Show that Maximum and Minimum are Global

lagrange multipliermaxima-minimamultivariable-calculusoptimization

So I have the following question:

Find the extrema of the function
$$
f(x,y)=4x-6y
$$

Given the constraint
$$
4x^2-4x+9y^2-6y-2=0
$$

And determine whether these extrema are local/global on the constraint.

I found a max and min respectively at
$$
(\frac{1+\sqrt2}{2},\frac{1-\sqrt2}{3}) ,(\frac{1-\sqrt2}{2},\frac{1+\sqrt2}{3})
$$

with the value of f(x,y) at those points being
$$
4\sqrt2 ,-4\sqrt2
$$

I know these points a global maxima on the restriction/constraint, but I am having trouble proving that they are global.

Best Answer

Your constraint is an ellipsoid and your objective function is a straight line on 2-D. Therefore the straight line tangent to the ellipsoid should give you the global maximum/minimum.

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