3.

7 Optimization Problems 215

3.7 Optimization Problems

Solve applied minimum and maximum problems.

Applied Minimum and Maximum Problems

One of the most common applications of calculus involves the determination of
minimum and maximum values. Consider how frequently you hear or read terms such as
greatest profit, least cost, least time, greatest voltage, optimum size, least size, greatest
strength, and greatest distance. Before outlining a general problem-solving strategy for
such problems, consider the next example.

Finding Maximum Volume

A manufacturer wants to design an open box having a square base and a surface area of
108 square inches, as shown in Figure 3.53. What dimensions will produce a box with
maximum volume?
h Solution Because the box has a square base, its volume is
V ⫽ x2h. Primary equation

This equation is called the primary equation because it gives a formula for the
x
x quantity to be optimized. The surface area of the box is
S ⫽ 共area of base兲 ⫹ 共area of four sides兲
Open box with square base:
S ⫽ x 2 ⫹ 4xh ⫽ 108
108 ⫽ x2 ⫹ 4xh. Secondary equation

Figure 3.53 Because V is to be maximized, you want to write V as a function of just one variable.
To do this, you can solve the equation x2 ⫹ 4xh ⫽ 108 for h in terms of x to obtain
h ⫽ 共108 ⫺ x2兲兾共4x兲. Substituting into the primary equation produces
V ⫽ x2h Function of two variables

⫽ x2 冢1084x⫺ 冣 x2
Substitute for h.

x3
⫽ 27x ⫺ . Function of one variable
4
Before finding which x-value will yield a maximum value of V, you should determine
the feasible domain. That is, what values of x make sense in this problem? You know
that V ⱖ 0. You also know that x must be nonnegative and that the area of the base
共A ⫽ x2兲 is at most 108. So, the feasible domain is
0 ⱕ x ⱕ 冪108. Feasible domain

To maximize V, find the critical numbers of the volume function on the interval
TECHNOLOGY You can 共0, 冪108兲.
verify your answer in Example 1
by using a graphing utility to dV 3x2
⫽ 27 ⫺ Differentiate with respect to x.
graph the volume function dx 4
3x2
x3 27 ⫺ ⫽0 Set derivative equal to 0.
V ⫽ 27x ⫺ . 4
4
3x2 ⫽ 108 Simplify.
Use a viewing window in which
x ⫽ ±6 Critical numbers
0 ⱕ x ⱕ 冪108 ⬇ 10.4 and
0 ⱕ y ⱕ 120, and use the So, the critical numbers are x ⫽ ± 6. You do not need to consider x ⫽ ⫺6 because it is
maximum or trace feature to outside the domain. Evaluating V at the critical number x ⫽ 6 and at the endpoints of
determine the maximum the domain produces V共0兲 ⫽ 0, V共6兲 ⫽ 108, and V 共冪108 兲 ⫽ 0. So, V is maximum
value of V. when x ⫽ 6, and the dimensions of the box are 6 inches by 6 inches by 3 inches.

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216 Chapter 3 Applications of Differentiation

In Example 1, you should realize that there are infinitely many open boxes having
108 square inches of surface area. To begin solving the problem, you might ask
yourself which basic shape would seem to yield a maximum volume. Should the box
be tall, squat, or nearly cubical?
You might even try calculating a few volumes, as shown in Figure 3.54, to see if
you can get a better feeling for what the optimum dimensions should be. Remember
that you are not ready to begin solving a problem until you have clearly identified what
the problem is.

Volume = 74 14 Volume = 92 Volume = 103 34

3
5 × 5 × 4 20

4 × 4 × 5 34

3 × 3 × 8 14

Volume = 108 Volume = 88

6×6×3 8 × 8 × 1 38
Which box has the greatest volume?
Figure 3.54

Example 1 illustrates the following guidelines for solving applied minimum and
maximum problems.

GUIDELINES FOR SOLVING APPLIED MINIMUM AND

MAXIMUM PROBLEMS
1. Identify all given quantities and all quantities to be determined. If possible,
make a sketch.
2. Write a primary equation for the quantity that is to be maximized or
minimized. (A review of several useful formulas from geometry is presented
inside the back cover.)
3. Reduce the primary equation to one having a single independent variable.
This may involve the use of secondary equations relating the independent
variables of the primary equation.
4. Determine the feasible domain of the primary equation. That is, determine
the values for which the stated problem makes sense.
5. Determine the desired maximum or minimum value by the calculus
techniques discussed in Sections 3.1 through 3.4.

