Section 4.

C04S05.001: f (x) → +∞ as x → +∞, f (x) → −∞ as x → −∞. Matching graph: 4.5.13(c).

C04S05.002: f (x) → +∞ as x → +∞, f (x) → +∞ as x → −∞. Matching graph: 4.5.13(a).

C04S05.003: f (x) → −∞ as x → +∞, f (x) → +∞ as x → −∞. Matching graph: 4.5.13(d).

C04S05.004: f (x) → −∞ as x → +∞, f (x) → −∞ as x → −∞. Matching graph: 4.5.13(b).

5 
C04S05.005: y
(x) = 4x − 10, so the only critical point is 2, − 39
2 , the lowest point on the graph of y
because y
(x) < 0 if x < 52 and y
(x) > 0 if x > 52 .

C04S05.006: The only critical point occurs where x = 32 . The graph is increasing if x < 32 , decreasing if
x > 32 .

C04S05.007: y
(x) = 12x2 − 6x − 90 is zero when x = − 52 and when x = 3. The graph of y is increasing
if x < − 52 , decreasing if − 52 < x < 3, and increasing if x > 3. Consequently there is a local maximum at
(−2.5, 166.75) and a local minimum at (3, −166).

C04S05.008: The only critical points occur where x = − 72 and where x = 5

3. The graph is increasing
between them and decreasing otherwise.

C04S05.009: y
(x) = 12x3 + 12x2 − 72x = 12(x − 2)x(x + 3), so there are critical points at P (−3, −149),
at Q(0, 40), and R(2, −24). The graph is decreasing to the left of P and between Q and R; it is increasing
otherwise.

 where x = − 3 , where x =
8 5
C04S05.010: The critical
 points
 occur  0,8 and
 where x5 = 2 . The graph is
increasing on −∞, − 3 and on 0, 2 . The graph is decreasing on − 3 , 0 and on 2 , +∞ .
8 5

C04S05.011: y
(x) = 15x4 − 300x2 + 960 = 15(x + 4)(x + 2)(x − 2)(x − 4), so there are critical points at
P (−4, −512), Q(−2, −1216), R(2, 1216), and S(4, 512). The graph is increasing to the left of P , between
Q and R, and to the right of S; it is decreasing otherwise.

C04S05.012: The critical points occur at x = −5, x = −2, x = 0, x = 2, and x = 5. The graph of y is
decreasing on (−∞, −5), on (−2, 0), and on (2, 5). The graph is increasing on (−5, −2), on (0, 2), and on
(5, +∞).

C04S05.013: y
(x) = 21x6 − 420x4 + 1344x2 = 21(x + 4)(x + 2)x2 (x − 2)(x − 4), so there are critical points
at P (−4, 8192), Q(−2, −1280), R(0, 0), S(2, 1280), and T (4, −8192). The graph is increasing to the left of
P , between Q and S (there is no extremum at R), and to the right of T ; it is decreasing otherwise.

C04S05.014: The critical points occur where x = −3, x = −2, x = 0, x = 2, and x = 3. The graph of y is
decreasing on (−∞, −3), on (−2, 0), and on (2, 3). It is increasing on (−3, −2), on (0, 2), and on (3, +∞).

1
C04S05.015: f
(x) = 6x − 6, so there is a critical point at (1, 2). Because f
(x) < 0 if x < 1 and f
(x) > 0
if x > 1, there is a global minimum at the critical point. The graph of y = f (x) is shown next.
20

15

10

-1 1 2 3

C04S05.016: f
(x) = −8−4x is positive for x < −2, negative for x > −2. The graph is a parabola opening
downward, with vertical axis, and vertex (and global maximum) at (−2, 13).

C04S05.017: f
(x) = 3(x2 − 4). There is a local maximum at (−2, 16) and a local minimum at (2, −16);
neither is global. The graph of y = f (x) is shown next.

