Increasing and Decreasing Functions
Lecture Notes
Abdul Rauf Nizami
March 2020
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Increasing Function. A function f is said to be increasing on an interval if
f (x1 ) < f (x2 ) whenever x1 < x2 in that interval.
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f is increasing.
Decreasing Function. A function f is said to be decreasing on an interval if
f (x1 ) > f (x2 ) whenever x1 < x2 in that interval.
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f is decreasing.
Constant Function. A function f is said to be constant on an interval if
f (x1 ) = f (x2 ) for all x1 , x2 in that interval.
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f is constant.
Remark If a function is given in terms of its graph we can find the intervals
on which the function remains increasing, decreasing or constant, as you can
see in the following figure.
Increasing Decreasing Increasing Constant
x1 x2 x3 x
Intervals of increase and decrease
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However, if a function is given in terms of an algebraic expression, we use the
following result to find such intervals.
First Derivative Test. Let f be continuous on a closed interval [a, b] and
differentiable on the open interval (a, b).
• If f ′ (x) > 0 for every x in (a, b), then f is increasing on [a, b].
• If f ′ (x) < 0 for every x in (a, b), then f is decreasing on [a, b].
• If f ′ (x) = 0 for every x in (a, b), then f is constant on [a, b].
Example 1. Find the intervals on which f (x) = x2 − 4x + 3 is increasing and
the intervals on which it is decreasing.
Solution.
Step 1. [Derivative and Its Factorization] The derivative of f is f ′ (x) = 2x−4.
Step 2. [Intervals and Sign Analysis] The solution of the equation 2x−4 = 0 is
x = 2. This point (x = 2) divides the number line into two intervals, (−∞, 2],
and [2, +∞).
Interval Test Point Sign of f ′ (x) Increasing/Decreasing
(−∞, 2] 0 − Decreasing
[2, +∞) 3 + Increasing
Step 3. [Sketch]
————————-Solution Ends——————————–
Example 2. Find the intervals on which f (x) = x3 is increasing and the in-
tervals on which it is decreasing.
Solution.
Step 1. [Derivative and Its Factorization] The derivative of f is f ′ (x) = 3x2 .
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Step 2. [Intervals and Sign Analysis] The solution of the equation 3x2 = 0 is
x = 0. This point (x = 0) divides the number line into two intervals, (−∞, 0],
and [0, +∞).
Interval Test Point Sign of f ′ (x) Increasing/Decreasing
(−∞, 0] −1 − Decreasing
[0, +∞) 1 + Increasing
Step 3. [Sketch]
————————-Solution Ends——————————–
Example 3. Find the intervals on which f (x) = 5 + 12x − x3 is increasing and
the intervals on which it is decreasing.
Solution.
Step 1. [Derivative and Its Factorization] The derivative of f along with its
factorization is
f ′ (x) = 12 − 3x2 = 3(4 − x2 ) = 3(2 + x)(2 − x).
Step 2. [Intervals and Sign Analysis] Put each linear factor in f ′ (x) equal to
zero and solve for x. That is, solve the equations 2 + x = 0 and 2 − x = 0.
Their solutions are x = −2 and x = 2. These points divide the number line
into three intervals, (−∞, −2], [−2, 2], and [2, +∞).
Interval Test Point Sign of f ′ (x) Increasing/Decreasing
(−∞, −2] −3 − Decreasing
[−2, 2] 0 + Increasing
[2, +∞) 3 − Decreasing
Step 3. [Sketch]
————————-Solution Ends——————————–
Example 4. Find the intervals on which f (x) = 3x4 + 4x3 − 12x2 + 2 is in-
creasing and the intervals on which it is decreasing.
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Solution.
Step 1. [Derivative and Its Factorization] The derivative of f along with its
factorization is
f ′ (x) = 12x3 + 12x2 − 24x
= 12x(x2 + x − 2)
12x x2 + 2x − x − 2
=
= 12x x(x + 2) − (x + 2)
= 12x(x + 2)(x − 1)
Step 2. [Intervals and Sign Analysis] Put each linear factor in f ′ (x) equal to
zero and solve for x. That is, solve the equations 12x = 0, x + 2 = 0, and
x − 1 = 0. Their solutions are x = 0, x = −2, and x = 1. These points divide
the number line into four intervals, (−∞, −2), (−2, 0), (0, 1), and (1, +∞).
Interval Test Point Sign of f ′ (x) Increasing/Decreasing
(−∞, −2] −3 − Decreasing
[−2, 0] −1 + Increasing
[0, 1] 0.5 − Decreasing
[1, +∞) 2 + Increasing
Step 3. [Sketch]
f (x) = 3x4 + 4x3 − 12x2 + 2
————————-Solution Ends——————————–
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Practice Problems.
Find the intervals on which f is increasing and the intervals on which it is
decreasing.
1. f (x) = x3 − 3x2 + 1
2. f (x) = 3x4 − 4x3 .
3. f (x) = x3 − x2 − 2x.
——————————————————–
(I shall welcome your suggestions to improve these notes.)