REMARK For Step 5, recall that to determine the maximum or minimum value of
a continuous function f on a closed interval, you should compare the values of f at its
critical numbers with the values of f at the endpoints of the interval.

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 3.7 Optimization Problems 217

Finding Minimum Distance

See [Link] for an interactive version of this type of example.
y
Which points on the graph of y ⫽ 4 ⫺ x2 are closest to the point 共0, 2兲?
y=4−x 2
Solution Figure 3.55 shows that there are two points at a minimum distance from
the point 共0, 2兲. The distance between the point 共0, 2兲 and a point 共x, y兲 on the graph of
3 y ⫽ 4 ⫺ x2 is
d (x, y)
d ⫽ 冪共x ⫺ 0兲2 ⫹ 共 y ⫺ 2兲2. Primary equation
(0, 2)
Using the secondary equation y ⫽ 4 ⫺ x2, you can rewrite the primary equation as
1
d ⫽ 冪x 2 ⫹ 共4 ⫺ x 2 ⫺ 2兲2
x ⫽ 冪x 4 ⫺ 3x 2 ⫹ 4.
−1 1
Because d is smallest when the expression inside the radical is smallest, you need only
The quantity to be minimized is
distance: d ⫽ 冪共x ⫺ 0兲2 ⫹ 共 y ⫺ 2兲2.
find the critical numbers of f 共x兲 ⫽ x 4 ⫺ 3x2 ⫹ 4. Note that the domain of f is the entire
Figure 3.55
real number line. So, there are no endpoints of the domain to consider. Moreover, the
derivative of f
f⬘ 共x兲 ⫽ 4x 3 ⫺ 6x
⫽ 2x共2x2 ⫺ 3兲
is zero when

x ⫽ 0, 冪32, ⫺冪32.
Testing these critical numbers using the First Derivative Test verifies that x ⫽ 0 yields
a relative maximum, whereas both x ⫽ 冪3兾2 and x ⫽ ⫺ 冪3兾2 yield a minimum
distance. So, the closest points are 共冪3兾2, 5兾2兲 and 共⫺ 冪3兾2, 5兾2兲.

Finding Minimum Area

1 in.
y
1 in. A rectangular page is to contain 24 square inches of print. The margins at the top and
1
bottom of the page are to be 12 inches, and the margins on the left and right are to be
1 12 in.
Newton, Sir Isaac (1643-1727), English mathematician and physicist, who brought the
1 inch (see Figure 3.56). What should the dimensions of the page be so that the least
amount of paper is used?
scientific revolution of the 17th century to its climax and established the principal outlines
of the system of natural science that has since dominated Western thought. In mathematics,
he was the first person to develop the calculus. In optics, he established the heterogeneity
of light and the periodicity of certain phenomena. In mechanics, his three laws of motion
became the foundation of modern dynamics, and from them he derived the law of
universal gravitation.
Newton was born on January 4, 1643, at W oolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire.
When he was three years old, his widowed mother remarried, leaving him to be reared by
her mother. Eventually, his mother, by then widowed a second time, was persuaded to
send him to grammar school in Grantham; then, in the summer of 1661, he was sent to
Trinity College, University of Cambridge.
After receiving his bachelor's degree in 1665, and after an intermission of nearly two

Let A be the area to be minimized.

years caused by the plague, Newton stayed on at Trinity, which elected him to a

Solution
fellowship in 1667; he took his master's degree in 1668. Meanwhile, he had largely
ignored the established curriculum of the university to pursue his own interests:
mathematics and natural philosophy. Proceeding entirely on his own, Newton investigated
the latest developments in 17th-century mathematics and the new natural philosophy that
treated nature as a complicated machine. Almost immediately, he made fundamental
discoveries that laid the foundation of his career in science.
The Fluxional Method
Newton's first achievement came in mathematics. He generalized the earlier methods

x
that were being used to draw tangents to curves (similar to differentiation) and to calculate
areas under curves (similar to integration), recognized that the two procedures were inverse