30

20

10

-4 -2 2 4
-10

-20

-30

C04S05.018: The function f is increasing on the set of all real numbers because f
(x) = 3x2 + 3 is positive
for all x. Thus f has no extrema of any kind.

C04S05.19: f
(x) = 3x2 − 12x + 9 = 3(x − 1)(x − 3), so f is increasing for x < 1 and for x > 3, decreasing
for 1 < x < 3. It has a local maximum at (1, 4) and a local minimum at (3, 0). Its graph is shown next.
10

7.5

2.5

-2 2 4 6
-2.5

-5

C04S05.020: f
(x) = 3x2 + 12x + 9 = 3(x + 1)(x + 3) is positive for x > −1 and for x < −3, negative
for −3 < x < −1. So there is a local maximum at (−3, 0) and a local minimum at (−1, −4). There are
intercepts at (−3, 0) and (0, 0).

C04S05.021: f
(x) = 3(x2 + 2x + 3) is positive for all x, so the graph of f is increasing on the set of all

2
real numbers; there are no extrema. The graph of f is shown next.
40

20

-4 -3 -2 -1 1 2

-20

-40

C04S05.022: f
(x) = 3(x + 3)(x − 3): Local maximum at (−3, 54), local minimum at (3, −54).

C04S05.023: f
(x) = 2(x − 1)(x + 2)(2x + 1); there are global minima at (−2, 0) and (1, 0) and a local
maximum at − 12 , 81
16 . The minimum value 0 is global because [clearly] f (x) = (x − 1) (x + 2)
0 for all
2 2

x. The maximum value is local because f (x) → +∞ as x → ±∞. The graph of y = f (x) is next.
12

10

-4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3

C04S05.024: f
(x) = 2(x − 2)(2x + 3)(4x − 1): Global minimum value 0 at x = −1.5 and at x = 2, local
maximum at (0.25, 37.515625).

3(1 − x)
C04S05.025: f
(x) = √ , so f
(x) > 0 if 0 < x < 1 and f
(x) < 0 if x > 1. Therefore there is a
2 x
local minimum at (0, 0) and a global maximum at (1, 2). The minimum is only local because f (x) → −∞
as x → +∞. The graph of y = f (x) is shown next.
2

1 2 3 4 5
-1

-2

-3

-4

C04S05.026: Given: f (x) = x2/3 (5 − x):

2 −1/3 2(5 − x) 10 − 2x − 3x 5(2 − x)

f
(x) = x (5 − x) − x2/3 = 1/3
− x2/3 = 1/3
= .
3 3x 3x 3x1/3
Hence f
(x) can change sign only at x = 2 and at x = 0. It’s clear that f is increasing for 0 < x < 2,
decreasing for x < 0 and for x > 2. Thus there is a local maximum at (2, f (2)) and a local minimum at

3
(0, 0). Note that f
(0) does not exist, but that f is continuous at x = 0. Neither extremum is global because
f (x) → +∞ as x → −∞ and f (x) → −∞ as x → +∞.

C04S05.027: f
(x) = 15x2 (x − 1)(x + 1), so f is increasing for x < −1 and for x > 1, decreasing for
−1 < x < 1. Hence there is a local maximum at (−1, 2) and a local minimum at (1, −2). The critical point
at (0, 0) is not an extremum. The graph of y = f (x) is shown next.
6

-1.5 -1 -0.5 0.5 1 1.5

-2

-4

-6

C04S05.028: f
(x) = 4x2 (x + 3) is positive for x > −3 and negative for x < −3; there is a horizontal
tangent but no extremum at x = 0. There is a minimum at (−3, −27); it is global because
 
4
4
f (x) = x + 4x = x 3 4
1+ → +∞ as x → ±∞.
x

C04S05.029: f
(x) = 4x(x − 2)(x + 2), so the graph of f is decreasing for x < −2 and for 0 < x < 2; it is
increasing if −2 < x < 0 and if x > 2. Therefore the global minimum value −9 of f (x) occurs at x = ±2
and the extremum at (0, 7) is a maximum, but not global because f (x) → +∞ as x → ±∞. The graph of
y = f (x) is shown next.
15

