Fermat's Theorem and The Mean Value Theorems: Aditya Ghosh Last Updated: Dec 01, 2020

Fermat’s theorem and the Mean Value Theorems
Aditya Ghosh
Last updated: Dec 01, 2020
1. Suppose that f : [a, b] → R has a local maximum at x = c, where c ∈ (a, b). Is it necessary
that f 0 (c) = 0?
2. Suppose that f : [a, b] → R has a local maximum at x = c, where c ∈ [a, b]. Assume that
f is differentiable at x = c. Is it necessary that f 0 (c) = 0?
3. (Fermat’s Theorem) Suppose that f : [a, b] → R has a local maximum (or minimum) at
x = c, where c ∈ (a, b). Assume that f is differentiable at x = c. Show that f 0 (c) must be
equal to zero.
(Note: It is enough to show it only for the case of local maximum. If f has a local
minimum at x = c, then we can just apply that result to −f .)
4. Suppose that f : [a, b] → R is differentiable at x = c, where c ∈ (a, b). If f 0 (c) = 0, is it

necessary that f has a local maximum/minimum at x = c?
5. (Rolle’s Theorem) Suppose that f : [a, b] → R is continuous on [a, b], differentiable on

(a, b), and f (a) = f (b). Prove that there exists c ∈ (a, b) such that f 0 (c) = 0.
6. Show that Rolle’s theorem fails to hold if f is not continuous at one of endpoints (a or b).
7. (Lagrange’s Mean Value Theorem) Suppose that f : [a, b] → R is continuous on [a, b],
differentiable on (a, b). Prove that there exists c ∈ (a, b) such that
f (b) − f (a)
= f 0 (c).
b−a
8. Let f be continuous on [a, b], differentiable on (a, b) and f (a) = f (b) = 0. Prove that for
any β ∈ R, there exists some c ∈ (a, b) such that f 0 (c) + β · f (c) = 0.
9. Let f, g be continuous on [a, b], differentiable on (a, b) and f (a) = f (b) = 0. Show that
there exists c ∈ (a, b) such that g 0 (x)f (x) + f 0 (x) = 0.
10. Let f be continuous on [0, π], differentiable on (0, π). Show that there exists c ∈ (0, π)
such that f 0 (c) sin c + f (c) cos c = 0.
11. Assume that f is continuous on [a, b], differentiable on (a, b), where 0 < a < b, and suppose
that bf (a) = af (b). Prove that there exists x0 ∈ (a, b) such that x0 f 0 (x0 ) = f (x0 ).
1
12. Suppose that f is continuous on [a, b], differentiable on (a, b), and suppose that f (b)2 −
f (a)2 = b2 − a2 . Prove that the equation f 0 (x)f (x) = x has at least one root in (a, b).
13. Let f and g be continuous and never vanishing on [a, b] and differentiable on (a, b). Prove
that if f (a)g(b) = f (b)g(a) then there is x0 ∈ (a, b) such that
f 0 (x0 ) g 0 (x0 )
= .
f (x0 ) g(x0 )
14. Assume that a0 , a1 , . . . , an are real numbers such that
a1 a2 an
a0 + + + ··· + = 0.
2 3 n+1
Show that P (x) = a0 + a1 x + · · · + an xn has at least one root in (0, 1).
15. Let P (x) be a polynomial with real coefficients and degree n ≥ 2. Prove that if all roots
of P (x) are real, then all roots of P 0 (x) are also real.
16. Let f be continuous on [0, 2] and twice differentiable on (0, 2). If f (x) = x holds for
x = 0, 1 and 2, then show that there exists x0 ∈ (0, 2) such that f 00 (x0 ) = 0.
17. Let n > 1 be an integer, and let f : [a, b] → R be a continuous function, which is n-times
differentiable on (a, b). If the graph of f (x) has n + 1 collinear points, then prove that
