Assignment 3 : Derivatives, Maxima and Minima, Rolle’s
Theorem
1. (T) Show that the function f (x) = x | x | is differentiable at 0. More generally,
if f is continuous at 0, then g(x) = xf (x) is differentiable at 0.
½
x sin x1 x 6= 0
2. (T) Examine the function f (x) = for differentiability.
0 x=0
½ 2
x sin x1 x 6= 0
3. (D) Show that the function f (x) = is differentiable at all
0 x=0
x ∈ R. Also show that the function f 0 (x) is not continuous at x = 0. Thus, a
function that is differentiable at every point of R need not have a continuous
derivative f 0 (x).
4. (T) Prove that if f : R−→R is an even function (i.e., f (−x) = f (x) for all
x ∈ R) and has a derivative at every point, then the derivative f 0 is an odd
function (i.e.,f (−x) = −f (x) for all x ∈ R).
5. (D) Let f (0) = 0 and f 0 (0) = 1. For a positive integerk, show that
1n x x x o 1 1
lim f (x) + f ( ) + f ( ) + ... + f ( ) = 1 + + ... +
x→0 x 2 3 k 2 k
6. (T) Show that among all triangles with given base and the corresponding vertex
angle, the isosceles triangle has the maximum area.
7. (D) Prove that the equation x13 + 7x3 − 5 = 0 has exactly one real root.
8. (T) Show that exactly two real values of x satisfy the equation x2 = xsinx +
cosx.
9. (T) Suppose f is continuous on [a, b], differentiable on (a, b) and satisfies
f 2 (a) − f 2 (b) = a2 − b2 . The show that the equation f 0 (x)f (x) = x has at least
one root in (a, b).
10. (D) Let f and g be functions, continuous on [a, b], differentiable on (a, b)
and let f (a) = f (b) = 0. Prove that there is a point c ∈ (a, b) such that
g 0 (c)f (c) + f 0 (c) = 0.
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Date: 2011.01.25 [Link]
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Assignment 3 - Solutions
g(h)−g(0)
1. Let g(x) = xf (x). Then lim h
= lim f (h) = f (0).
h→0 h→0
f (h)−f (0)
2. f 0 (0) does not exist as lim h
= lim sin h1 , which doesn’t exist.
h→0 h→0
3. Using the sandwich theorem, we can see lim h sin h1 = 0. Therefore, f is differentiable
h→0
at 0 and f 0 (0) = 0.
Now,
2x sin x1 − cos x1 x 6= 0
0
f (x) =
0 x=0
Since lim cos h1 does not exist, f 0 (x) is not continuous at 0.
h→0
f (−x+h)−f (−x) f (x−h)−f (x) f (x+k)−f (x)
4. f 0 (−x) = lim h
= lim h
= − lim k
= −f 0 (x).
h→0 h→0 k→0
5. lim x1 (f (x) + f ( x2 ) + f ( x3 ) + · · · + f ( xk )) =
x→0
x x
1 f ( 2 )−f (0) 1 f ( k )−f (0)
lim ( f (x)−f
x
(0)
+ 2 x + ··· + k x ) = 1 + 12 + · · · + k1 .
x→0 2 k
6. Let ABC be a triangle. Suppose BAC
[ = θ and BC = a are fixed. Let CBA
[ =
x y a
β, BCA
[ = α, BA = x and AC = y. Since
sinα
= sinβ = sinθ , we have
1 1 sinαsinβ 1 sinαsin(θ + α)
A = xysinθ = a2 = a2
2 2 sinθ 2 sinθ
which is a function of α. Note that dA
dα
= 12 a2 sin(θ+2α)
sinθ
= 0 implies that α = 12 (π − θ).
7. Let f (x) = x13 + 7x3 − 5. Here, f (x) < 0 ∀ x ≤ 0, f (0) = −5 and f (1) = 3. By the
intermediate value property, there exists c ∈ (0, 1), such that f (c) = 0. So, f has at
least one real root.
If f has more than one real roots, (from above) they must all be positive. But,
f 0 (x) = x2 (13x10 + 21) 6= 0 unless x = 0. Since f 0 (x) has no positive root, f has atmost
one real root.
8. By the intermediate value property, we know that f (x) = x2 − xsinx − cosx has real
roots in (− π2 , 0) and (0, π2 ). Since f 0 (x) has only one real root x = 0, by Rolles theorem,
f (x) = 0 can have only two real roots.
9. Let h(x) = f (x)2 − x2 . Use Rolle’s Theorem.
10. Define h(x) = f (x)eg(x) . Here, h(x) is continuous in [a, b] and differentiable in (a, b).
Since h(a) = h(b) = 0, by Rolle’s theorem, ∃ c ∈ (a, b) such that h0 (c) = 0.
Since h0 (x) = [f 0 (x) + g 0 (x)f (x)]eg(x) and eα 6= 0 for any α ∈ R, we see that f 0 (c) +
g 0 (c)f (c) = 0.
