Home » Blog » Find a function with continuous second derivative satisfying given conditions

Find a function with continuous second derivative satisfying given conditions

In each of the following cases find a function f with continuous second derivative f'' satisfying the given conditions.

  1. f''(x) > 0 for all x, f'(0) = 1, and f'(1) = 0.
  2. f''(x) > 0 for all x, f'(0) = 1, and f'(1) = 3.
  3. f''(x) > 0 for all x, f'(0) = 1, and f(x) \leq 100 for all x > 0.
  4. f''(x) > 0 for all x, f'(0) = 1, and f(x) \leq 100 for all x < 0.

  1. There can be no function meeting all of these conditions since f''(x) > 0 implies f'(x) is an increasing function (since its derivative, f'', is positive). But then f'(0) > f'(1) contradicts that f'(x) is increasing.
  2. Let f(x) = x^2 + x. Then

        \begin{align*}    f'(x) = 2x + 1 && \implies  f'(0) &= 1, \\  && \implies f'(1) &= 3 \end{align*}

    Furthermore, f''(x) = 2 > 0 for all x.

  3. There can be no function meeting all of these conditions. Again, f''(x) > 0 for all x implies that f'(x) is increasing for all x. Therefore, f'(0) = 1 implies f'(x) > 1 for all x > 0. Then, by the mean-value theorem, we know that for any b > 0 there exists some c \in (0,b) such that

        \[ f(b) - f(0) = f'(c) (b-0) \quad \implies \quad f(b) > b + f(0) \qquad (\text{since } f'(c) > 1). \]

    Now, choose b > 100 - f(0). Then, f(b) > 100, contradicting that f(x) \leq 100 for all x.

  4. We’ll define f piecewise as follows

        \[ f(x) = \begin{dcases} 1 + x  + x^2 & \text{if } x \geq 0 \\ \frac{1}{1-x} & \text{if } x < 0. \end{dcases} \]

    Then, we can take the derivative of each piece (and see that they are equal, so the derivative is defined at x = 0)

        \[ f'(x) = \begin{dcases} 1 + 2x &\text{if } x \geq 0 \\ \frac{1}{(1-x)^2} & \text{if } x < 0. \end{dcases} \]

    Taking the derivative again we find

        \[ f''(x) = \begin{dcases} 2 & \text{if } x \geq 0 \\ \frac{2}{(1-x)^3} & \text{if } x < 0. \end{dcases} \]

    Thus, f''(x) > 0 for all x and f'(0) = 1. Furthermore, for x < 0 we have

        \[ f(x) = \frac{1}{1-x} \leq 100 \text{ for all } x < 0. \]

Point out an error, ask a question, offer an alternative solution (to use Latex type [latexpage] at the top of your comment):