there exists c ∈ (a, b) such that f (n) (c) = 0.
[Here f (n) (c) denotes the n-th derivative of f (x), evaluated at x = c.]
18. Let f, g : [0, 1] → R such that f (0) = g(0) and f 0 (x) > g 0 (x) for all x ∈ (0, 1). Show that
f (x) > g(x) must hold for all x ∈ (0, 1].
19. Suppose that f is continuous on [a, b] and differentiable on (a, b). If f 0 (x) > 0 for every
x ∈ (a, b), prove that f must be strictly increasing on [a, b].
20. Let f : R → R be a twice differentiable function, with positive second derivative. Prove
that, f (x + f 0 (x)) ≥ f (x) for every x ∈ R.
21. Show that the equation 3x + 4x + 5x = 6x has exactly one real root.
22. For non-zero a1 , . . . , an and for distinct θ1 , . . . , θn , show that the equation
a1 xθ1 + a2 xθ2 + · · · + an xθn = 0
has at most n − 1 roots for x ∈ (0, ∞).
2
23. (Cauchy’s MVT ) Let f, g be continuous on [a, b], differentiable on (a, b). Prove that there
exists c ∈ (a, b) such that (f (b) − f (a)) · g 0 (c) = (g(b) − g(a)) · f 0 (c).
Comment: If we also assume that g 0 (x) 6= 0 for every x ∈ (a, b), then it rearranges to the
following:
f (b) − f (a) f 0 (c)
= 0 .
g(b) − g(a) g (c)
24. Suppose that f is continuous on [a, b], differentiable on (a, b), where 0 < a < b. Prove
that there exists c1 , c2 ∈ (a, b) such that
f 0 (c2 ) f 0 (c1 )
= .
a+b 2c1
25. Let f be continuous on [a, b], differentiable on (a, b), where a > 0. Show that there exists
c ∈ (a, b) such that
bf (a) − af (b)
= f (c) − cf 0 (c).
b−a
26. Suppose that f : [a, b] → R is continuous on [a, b] and differentiable on (a, b), where
b − a ≥ π. Prove that there exists x0 ∈ (a, b) such that f 0 (x0 ) < 1 + f (x0 )2 .
27. Suppose that f : [a, b] → [a, b] is continuous on [a, b], differentiable on (a, b), and satisfies
f (a) = a, f (b) = b. Show that there exist c, d ∈ (a, b) such that c 6= d and f 0 (c)f 0 (d) = 1.
28. Let f : (−1, 1) → R be a twice differentiable function. Suppose that f (1/n) = 1 holds for
every n ∈ N. Prove that f 0 (0) = 0. Furthermore, show that f 00 (0) = 0.
f −1 (8x) − f −1 (x)
29. Given that, f (x) = 8x3 + 3x. Find the value of lim .
x→∞ x1/3
30. Suppose that lim f 0 (x) = ∞. Does this imply that f (x) is unbounded?
x→∞
31. Let P be a polynomial with real coefficients. Let the leading coefficient be a (where a > 0)
and the degree be b. Show that,

lim P (n + 1)1/b − P (n)1/b = a1/b .
n→∞
32. Suppose that f is twice differentiable on (a, b) with positive second derivative. Prove that
for any x, y ∈ [a, b] and any λ ∈ [0, 1], it holds that
f (λx + (1 − λ)y) ≤ λf (x) + (1 − λ)f (y).

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Fermat’s theorem and the Mean Value Theorems

4. Suppose that f : [a, b] → R is differentiable at x = c, where c ∈ (a, b). If f 0 (c) = 0, is it

5. (Rolle’s Theorem) Suppose that f : [a, b] → R is continuous on [a, b], differentiable on

14. Assume that a0 , a1 , . . . , an are real numbers such that

Show that P (x) = a0 + a1 x + · · · + an xn has at least one root in (0, 1).

a1 xθ1 + a2 xθ2 + · · · + an xθn = 0

has at most n − 1 roots for x ∈ (0, ∞).

f (λx + (1 − λ)y) ≤ λf (x) + (1 − λ)f (y).

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