10

-3 -2 -1 1 2 3

-5

C04S05.030: Given

1 1
f (x) = = x−1 , we see that f
(x) = −x−2 = − .
x x2
Therefore f
(x) is negative for all x = 0, so f (x) is decreasing for all x = 0; there is an infinite discontinuity
at x = 0. There are no extrema and no intercepts. Note that as x increases without bound, f (x) approaches
zero. In sketching the graph of f it is very helpful to note that

1 1
lim = −∞ and that lim = +∞.
x→0− x x→0+ x

 
C04S05.031: Because f
(x) = 4x − 3, there is a critical point at 34 , − 81 8 = (0.75, −10.125). The graph
of f is decreasing to the left of this point and increasing to its right, so there is a global minimum at this

4
critical point and no other extrema. The graph of y = f (x) is shown next.

20

15

10

-2 2 4
-5

-10

 5 
C04S05.032: The graph is a parabola, opening downward, vertical axis, vertex at − 12 , 169
24 , which is
thus the highest point on the graph.

C04S05.033: f
(x) = 6(x − 1)(x + 2), so the graph of f is increasing for x < −2 and for x > 1, decreasing
if −2 < x < 1. Hence there is a local maximum at (−2, 20) and a local minimum at (1, −7). The
first is not a global maximum because f (10) = 2180 > 20; the second is not a global minimum because
f (−10) = −1580 < −7. The graph of y = f (x) is shown next.

40

20

-4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3

-20

C04S05.034: f
(x) = 3x2 + 4 is positive for all x, so f (x) is increasing for all x; there are no extrema and
(0, 0) is the only intercept.

C04S05.035: f
(x) = 6(5x − 3)(5x − 4), so there are critical points at (0.6, 16.2) and (0.8, 16). The graph
of f is increasing for x < 0.6 and for x > 0.8; it is decreasing between these two points. Hence there is a
local maximum at the first and a local minimum at the second. Neither is global because
 
105 72
lim f (x) = lim x3 50 − + 2 = +∞
x→∞ x→∞ x x

and, similarly, f (x) → −∞ as x → −∞. A graph of y = f (x) is shown next.

17

16.5

16

15.5

-0.5 0.5 1 1.5

5
C04S05.036: f
(x) = 3(x − 1)2 is positive except at x = 1, so the graph is increasing for all x; there are
no extrema, and the intercepts are at (0, −1) and (1, 0).

C04S05.037: f
(x) = 12x(x − 2)(x + 1), so f is decreasing for x < −1 and for 0 < x < 2, increasing for
−1 < x < 0 and for x > 2. There is a local minimum at (−1, 3), a local maximum at (0, 8), and a global
minimum at (2, −24). The latter is global rather than local because f (x) → +∞ as x → ±∞. The graph
of f is shown next.
40

30

20

10

-2 -1 1 2 3
-10

-20

C04S05.038: f (x) = (x2 − 1)2 ; f
(x) = 4x(x + 1)(x − 1). So f (x) is increasing for −1 < x < 0 and for
x > 1, decreasing if x < −1 or if 0 < x < 1. The global minimum value is 0 = f (−1) = f (1) and there is a
local maximum at (0, 1).

C04S05.039: f
(x) = 15x2 (x − 2)(x + 2), so f is increasing if |x| > 2 and decreasing if |x| < 2.There is a
local maximum at (−2, 64) and a local minimum at (2, −64); the critical point at (0, 0) is not an extremum.
The graph of y = f (x) appears next.
75

50

25

-2 -1 1 2
-25

-50

-75

C04S05.040: f
(x) = 15(x + 1)(x − 1)(x + 2)(x − 2), so f is increasing if x < −2, if −1 < x < 1, and if
x > 1, decreasing if −2 < x < −1 and if 1 < x < 2. So there are local maxima at (−2, −16) and (1, 38) and
local minima at (−1, −38) and (2, 16). The only intercept is (0, 0). None of the extrema is global because

 
25 60
lim f (x) = lim (3x5 − 25x3 + 60x) = lim x5 3 − 2 + 4 = +∞
x→∞ x→∞ x→∞ x x

and, similarly, f (x) → −∞ as x → −∞.

