CHAPTER 6

APPLICATIONS OF DERIVATIVES
Exam Corner:
Marks 1M 2M 3M TOTAL
Number of 1 2 1 8M
questions
Rate of Change of Quantities
If a quantity y varies with another quantity x, satisfying some rule y  f (x) , then ( ) represents
the rate of change of y with respect to x and ( ) ( ) represents the rate of change of y
with respect to x at x  x0. If two variables x and y are varying with respect to another
variable t, i.e., if x  f (t) and y  g(t) , then by Chain Rule

Shapes Area Perimete Surface Volume

r/ area
circumfe
rence
Circle π - -
Rectangl ( ) - -
e
Cube - -
Cone - - -
Sphere - - 4π
CIRCLE:
1. Find the rate of change of the area of a circle with respect to its radius r when
(a)r = 3 cm (b) r = 4 cm (c) r = 5cm (d) r =6cm
2. A stone is dropped into a quiet lake and waves move in circles at a speed of 4cm per second. At the
instant, when the radius of the circular wave is 10 cm, howfast is the enclosed area increasing?
3. A stone is dropped into a quiet lake and waves move in circles at the speed of 5 cm/s. At the instant
when the radius of the circular wave is 8 cm, how fast is the enclosed area increasing?
4. The radius of a circle is increasing uniformly at the rate of 3 cm/s. Find the rate at which the area of
the circle is increasing when the radius is 10 cm.
5. The radius of a circle is increasing at the rate of 0.7 cm/s. What is the rate of increase of its
circumference?
6. A circular disc of radius 3 cm is being heated. Due to expansion, its radius increases at the rate of
0.05 cm/s. Find the rate at which its area is increasing when radius is 3.2 cm.
RECTANGLE:
7. The length x of a rectangle is decreasing at the rate of 3 cm/minute and the width y is increasing
at the rate of 2cm/minute.When x =10cm and y = 6cm, findthe rates of change of (a) the
perimeter and (b) the area of the rectangle.
8. The length x of a rectangle is decreasing at the rate of 5 cm/minute and the width y is increasing
at the rate of 4 cm/minute. When x = 8cm and y = 6cm, find the rates of change of (a) the
perimeter, and (b) the area of the rectangle.

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 CUBE:
9. The volume of a cube is increasing at a rate of 9 cubic centimetres per second. How fast is the
surface area increasing when the length of an edge is 10centimetres ?
10. The volume of a cube is increasing at the rate of 8 cm 3/s. How fast is the surface area increasing
when the length of an edge is 12 cm?
11. An edge of a variable cube is increasing at the rate of 3 cm/s. How fast is the volume of the cube
increasing when the edge is 10 cm long?
SPHERE:
12. A balloon, which always remains spherical on inflation, is being inflated by pumping in 900 cubic
centimetres of gas per second. Find the rate at which the radius of the balloon increases when the
radius is 15 cm.
13. A balloon, which always remains spherical has a variable radius. Find the rate at which its volume is
increasing with the radius when the later is 10 cm.
14. The radius of an air bubble is increasing at the rate of . At what rate is the volume of the
bubble increasing when the radius is 1 cm?
15. A balloon, which always remains spherical, has a variable diameter ( ). Find the rate of
change of its volume with respect to x.
CONE:
16. Sand is pouring from a pipe at the rate of 12 cm3/s. The falling sand forms a cone on the ground in
such a way that the height of the cone is always one-sixth of the radius of the base. How fast is the
height of the sand cone increasing when the height is 4 cm?
17. A water tank has the shape of an inverted right circular cone with its axis vertical and vertex
lowermost. Its semi-vertical angle is tan–1 (0.5). Water is poured into it at a constant rate of 5 cubic
metre per hour. Find the rate at which the level of the water is rising at the instant when the depth
of water in the tank is 4 m.