A ⫽ 共x ⫹ 3兲共 y ⫹ 2兲
operations, and—joining them in what he called the fluxional method—developed in the
autumn of 1666 what is now known as the calculus. The calculus was a new and powerful

Primary equation
instrument that carried modern mathematics above the level of Greek geometry. Although
Newton was its inventor, he did not introduce it into European mathematics. Always
morbidly fearful of publication and criticism, he kept his discovery to himself, although
enough was known of his abilities to effect his appointment in 1669 as Lucasian Professor
of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. In 1675 the German mathematician
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz arrived independently at virtually the same method, which he
called the differential calculus. Leibniz proceeded to publish his method, and the world of
mathematics not only learned it from him but also accepted his name for it and his
notation. Newton himself did not publish any detailed exposition of his fluxional method
until 1704.
Optics

The printed area inside the margins is

Optics was another of Newton's early interests. In trying to explain how phenomena of
colors arise, he arrived at the idea that sunlight is a heterogeneous mixture of different
rays—each of which provokes the sensation of a different color—and that reflections and
refractions cause colors to appear by separating the mixture into its components. He
devised an experimental demonstration of this theory, one of the great early exhibitions of
the power of experimental investigation in science. His measurement of the rings reflected
from a thin film of air confined between a lens and a sheet of glass was the first
demonstration of periodicity in optical phenomena. In 1672 Newton sent a brief
exposition of his theory of colors to the Royal Society in London. Its appearance in the
Philosophical Transactions led to a number of criticisms that confirmed his fear of
publication, and he subsequently withdrew as much as possible into the solitude of his

24 ⫽ xy.
Cambridge study. He did not publish his full Opticks until 1704.

Secondary equation
1 12 in.
Solving this equation for y produces y ⫽ 24兾x. Substitution into the primary equation
The quantity to be minimized is area: produces
A ⫽ 共x ⫹ 3兲共 y ⫹ 2兲.
Figure 3.56
A ⫽ 共x ⫹ 3兲 冢24x ⫹ 2冣 ⫽ 30 ⫹ 2x ⫹ 72x . Function of one variable

Because x must be positive, you are interested only in values of A for x > 0. To find the
critical numbers, differentiate with respect to x
dA 72
⫽2⫺ 2
dx x
and note that the derivative is zero when x2 ⫽ 36, or x ⫽ ± 6. So, the critical numbers
are x ⫽ ± 6. You do not have to consider x ⫽ ⫺6 because it is outside the domain. The
24
First Derivative Test confirms that A is a minimum when x ⫽ 6. So, y ⫽ 6 ⫽ 4 and the
dimensions of the page should be x ⫹ 3 ⫽ 9 inches by y ⫹ 2 ⫽ 6 inches.

Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has
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218 Chapter 3 Applications of Differentiation

Finding Minimum Length

Two posts, one 12 feet high and the other 28 feet high, stand 30 feet apart. They are to
be stayed by two wires, attached to a single stake, running from ground level to the top
of each post. Where should the stake be placed to use the least amount of wire?
Solution Let W be the wire length to be
minimized. Using Figure 3.57, you can write
W ⫽ y ⫹ z. Primary equation
z
In this problem, rather than solving for y in W=y+z 28 ft
terms of z (or vice versa), you can solve for
both y and z in terms of a third variable x, as y
12 ft
shown in Figure 3.57. From the Pythagorean
Theorem, you obtain
x 30 − x
x2 ⫹ 122 ⫽ y 2
The quantity to be minimized is length.
共30 ⫺ x兲2 ⫹ 282 ⫽ z2
From the diagram, you can see that x
which implies that varies between 0 and 30.
Figure 3.57
y ⫽ 冪x2 ⫹ 144
z ⫽ 冪x2 ⫺ 60x ⫹ 1684.
So, you can rewrite the primary equation as
W⫽y⫹z
⫽ 冪x2 ⫹ 144 ⫹ 冪x2 ⫺ 60x ⫹ 1684, 0 ⱕ x ⱕ 30.
Differentiating W with respect to x yields
dW x x ⫺ 30
⫽ ⫹ .
dx 冪x2 ⫹ 144 冪x2 ⫺ 60x ⫹ 1684
By letting dW兾dx ⫽ 0, you obtain
x x ⫺ 30
⫹ ⫽0
冪x ⫹ 144
2 冪x ⫺ 60x ⫹ 1684
2