C04S05.041: f
(x) = 6(x2 + x + 1) is positive for all x, so the graph of f is increasing everywhere, with

6
no critical points and thus no extrema. The only intercept is (0, 0). The graph of f is shown next.
40

20

-3 -2 -1 1 2

-20

-40

C04S05.042: f
(x) = 4x2 (x − 3), so f is increasing for x > 3 and decreasing for x < 3. Therefore there
is a local (and global) minimum at (3, −27); (0, 0) and (4, 0) are the only intercepts. There is a horizontal
tangent at (0, 0) but no extremum there.

√
C04S05.043: √ f
(x) = 32x3 − 8x7 = √ −8x3 (x2 + 2)(x2 − 2), so√the graph of f is increasing if x < − 2
and if √
0 < x <  2 √ but decreasing if − 2 < x < 0 and if x > 2. The global maximum value of f (x) is
16 = f 2 = f − 2 and there is a local minimum at (0, 0). The graph of f is shown next.

10

-2 -1 1 2

-10

-20

C04S05.044: Here we have

1
f
(x) = − ,
3x2/3

which is negative for all x = 0. Though f
(0) is not defined, f is continuous at x = 0; careful examination
of the behavior of f and f
near zero shows that the graph has a vertical tangent at (0, 1); there are no
extrema.

C04S05.045: Given f (x) = x1/3 (4 − x), we find that

1 −2/3 4(1 − x)
f
(x) = x (4 − x) − x1/3 = .
3 3x2/3

Therefore f is increasing if x < 0 and if 0 < x < 1, decreasing if x > 1. Because f is continuous everywhere,
including the point x = 0, it is also correct to say that f is increasing on (−∞, 1). The point (1, 3) is the
highest point on the graph and there are no other extrema. Careful examination of the behavior of f (x) and
f
(x) for x near zero shows that there is a vertical tangent at the critical point (0, 0). The point (4, 0) is an

7
x-intercept. The graph of y = f (x) appears next.

-2 2 4 6

-2

-4

-6

C04S05.046: In this case

8(x + 2)(x − 2)
f
(x) = ,
3x1/3
which is positive for x > 2 and for −2 < x < 0, negative for x < −2 and for 0 < x < 2. Note that f is
continuous at x = 0 even though f
(0) does not exist. Moreover, for x near zero, we have

32
f (x) ≈ −16x2/3 and f
(x) ≈ − .
3x1/3
Consequently f
(x) → −∞ as x → 0+ , whereas f
(x) → +∞ as x → 0− . This is consistent with the
observation that f (x) < 0 for all x near (but not equal to) zero. The origin is a local maximum and there
are global minima where |x| = 2.

C04S05.047: Given f (x) = x(x − 1)2/3 , we find that

2 5x − 3
f
(x) = (x − 1)2/3 + x(x − 1)−1/3 = .
3 3(x − 1)1/3

Thus f
(x) = 0 when x = 35 and f
(x) does not exist when x = 1. So f is increasing for x < 35 and for x > 1,
decreasing if 35 < x < 1. Thus there is a local maximum at 35 , 0.3257 (y-coordinate approximate) and a
local minimum at (1, 0). Examination of f (x) and f
(x) for x near 1 shows that there is a vertical tangent
at (1, 0). There are no global extrema because f (x) → +∞ as x → +∞ and f (x) → −∞ as x → −∞. The
graph of f is shown next.
0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