DIFFERENT PROBLEMS
18. A ladder 5 m long is leaning against a wall. The bottom of the ladder is pulled along the ground,
away from the wall, at the rate of 2cm/s. How fast is its height on the wall decreasing when the foot
of the ladder is 4 m away from the wall ?
19. A man of height 2 metres walks at a uniform speed of 5 km/h away from a lamp post which is 6
metres high. Find the rate at which the length of his shadow increases.
20. A car starts from a point P at time t = 0 seconds and stops at point Q. The distance x, in metres, covered
by it, in t seconds is given by ( ) Find the time taken by it to reach Q and also find
distance between P and Q.
21. A particle moves along the curve 6y = x3 +2. Find the points on the curve at which the y-
coordinate is changing 8 times as fast as the x-coordinate.

Marginal Cost: Marginal cost we mean the instantaneous rate of change of total cost at any level of
output.
Marginal Revenue: Marginal revenue we mean the rate of change of total revenue with respect to
the number of items sold at an instant.

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22. The total cost C(x) in Rupees, associated with the production of x units of an item is given by C(x) =
0.005 x3 – 0.02 x2 + 30x + 5000. Find the marginal cost when 3 units are produced, where by
marginal cost we mean the instantaneous rate of change of total cost at any level of output.
23. The total cost C (x) in Rupees associated with the production of x units of an item is given by C (x)
= 0.007x3 – 0.003x2 + 15x + 4000.Find the marginal cost when 17 units are produced.
24. The total revenue in Rupees received from the sale of x units of a product is given by R(x) = 3x2 +
36x + 5. Find the marginal revenue, when x = 5, where by marginal revenue we mean the rate of
change of total revenue with respect to the number of items sold at an instant.
25. The total revenue in Rupees received from the sale of x units of a product isgiven by
R (x) = 13x2 + 26x + 15.Find the marginal revenue when x = 7.
26. The total revenue in Rupees received from the sale of x units of a product isgiven by
R(x) = 3x2 + 36x + 5. Find the marginal revenue when x = 15.

Increasing and Decreasing Functions:

Let I be an interval contained in the domain of a real valued function f.
Then f is said to be
(i) increasing on I if x1 < x2 in I f (x1)  f (x2) for all x1, x2  I.
(ii) decreasing on I, if x1 < x2 in I f (x1) > f (x2) for all x1, x2  I.
(iii) constant on I, if f(x) = c for all x  I, where c is a constant.
A continuous function in an interval (a, b) is : (i) strictly increasing if for all x1, x2 ∈ (a, b), x1 < x2 ⇒
f (x1) < f (x2) or for all x ∈ (a, b), f (x)) > 0
(ii) strictly decreasing if for all x1, x2 ∈ (a, b), x1 < x2 ⇒ f (x1) > f (x2) or for all x ∈ (a, b), f (x) < 0

Theorem 1 Let f be continuous on [a, b] and differentiable on the open interval(a,b). Then
(a) f is increasing in [a,b] if f (x) > 0 for each x  (a, b)
(b) f is decreasing in [a,b] if f (x) < 0 for each x  (a, b)
(c) f is a constant function in [a,b] if f (x) = 0 for each x  (a, b)

