The first-derivative test examines a function's monotonic properties focusing on a particular point in its domain. If the function "switches" from increasing to decreasing at the point, then the function will achieve a highest value at that point. Similarly, if the function "switches" from decreasing to increasing at the point, then it will achieve a least value at that point. If the function fails to "switch" and remains increasing or remains decreasing, then no highest or least value is achieved. One can examine a function's monotonicity without calculus. However, calculus is usually helpful because there are sufficient conditions that guarantee the monotonicity properties above, and these conditions apply to the vast majority of functions one would encounter.
If there exists a positive numberr > 0 such that f is weakly increasing on, then f has a local maximum at x. This statement also works the other way around, if x is a local maximum point, then f is weakly increasing on.
If there exists a positive number r > 0 such that f is strictly increasing on, then f is strictly increasing on and does not have a local maximum or minimum at x.
This statement is a direct consequence of how local extrema are defined. That is, if x0 is a local maximum point, then there exists r > 0 such that f ≤ f for x in, which means that f has to increase from x − r to x and has to decrease from x to x + r because f is continuous. Note that in the first two cases, f is not required to be strictly increasing or strictly decreasing to the left or right of x, while in the last two cases, f is required to be strictly increasing or strictly decreasing. The reason is that in the definition of local maximum and minimum, the inequality is not required to be strict: e.g. every value of a constant function is considered both a local maximum and a local minimum.
Precise statement of first-derivative test
The first-derivative test depends on the "increasing–decreasing test", which is itself ultimately a consequence of the mean value theorem. It is a direct consequence of the way the derivative is defined and its connection to decrease and increase of a function locally, combined with the previous section. Suppose f is a real-valued function of a real variable defined on some interval containing the critical pointa. Further suppose that f is continuous at a and differentiable on some open interval containing a, except possibly at a itself.
If there exists a positive number r > 0 such that for every x in we have and for every x in we have then f has a local maximum at a.
If there exists a positive number r > 0 such that for every x in ∪ we have then f is strictly increasing at a and has neither a local maximum nor a local minimum there.
If none of the above conditions hold, then the test fails. = x2⋅sin.
Again, corresponding to the comments in the section on monotonicity properties, note that in the first two cases, the inequality is not required to be strict, while in the next two, strict inequality is required.
Applications
The first-derivative test is helpful in solving optimization problems in physics, economics, and engineering. In conjunction with the extreme value theorem, it can be used to find the absolute maximum and minimum of a real-valued function defined on a closed, bounded interval. In conjunction with other information such as concavity, inflection points, and asymptotes, it can be used to sketch the graph of a function.
Second-derivative test (single variable)
After establishing the critical points of a function, the second-derivative test uses the value of the second derivative at those points to determine whether such points are a local maximum or a local minimum. If the function f is twice differentiable at a critical point x, then:
If, then has a local maximum at.
If, then has a local minimum at.
If, the test is inconclusive.
In the last case, Taylor's Theorem may be used to determine the behavior of f near x using higher derivatives.
Proof of the second-derivative test
Suppose we have . By assumption,. Then Thus, for h sufficiently small we get which means that if , and that if . Now, by the first-derivative test, has a local minimum at.
Concavity test
A related but distinct use of second derivatives is to determine whether a function is concave up or concave down at a point. It does not, however, provide information about inflection points. Specifically, a twice-differentiable function f is concave up if and concave down if. Note that if, then has zero second derivative, yet is not an inflection point, so the second derivative alone does not give enough information to determine whether a given point is an inflection point.
The higher-order derivative test or general derivative test is able to determine whether a function's critical points are maxima, minima, or points of inflection for a wider variety of functions than the second-order derivative test. As shown below, the second-derivative test is mathematically identical to the special case of n = 1 in the higher-order derivative test. Let f be a real-valued, sufficiently differentiable function on the interval, and an integer. Also let all the derivatives of f at c be zero up to and including the n-th derivative, but with the -th derivative being non-zero: There are four possibilities, the first two cases where c is an extremum, the second two where c is a saddle point:
If n is even and, then c is a strictly increasing point of inflection.
Since n must be either odd or even, this analytical test classifies any stationary point of f, so long as a nonzero derivative shows up eventually.
Example
Say, we want to perform the general derivative test on the function at the point. To do this, we calculate the derivatives of the function and then evaluate them at the point of interest until the result is nonzero. As shown above, at the point, the function has all of its derivatives at 0 equal to 0, except for the 6th derivative, which is positive. Thus n = 5, and by the test, there is a local minimum at 0.
Multivariable case
For a function of more than one variable, the second-derivative test generalizes to a test based on the eigenvalues of the function's Hessian matrix at the critical point. In particular, assuming that all second-order partial derivatives of f are continuous on a neighbourhood of a critical point x, then if the eigenvalues of the Hessian at x are all positive, then x is a local minimum. If the eigenvalues are all negative, then x is a local maximum, and if some are positive and some negative, then the point is a saddle point. If the Hessian matrix is singular, then the second-derivative test is inconclusive.