x冪x2 ⫺ 60x ⫹ 1684 ⫽ 共30 ⫺ x兲冪x2 ⫹ 144

x2共x2 ⫺ 60x ⫹ 1684兲 ⫽ 共30 ⫺ x兲2共x2 ⫹ 144兲
x 4 ⫺ 60x 3 ⫹ 1684x 2 ⫽ x 4 ⫺ 60x 3 ⫹ 1044x 2 ⫺ 8640x ⫹ 129,600
640x 2 ⫹ 8640x ⫺ 129,600 ⫽ 0
320共x ⫺ 9兲共2x ⫹ 45兲 ⫽ 0
x ⫽ 9, ⫺22.5.

60 Because x ⫽ ⫺22.5 is not in the domain and

W共0兲 ⬇ 53.04, W共9兲 ⫽ 50, and W共30兲 ⬇ 60.31
you can conclude that the wire should be staked at 9 feet from the 12-foot pole.

TECHNOLOGY From Example 4, you can see that applied optimization

Minimum
0 X=9 Y=50 30
problems can involve a lot of algebra. If you have access to a graphing utility, you
45 can confirm that x ⫽ 9 yields a minimum value of W by graphing
You can confirm the minimum value
W ⫽ 冪x2 ⫹ 144 ⫹ 冪x2 ⫺ 60x ⫹ 1684
of W with a graphing utility.
Figure 3.58 as shown in Figure 3.58.

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 3.7 Optimization Problems 219

In each of the first four examples, the extreme value occurred at a critical number.
Although this happens often, remember that an extreme value can also occur at an
endpoint of an interval, as shown in Example 5.

An Endpoint Maximum
Four feet of wire is to be used to form a square and a circle. How much of the wire
should be used for the square and how much should be used for the circle to enclose the
maximum total area?
x Solution The total area (see Figure 3.59) is
A ⫽ 共area of square兲 ⫹ 共area of circle兲
x Area: x 2
A ⫽ x 2 ⫹ ␲ r 2. Primary equation

Perimeter: 4x Because the total length of wire is 4 feet, you obtain

?
4 ⫽ 共perimeter of square兲 ⫹ 共circumference of circle兲
4 ⫽ 4x ⫹ 2␲ r.
r
4 feet
So, r ⫽ 2共1 ⫺ x兲兾␲, and by substituting into the primary equation you have
Area: π r 2

冤 2共1 ␲⫺ x兲冥
2
A ⫽ x2 ⫹ ␲
Circumference: 2π r
The quantity to be maximized is area: 4共1 ⫺ x兲 2
A ⫽ x 2 ⫹ ␲ r 2. ⫽ x2 ⫹
␲
Figure 3.59
1
⫽ 关共␲ ⫹ 4兲x2 ⫺ 8x ⫹ 4兴 .
␲
The feasible domain is 0 ⱕ x ⱕ 1, restricted by the square’s perimeter. Because

Exploration dA 2共␲ ⫹ 4兲x ⫺ 8

⫽
dx ␲
What would the answer be
if Example 5 asked for the only critical number in 共0, 1兲 is x ⫽ 4兾共␲ ⫹ 4兲 ⬇ 0.56. So, using
the dimensions needed to
A共0兲 ⬇ 1.273, A共0.56兲 ⬇ 0.56, and A共1兲 ⫽ 1
enclose the minimum
total area? you can conclude that the maximum area occurs when x ⫽ 0. That is, all the wire is
used for the circle.

Before doing the section exercises, review the primary equations developed in the
first five examples. As applications go, these five examples are fairly simple, and yet the
resulting primary equations are quite complicated.
x3
V ⫽ 27x ⫺ Example 1
4
d ⫽ 冪x ⫺ 3x 2 ⫹ 4
4
Example 2
72
A ⫽ 30 ⫹ 2x ⫹ Example 3
x
W ⫽ 冪x ⫹ 144 ⫹ 冪x 2 ⫺ 60x ⫹ 1684
2
Example 4
1
A ⫽ 关共␲ ⫹ 4兲x 2 ⫺ 8x ⫹ 4兴 Example 5
␲
You must expect that real-life applications often involve equations that are at least as
complicated as these five. Remember that one of the main goals of this course is to learn
to use calculus to analyze equations that initially seem formidable.

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deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.