-1 1 2
-0.2

-0.4

C04S05.048: After simplifications, we find that

2 − 3x
f
(x) = .
3x2/3 (2 − x)1/3

So f
(x) = 0 when x = 23 and f
(x) does not exist at x = 0 and at x = 2. Nevertheless, f is continuous
everywhere. Its graph is increasing for x < 23 and for x > 2, decreasing for 23 < x < 2. There is a

8
  
vertical tangent at (0, 0), which is not an extremum. There’s a horizontal tangent at 23 , 1.058 (ordinate
approximate), which is a local maximum. There is a cusp at (2, 0), which is also a local minimum. Note
that f (x) ≈ x for |x| large; this aids in constructing the global sketch of the graph.

C04S05.049: The graph of f (x) = 2x3 + 3x2 − 36x − 3 is shown next.

100

50

-6 -4 -2 2 4

-50

-100

C04S05.050: The graph of f (x) = 2x3 − 6x2 − 48x + 50 is shown next.

100

50

-4 -2 2 4 6

-50

-100

C04S05.051: The graph of f (x) = −2x3 − 3x2 + 36x + 15 is shown next.

100

50

-6 -4 -2 2 4

-50

-100

C04S05.052: The graph of f (x) = 3x4 + 8x3 − 18x2 + 5 appears next.

50

-4 -3 -2 -1 1 2

-50

-100

9
C04S05.053: The graph of f (x) = 3x4 − 8x3 − 30x2 + 72x + 45 is next.

200

100

-2 2 4

-100

C04S05.054: The graph of f (x) = 12x5 − 45x4 − 200x3 + 720x2 + 17 is shown next.
5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

-4 -2 2 4
-1000

-2000

C04S05.055: Let f (x) = x3 − 3x + 3. For part (a), we find that if we let x = −2.1038034027, then
f (x) ≈ 7.58 × 10−9 . For part (b), we find that

f (x) ≈ (x + 2.1038034027)(x2 − (2.1038034027)x + 1.4259887573).

And in part (c), we find by the quadratic formula that the complex conjugate roots of f (x) = 0 are
approximately 1.0519017014 + 0.5652358517i and 1.0519017014 − 0.5652358517i.

C04S05.056: Let f (x) = x3 − 3x + q. Then f
(x) = 3(x2 − 1), so the graph of y = f (x) will always
have a local maximum at (−1, f (−1)) = (−1, q + 2) and a local minimum at (1, f (1)) = (1, q − 2). If the
ordinates of these points have the same sign then the equation f (x) = 0 will have only one [real] solution—see
Figs. 4.5.9 through 4.5.11. And this situation is equivalent to q + 2 < 0 or q − 2 > 0; that is, q < −2 or
q > 2. If the ordinates have opposite signs, then the equation f (x) = 0 will have three real solutions, and
this will occur if q − 2 < 0 < q + 2; that is, if −2 < q < 2. If q = ±2, then there will be exactly two real
solutions because

x3 − 3x + 2 = (x − 1)(x2 + x − 2) = (x − 1)2 (x + 2) and x3 − 3x − 2 = (x + 1)(x2 − x − 2) = (x + 1)2 (x − 2).

2
C04S05.057: If f (x) = [x(x − 1)(2x − 1)] , then

f
(x) = 2x(x − 1)(2x − 1)(6x2 − 6x + 1),

1  1  √  
so the critical points of
1  the graph
√  of f will be
 (0, 0), 2 , 0 , (1, 0), 6 3 − 3 , 0.009259259 (ordinate
approximate), and 6 3 + 3 , 0.009259259 . The graph of f will be

10
 decreasing for x < 0,
 √
increasing for 0<x< 1
6 3− 3 ,
 √
decreasing for 1
6 3− 3 < x < 12 ,
 √
1 1
increasing for 2 <x< 6 3+ 3 ,
 √
1
decreasing for 6 3+ 3 < x < 1, and

increasing for 1 < x.

