How do you find critical points for function of two

Zugdichte2r

Zugdichte2r

Answered question

2022-01-23

How do you find critical points for function of two variables f(x,y)=8x3+144xy+8y3?

Answer & Explanation

Matias Lang

Matias Lang

Beginner2022-01-24Added 10 answers

For two-variables function, critical points are defined as the points in which the gradient equals zero, just like you had a critical point for the single-variable function f(x) if the derivative f(x)=0. The matter is that you now can differentiate the function with respect to more than one variable (namely 2, in your case), and so you must define a derivative for each directions.
The gradient is thus defined as the n-dimensional vector (again, in your case n=2), and its coordinates are the derivatives with respect to each variable. So, the gradient of a two-variable function f(x,y) is the vector (fx,fy), where deriving with respect to a variable means to consider the other as a constant.
Let's compute the two derivatives:
fx=24x2+144y
fy=144x+24y2
To find the critical points, we must find the values of x and y for which
(fx,fy)=(0,0) holds.
In other words, we must solve
24x2+144y=0
24y2+144x=0
Simplifying both expression, we have
x2+6y=0
y2+6x=0
An obvious solution is (x,y)=(0,0), which is thus our first critical point, while the other solution are (x,y)=(6,6), which is the second and last critical point.

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