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 Proof: (a) Let x1, x2  [a, b] be such that x1< x2 .Then, by Mean Value Theorem , there exists a
point c between x1 and x2 such that
⟹f (x2 ) – f (x1 ) = f (c) (x2 – x1 )
⟹f (x2) – f (x1 ) > 0 (as f (c) > 0 (given))
⟹f (x2) > f (x1 )
Hence, f is an increasing function in [a,b].
Note: There is a more generalized theorem, which states that if f ‘(x) > 0 for x in an interval excluding
the end points and f is continuous in the interval, then f is increasing. Similarly, if f’(x) < 0 for x in an
interval excluding the end points and f is continuous in the interval, then f is decreasing.
27. Show that the function given by f (x) = 7x – 3 is increasing on R.
28. Show that the function given by f (x) = 3x + 17 is increasing on R.
29. Show that the function given by f (x) = e2x is increasing on R
30. Prove that the logarithmic function is increasing on (0, ).
31. Prove that the function given by f (x) = x3 – 3x2 + 3x – 100 is increasing in R.
32. Show that the function f given by f (x) = x3 – 3x2 + 4x, x  R is increasing on R.
33. Find intervals is the function f given by f (x) = x100 + sin x –1decreasing?
34. Find the intervals in which the function f given by f (x) = 2x2 – 3x is (a) increasing (b)decreasing
35. Find the intervals in which the function f given by f (x) = x2 – 4x + 6 is (a) increasing (b) decreasing
36. Find the intervals in which the function f given by f (x) = 4x3 – 6x2 – 72x+ 30 is
(a) increasing (b) decreasing.
37. Find the intervals in which the function f given by f (x) = 2x3 – 3x2 – 36x + 7 is
(a)increasing (b)decreasing
38. Find intervals in which the function given by
( ) is (a)increasing (b)decreasing
39. Find intervals in which the function given by f (x) = sin 3x, ∈ * + is (a) increasing (b) decreasing.
40. Find the intervals in which the function f given by f (x) = sin x + cos x, 0  x  2is increasing or
decreasing.
41. Find the intervals in which the function f given by y = x2 e–x is increasing
42. For what values of a the function f given by f (x) = x2 + ax + 1 is increasing on[1, 2]?
43. Prove that the function f given by f (x) = x2 – x + 1 is neither strictly increasing nor decreasing on(–
1, 1).
44. Find the intervals in which the following functions are strictly increasing or decreasing:
(a) x2 + 2x – 5
(b) 10 – 6x – 2x2
(c) –2x3 – 9x2 – 12x + 1
(d) 6 – 9x – x2
(e) (x + 1)3 (x – 3)3

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 45. Prove that the function given by f (x) = cos x is (a) decreasing in (0, ) (b) increasing in (, 2), and
(c) neither increasing nor decreasing in (0, 2).
46. Show that the function given by f (x) = sin x is(a) increasing in ( ) (b) decreasing in ( ) and
(c) neither increasing nor decreasing in (0, ).
47. Prove that the function f given by ( ) ( ) is increasing on ( ) and decreasing on
( ).
48. Prove that the function f given by ( ) | | is increasing on ( ) and decreasing on
( ).
49. Show that ( ) is an increasing function of throughout its domain.
50. Find the values of for which [ ( )] is an increasing function.
51. Prove that ( )
is an increasing function of in* +

52. Which of the following functions are decreasing on* +

(A) Cosx (B) cos2x (C) cos3x (D) tan x
53. Let I be any interval disjoint from [ ]. Prove that the function f given by ( ) is
increasing on I.
54. Show that the function f given by ( ) ( ) is always an increasing
function in( ).

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Maxima and Minima
Local Maximum and Local Minimum for a real valued function f
A point c in the interior of the domain of f, is called
(a) local maxima, if there exists an h > 0 , such that f (c) > f (x), for all x in (c – h, c + h).The
value f (c) is called the local maximum value of f .
(b) local minima if there exists an h > 0 such that f (c) < f (x), for all x in (c – h, c + h). The
value f (c) is called the local minimum value of f.
(c) f is said to have an extreme value in I if there exists a point c in I such that
f (c) is either a maximum value or a minimum value of f in I.
The number f (c), in this case, is called an extreme value of f in I and the point c
is called an extreme point.
Absolute maximum and Absolute minimum:
A function f defined over [a, b] is said to have maximum (or absolute maximum) at x = c, c  [a, b],
if f (x)  f (c) for all x  [a, b].
Similarly, a function f (x) defined over [a, b] is said to have a minimum [or absoluteminimum] at x = d,
if f (x)  f (d) for all x  [a, b].