 √ 
There will be
√ global
 minima at x = 0, x = 12 , and x = 1 and [equal] local maxima at x = 1
6 3− 3 and
1
x= 6 3+ 3 .

C04S05.058: A Mathematica solution:

poly = x∧3 − 3∗x + 1;

r = (−1 + Sqrt[3])/2;

x1 = r∧(−1/3) + r∧(1/3);
x2 = r∧(4/3) + r∧(5/3);
x3 = r∧(2/3) + r∧(7/3);

(poly /. x → x1) // Expand // Simplify

(poly /. x → x2) // Expand // Simplify
(poly /. x → x3) // Expand // Simplify

0
0
0

N[x1] // chop
N[x2] // chop
N[x3] // chop

1.53209
−1.87939
0.347296

Thus we see three distinct real roots.

1 4
C04S05.059: Given f (x) = 6 x(9x − 5)(x − 1) , the Mathematica command

Plot[ f[x], { x, −1, 2 }, PlotPoints → 97,

PlotRange → {{ −0.8, 1.8 }, { −0.1, 1.0 }} ];

11
generated the graph shown next. As predicted, the graph seems to have a “flat spot” on the interval [0, 1].
1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

-0.5 0.5 1 1.5

Then we modified the Plot command to restrict the range of y-values to the interval [−0.00001, 0.00008]:
Plot[ f[x], { x, −1, 2 }, PlotPoints → 197,
PlotRange → {{ −0.18, 1.18 }, { −0.00001, 0.00008 }} ];
the graph generated by this command is next.
0.00008

0.00006

0.00004

0.00002

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Then we used Mathematica to identify the extrema:

soln = Solve[ f
[x] == 0, x ]
5 5
{{ x → 0 }, { x → 0 }, { x → 0 }, { x → }, { x → },
9 9
5
{ x → }, { x → 1 }, { x → 1 }, { x → 1 },
9
14 − Sqrt[61] 14 + Sqrt[61]
{ x → }, { x → }}
27 27

{ x1 = soln[[1,1,2]], x2 = soln[[4,1,2]], x3 = soln[[7,1,2]],

x4 = N[soln[[10,1,2]], 20], x5 = N[soln[[11,1,2]], 20] }
5
{ 0, , 1, 0.22925001200345724466, 0.8077870250335797924 }
9

{ y1 = f[x1], y2 = f[x2], y3 = f[x3], y4 = f[x4], y5 = f[x5] }

{ 0, 0, 0, 0.0000559441164359303138, 0.0000119091402810978625 }

12
The second graph makes it clear that (x1 , 0), (x2 , 0), and (x3 , 0) are local (indeed, global) minima, while
(x4 , y4 ) and (x5 , y5 ) are local (not global) maxima.

C04S05.060: After constructing the functions

f (x) = x4 − 55x3 + 505x2 + 11000x − 110000

and

g(x) = f (x) + ex2

where e = 1, we used Mathematica to find the zeros of these polynomials:

NSolve[ f[x] == 0, x ]
{{ x → −13.4468 }, { x → 9.38408 }, { x → 28.6527 }, { x → 30.4143 }}

NSolve[ g[x] == 0, x ]
{{ x → −13.4468 }, { x → 9.38459 }, { x → 29.5361 − 0.480808 I },
{ x → 29.5371 + 0.480808 I }}

In part (b), by changing the value of e, working up from e = 0 and down from e = 1, we bracketed the
transition point.

e = 0.7703;
h[x ] := f[x] + e∗x∧2;
NSolve[ h[x] == 0, x ]
{{ x → −13.4478 }, { x → 9.37677 }, { x → 29.528 }, { x → 29.543 }

e = 0.7704;
h[x ] := f[x] + e∗x∧2;
NSolve[ h[x] == 0, x ]
{{ x → −13.4478 }, { x → 9.37676 }, { x → 29.5355 − 0.00665912 I },
{ x → 29.5355 + 0.00665912 I }}

13