[Math] To find the Maximum and minimum value of f over square

lagrange multipliermultivariable-calculus

Given function $f = (x+y)^2 – (x+y) +1$ .I have to find maximum and value of $f$ over square with unit side in first octant in xy-plane.

question

I calculated $f_x $ and $f_y $ both came out to be $x+y=1/2$ .How do i find $x$ and $y$ value from here , critical points i meant .Also for circumference i am thinking of using Lagrange Multipliers by writing constraint as $xy-1=0 $.But i am not sure if this is correct way .Can anyone guide me through so that i may solve question on my own.Thanks

Best Answer

Because of the peculiar character of this function, we can make the substitution $ \ u \ = \ x + y \ $ to reduce the problem to finding the extrema of a function of a single variable, $ \ u^2 \ - \ u \ + \ 1 \ $. The domain to be studied becomes $ \ 0 \ \le \ u \ \le \ 2 \ $ . In the "interior" of the interval, we find, as godonichia remarks, that $ \ 2u \ - \ 1 \ = \ 0 \ \ \Rightarrow \ \ u \ = \frac{1}{2} \ $ , which corresponds to the extremal value $ \ \frac{3}{4} \ $ for the function. Upon investigating the endpoints of the interval, we find that the function takes on the value $ \ 3 \ $ at the endpoint $ \ u \ = \ 2 \ $ . This indicates that choice (c) is correct in the imaged question above.

The virtue of this approach is that constant values of $ \ u \ $ correspond to oblique lines of slope $ \ -1 \ $ passing through the first-quadrant unit square. This allows us to examine both the interior and the boundary of the square simultaneously, whereas a more usual investigation using the $ \ x- $ and $ \ y-$ coordinates requires us to check the interior, the four edges, and the four vertices of the square individually. (In this case, the edges can be groups into two pairs with the same behavior, and two of the four vertices has the same value of $ \ x + y \ $ . )