Critical point of f : A point c in the domain of a function f at which either f  (c) = 0 or f is not
differentiable is called a critical point of f.
Working rule for finding points of local maxima or local minima:
First derivative test:
a) If f  (x) changes sign from positive to negative as x increases through c, then c is a point of local
maxima, and f (c) is local maximum value.
b) If f  (x) changes sign from negative to positive as x increases through c, then c is a point of local
minima, and f (c) is local minimum value.
c) If f  (x) does not change sign as x increases through c, then c is neither a point of local minima
nor a point of local maxima. Such apoint is called a point of inflection.
Second Derivative test: Let f be a function defined on an interval I and c  I. Let f be twice
differentiable at c. Then
a) x = c is a point of local maxima if f (c) = 0 and f (c) < 0. In this case f (c) is then the local
maximum value.
b) x = c is a point of local minima if f  (c) = 0 and f (c) > 0. In this case f (c) is the local minimum
value.
c) The test fails if f (c) = 0 and f  (c) = 0. In this case, we go back tofirst derivative test.
Working rule for finding absolute maxima and or absolute minima :
Step 1 : Find all the critical points of f in the given interval.
Step 2 : At all these points and at the end points of the interval, calculate thevalues of f.
Step 3 : Identify the maximum and minimum values of f out of the values calculated in step 2. The
maximum value will be the absolute maximumvalue of f and the minimum value will be the absolute
minimum value of f.

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55. Find the maximum and the minimum values, if any, of the function f given by f (x) = x2, x  R.
56. Find the maximum and minimum valuesof f , if any, of the function given by f (x) = | x |, x  R.
57. Find local minimum value of the function f given by f (x) = 3 + | x |, x  R.
58. Find the maximum and the minimum values, if any, of the function f given by f (x) = 9x2+12x+2, x
R.
59. Find the maximum and the minimum values, if any, of the function f given by ( ) ( )
60. Find the maximum and the minimum values, if any, of the function given by f (x) = x, x  (0, 1).
61. Prove that the function do not have maxima or minima ( )
62. Prove that the function do not have maxima or minima ( )
63. Prove that the function do not have maxima or minima ( )
64. Find the local maximum value of the function ( ) .
65. Find the local minimum value of the function g is given by ( )
66. Find all points of local maxima and local minima of the function f given by f (x) = x3 – 3x + 3.
67. Find all the points of local maxima and local minima of the function f given by
f (x) = 2x3 – 6x2 + 6x +5.
68. Find local maximum and local minimum values of the function f given by
f (x) = 3x4 + 4x3 – 12x2 + 12
69. At what points, the function ( ) attains local maxima and
minima.
70. Show that the function given by ( ) has maximum at
71. Find the absolute maximum and minimum values of a function f given by f (x) = 2x3 – 15x2 + 36x +1
on the interval [1, 5].
72. Find the absolute maximum and minimum values of a function f given by
f (x) = 3x4 – 8x3 +12 x2– 48x +25 on the interval [0, 3].
73. Find the absolute maximum value and the absolute minimum value of the function
( ) ∈[ ].
74. Find absolute maximum and minimum values of a function f given by ( ) ,
∈[ ].
75. Find the maximum profit that company can make if the profit function is given by
( )
76. A square piece of tin of side 18 cm is to be made into a box without top, by cutting a square
from each corner and folding up the flaps to form the box. What should be the side of the
square to be cut off so that the volume of the box is maximum?
77. Let AP and BQ be two vertical poles at points A and B, respectively. If AP = 16 m, BQ = 22 mand AB =
20 m, then find the distance of a point R on AB from the point A such that RP2 + RQ2 is minimum.

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78. Find two positive numbers and such that and is maximum. (J-14,M-17)
79. Find two numbers whose sum is 24 and whose product is as large as possible. (J-2015,18,20)
80. Find the two positive numbers whose sum is 15 and sum of whose squares is minimum.
(J-2017,18,M-2015)
81. Find the two numbers whose product is 25 and whose sum is minimum.
82. Find the two positive numbers whose product is 100 and whose sum is minimum. (M-2016)
83. Find two positive numbers whose sum is 16 and the sum of whose cubes is minimum.
84. Find two positive numbers x and y such that their sum is 35 and the product x2 y5is a maximum.

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