HAWKES LEARNING SYSTEMS math courseware specialists Copyright © 2011 Hawkes Learning Systems. All rights reserved. Hawkes Learning Systems: College Algebra Section 4.2b: Maximization/Minimization Applications of Quadratic Functions

HAWKES LEARNING SYSTEMS math courseware specialists Copyright © 2011 Hawkes Learning Systems. All rights reserved. Objective o Maximization/minimization problems.

HAWKES LEARNING SYSTEMS math courseware specialists Copyright © 2011 Hawkes Learning Systems. All rights reserved. Maximization/Minimization Problems Many applications of mathematics involve determining the value (or values) of the variable x that returns either the maximum possible value or the minimum possible value of some function f(x). Such problems are called max/min problems for short.

HAWKES LEARNING SYSTEMS math courseware specialists Copyright © 2011 Hawkes Learning Systems. All rights reserved. Maximization/Minimization Problems We are now able to solve max/min problems involving quadratic functions. If the parabola opens upward, we know that the vertex is the lowest (minimum) point on the graph. If the parabola opens downward, we know that the vertex is the highest (maximum) point on the graph. Either way, we locate the vertex by completing the square or using the formula.

HAWKES LEARNING SYSTEMS math courseware specialists Copyright © 2011 Hawkes Learning Systems. All rights reserved. Maximization/Minimization Problems We can shorten the process of locating the vertex by completing the square on the generic quadratic: Vertex: As always, we begin by factoring the leading coefficient a from the first two terms. To complete the square, we add the square of half of inside the parentheses. This means we also have to subtract a times this quantity outside the parentheses. Note: the vertex must lie at.

HAWKES LEARNING SYSTEMS math courseware specialists Copyright © 2011 Hawkes Learning Systems. All rights reserved. Example: Maximization/Minimization Problems A farmer plans to use 2500 feet of spare fencing material to form a rectangular area for cows to graze against the side of a long barn, using the barn as one side of the rectangular area. How should he split up the fencing among the other three sides in order to maximize the rectangular area? If we let x represent the length of one side of the rectangular area then the dimensions of the rectangular area are x feet by x feet (see image above). We will let A be the name of our function that we wish to maximize in this problem, so we want to find the maximum possible value of. MOO! Continued on the next slide…

HAWKES LEARNING SYSTEMS math courseware specialists Copyright © 2011 Hawkes Learning Systems. All rights reserved. Note: If we multiply out the formula for A, we get a quadratic function. We know this function is a parabola facing down. We also know that the vertex is the maximum point on this graph. Remember, the vertex is the point. So, plugging in the values, we get the vertex Therefore, the maximum possible area is A(625): Example: Maximization/Minimization Problems (Cont.)

HAWKES LEARNING SYSTEMS math courseware specialists Copyright © 2011 Hawkes Learning Systems. All rights reserved. Example: Maximization/Minimization Problems a)The total revenue of Machinery Rental is given by the function where x is the number of units rented. What number of units rented produces the maximum revenue? b)The total cost of manufacturing a set of golf clubs is given by where x is the number of sets of golf clubs produced. How many sets of golf clubs should be made to incur minimum cost?

HAWKES LEARNING SYSTEMS math courseware specialists Copyright © 2011 Hawkes Learning Systems. All rights reserved. Example: Maximization/Minimization Problems Height in feet at time t may be found with this function: Sitting in a tree, 48 feet above ground level, Sue shoots a pebble straight up with a velocity of 64 feet per second. What is the maximum height attained by the pebble?