = x3 − 9x2 + 24x − 16 √
3. f (x) = x3
− 12x2 + 21x ( 8. f (x) = 2x − 2 cos x
x2 − x − 2, if x < 2
x2 + 4 6. f (x) =
4. f (x) = (x − 2)3 , if x ≥ 2 9. f (x) = ln cosh x
x

IV. Given the graph of the derivative of f and assuming f is continuous everywhere, find the intervals where f
is increasing, decreasiing and the x-coordinates of the relative extrema of f .

1 2

2 2 (1, 32 )
(0, 1)
1 (− 12 , 43 ) 1

(−3, 0) (−1, 0) (2, 0)

−3 −2 −1 1 2 3
(0, −1) −4 −3 −2 −1 (0, 0)1 2
−1
−1
(−2, −1)
−2
(2, −2) −2

V. Do as indicated.

1. Suppose f (x) is continuous and differentiable everywhere. Suppose also that f (x) has at least two distinct
zeros. Show that f 0 (x) has at least one zero.
2. Use the Mean Value Theorem to show that the graph of f (x) = x5 − 3x3 − x + 5 has a tangent line on
(0, 2) which is parallel to 3x − y = 2.
 π 18
3. Let f (x) = cos(2x) − 5 sin(5x). Show that there exists c ∈ 0, such that f 0 (c) = − .
6 π
√ √ y−x
4. Use the Mean Value Theorem to prove that if 0 < x < y, then y − x < √ . In particular, show
2 x
√
that the geometric mean of x and y is less than their arithmetic mean, i.e. xy < 12 (x + y).
5. Suppose f is continuous on an interval I. Use the Mean Value Theorem to show that if f 0 (x) = 0 for all
x ∈ I, then f is constant in I.
π
6. Use the previous item to prove the identity sin−1 x + cos−1 x = on [−1, 1].
  2
1
7. Show that if f is decreasing on (0, +∞), then g(x) = f is increasing on (0, +∞).
x3
8. Use a first derivative to show that sin x < x for all x > 0.
9. Find a polynomial with critical numbers 0 and 3 with relative maximum at x = 0 and no relative extremum
at x = 3.
10. Find the value of c such that f (x) = x + ln(x2 + 1) + c tan−1 x has a relative maximum at x = −5 and a
relative minimum at x = 3.