4.

7 Optimization
Optimization problems are applications in which the desired answer is maximum or minimum of a function.

Example 4.7.1 Find the points on the curve y = x2 + 1 which is closest to (0; 2).
Solution :

y
3

-1 0 1
x
y = x2 + 1

In this case we need to minimize the distance between the point (0; 2) and any point that is one the graph (x; y).
q q
2 2 2
D = (x 0) + (y 2) = x2 + (y 2)

We can now substitute y = x2 + 1 into the …rst equation to express D as a function of one variable.
q
2
D (x) = x2 + (x2 + 1 2)
q
2
= x2 + (x2 1)
p
= x4 x2 + 1

The critical points accur when D0 (x) = 0:

2x3 x
D0 (x) = p =0
x4 x2 + 1
x 2x2 1 = 0
1
) x = 0; x = p
2
We can use the First Derivative Test .

1; p1 p1 ; 0 0; p12 p1 ; 1
2 2 2
x + +
2
2x
p 1 + +
x4 x2 + 1 + + + +
f0 + +
f & % & %
p
p1 p1 3
Therefore the minimum value of the distance must occur at x = 2
and the distance is D 2
= 2 . The corre-
sponding y-coordinates are
2
1 3
y = x2 + 1 = p +1=
2 2
2
1 3
y = x2 + 1 = p +1=
2 2

Thus, the points are p1 ; 3 and p1 ; 3 .

2 2 2 2

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Example 4.7.2 A rectangular box without lid is to be made from a square cardboard of sides 18 cm by cutting equal
squares from each corner and then folding up the sides. Find the length of the side of the square that must be cut o if the
volume of the box is to be maximized. What is the maximum volume?
Solution : Let the length of the side of the square to be cut be x cm. Then the base of the box is a square with each side
equals to (18 2x) cm. Hence we have 0 < x < 9. The volume V , in cm3 , of the open box is
2
V (x) = x (18 2x) ; 0 < x < 9

V 0 (x) = 12x2 144x + 324

0
Solving V (x) = 0, that is

12x2 144x + 324 = 0

12 (x 9) (x 3) = 0
) x = 3; x = 9

we get the critical number of V; x = 3 (note that 0 < x < 9).

V 00 (x) = 24x 144

00
V (3) = 72

From the Second Derivative Test, at x = 3 V has a maximum value and the maximum volume is V (3) = 432cm3 .

Example 4.7.3 We have a rectangle which one corner is on the parabole 3 x2 and other corners are on origin, x axes
and y axes. What is the maximum area of this rectangle.
Solution :

y
C B

O A x

Let jOAj = x: Then jABj = 3 x2 and area of the rectangle OABC

A (x) = x 3 x2 = 3x x3

is a function of x: Now …nd its critical points.

A0 (x) = 3 3x2
) x= 1

Since the area is a positive number, x = 1 and A (1) = 2.

Example 4.7.4 Find the height of the cylinder that can be put into a sphere with radius 6 cm and has a maximum volume.
Solution : h2 + r2 = 62 ) r2 = 36 h2

V = :r2 :2h
V (h) = 36 h2 2h
= 72h 2h3

V 0 (h) = 72 6h2 = 0
p
) h= 2 3
p p
Hence h = 2 3 and 2h = 4 3:

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 3
Example 4.7.5 If the polynomial p (x) = 3x4 + ax3 + bx2 + c is divided by (x 1) , c =?
3 3
Solution : Since p (x) is divided by (x 1) , we can write p (x) = (x 1) :q (x).
3
p (x) = (x 1) :q (x)
2 3
p0 (x) = 3 (x 1) :q (x) + (x 1) :q 0 (x)
2 2 3
p00 (x) = 6 (x 1) :q (x) + 3 (x 1) :q 0 (x) + 3 (x 1) :q 0 (x) + (x 1) :q 00 (x)

Here we observe that

p (1) = p0 (1) = p00 (1) = 0:
which give us a linear system we need to solve

p (x) = 3x4 + ax3 + bx2 + c ) p (1) = 0 ) 3 + a + b + c = 0

p0 (x) = 12x3 + 3ax2 + 2xb ) p0 (1) = 0 ) 12 + 3a + 2b = 0
00
p (x) = 36x2 + 6ax + 2b ) p00 (1) = 0 ) 36 + 6a + 2b = 0
9
3+a+b+c=0 =
12 + 3a + 2b = 0 ) a = 8; b = 6; c = 1
;
36 + 6a + 2b = 0

77
4.8 Linear Approximations
Given a function, f (x), we can …nd its tangent at x = a. The equation of the tangent line, which we’ll call L (x), is

L (x) = f (a) + f 0 (a) (x a) :

From this graph we can see that near x = a the tangent line and the function have nearly the same graph. On occasion
we will use the tangent line, L (x), as an approximation to the function, f (x), near x = a. In these cases we call the
tangent line the linear approximation to the function at x = a.
p p
Example 4.8.1 Find the linearization of the function f (x) = x at 4 and use it to approximate the numbers 3; 98 and
p
4; 05:
Solution :
p 1
f (x) = x ) f 0 (x) = p
2 x

L (x) = f (a) + f 0 (a) (x a)

1
= 2 + (x 4)
4
x
= 1+
4
The corresponding linear approximation is
p x
x 1+
4
when x is near 4. In particular, we have
p 3:98
3:98 1+ = 1:995
4
and
p 4:05
4:05 1+ = 2:0125
4

y3

-4 -2 2 4 6 8
x
p p
Example
p 4.8.2 Find the linearization of the function f (x) = 3 x + 1 at 7 and use it to approximate the value of 3 7:98
and 3 8:05:
Solution :
p 1
f (x) = 3 x + 1 ) f 0 (x) = q
3 2
3 (x + 1)

L (x) = f (a) + f 0 (a) (x a)

1
= 2+ (x 7)
12

78
The corresponding linear approximation is
p
3 1
x+1 2+ (x 7)
12
when x is near 7. In particular, we have
p
3
p
3 1
7:98 = 6:98 + 1 2+ (6:98 7) = 1:9983
12
and
p
3
p
3 1
8:05 = 7:05 + 1 2+ (7:05 7) = 2:0041
12

y 4

-20 20
x
-2

Example 4.8.3 Find the linearization of the function f (x) = cos x at 0 and use it to approximate the numbers cos ( 0; 1)
and cos (0; 1) :
Solution :
f (x) = cos x ) f 0 (x) = sin x

L (x) = f (a) + f 0 (a) (x a)

= 1 + 0 (x 0)
= 1

The corresponding linear approximation is

cos x 1
when x is near 0. In particular, we have
cos ( 0:1) 1
and
cos (0:1) 1

y 1

-2 2
x

-1

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