{"id":11927,"date":"2018-06-01t17:12:01","date_gmt":"2018-06-02t00:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/?p=11927"},"modified":"2018-06-01t17:12:01","modified_gmt":"2018-06-02t00:12:01","slug":"ap-calculus-review-optimization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/ap\/ap-calculus-review-optimization\/","title":{"rendered":"ap calculus review: optimization"},"content":{"rendered":"
this review article is all about optimization<\/em>. here, you’ll learn the tools and techniques for setting up and solving these often difficult problems. and along the way, we’ll work out a few examples!<\/p>\n the method of optimization uses derivatives to find maximum or minimum values. however, the functions that need to be optimized typically have more than one variable. hence, considerable work goes into transforming the problem into a single-variable function first.<\/p>\n let’s introduce the methods using a concrete example.<\/p>\n suppose you own a business that makes and sells widgets. if you sell x<\/em> widgets at a price of p<\/em> dollars each, then that earns your company a total of xp<\/em> dollars. by the way, the quantity r<\/em> = xp<\/em> is called the revenue<\/strong>.<\/p>\n so why not just charge a huge price for each widget to earn the most money you can? after all, the objective<\/strong> of most successful companies is to maximize their revenue.<\/p>\n well, you would<\/em> raise prices, except that you noticed in the past that every time you did so, there were fewer sales of widgets. in other words, as p<\/em> increases, x<\/em> decreases.<\/p>\n fortunately, if you know exactly what the relationship between price and number of widgets sold at that price (or demand<\/strong>), then you can use optimization to find the price that maximizes your revenues!<\/p>\n next, suppose that we add one vital piece of information to this problem: the relationship between price and demand is given:<\/p>\n x<\/em> = 400 – 40p<\/em> + p<\/em>2<\/sup>, for 0 ≤ p<\/em> ≤ 20<\/p>\n note, any equation that relates the variables of an optimization problem is a constraint equation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n now do you remember that revenue function? (in case you forgot, it was r<\/em> = xp<\/em>.)<\/p>\n let’s use the relationship between x<\/em> and p<\/em> replace x<\/em> to create an objective function<\/strong> having only one variable.<\/p>\n r<\/em> = xp<\/em> = (400 – 40p<\/em> + p<\/em>2<\/sup>)p<\/em> = 400p<\/em> – 40p<\/em>2<\/sup> + p<\/em>3<\/sup><\/p>\n now that we have a single-variable expression, we can use the usual techniques from calculus to find its maximum value.<\/p>\n first take the derivative of the objective function:<\/p>\n r<\/em> ' = 400 – 80p<\/em> + 3p<\/em>2<\/sup><\/p>\n next, set the derivative equal to zero to locate any critical points. here, we’ll have to use the quadratic formula.<\/p>\n 400 – 80p<\/em> + 3p<\/em>2<\/sup> = 0<\/p>\n p<\/em> = 6.67, or 20.<\/p>\n because we got two answers, we have to check which one (if any) gives the correct result. plugging in each one into the revenue function, we find:<\/p>\n r<\/em>(6.67) = 400(6.67) – 40(6.67)2<\/sup> + (6.67)3<\/sup> = 1185.18<\/p>\n r<\/em>(20) = 400(20) – 40(20)2<\/sup> + (20)3<\/sup> = 0<\/p>\n clearly p<\/em> = 6.67 gives better revenue. <\/p>\n (by the way, since there was a restriction that 0 ≤ p<\/em> ≤ 20, we do not have to worry about what the revenue function does beyond p<\/em> = 20.)<\/p>\n according to the work above, the price should be p<\/em> = $6.67. then, to find the actual number of widgets that produces this amount, simply plug into the constraint.<\/p>\n x<\/em> = 400 – 40(6.67) + (6.67)2<\/sup> = 177.7<\/p>\n rounding to the nearest widget, your company should produce and sell 178 widgets at a price of $6.67 each to achieve a maximum revenue of (178)(6.67) = $1,187 (approximately).<\/p>\n so what have we learned from the above example? even though most of the work was peculiar to this situation (revenue, price, demand, etc.), there are a number of steps that are useful in general.<\/p>\n the hardest thing about optimization problems is the setup (steps 1-2), because that changes from problem to problem.<\/p>\n find the largest area possible for a rectangle inscribed between the parabola y<\/em> = 9 – x<\/em>2<\/sup> and the x<\/em>-axis, with its base on the x<\/em>-axis.<\/p>\n first, let’s sketch the graph of the parabola as well as a typical inscribed rectangle.<\/p>\n our objective<\/strong> is to maximize the area of the rectangle.<\/p>\n area of a rectangle: a<\/em> = bh<\/em>.<\/p>\n because the parabola touches the rectangle at its upper corners, we know that the height of the rectangle is the same as the y<\/em>-coordinate of the upper right corner point. that is, h<\/em> = y<\/em> = 9 – x<\/em>2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n the base length of the rectangle is b<\/em> = 2x<\/em> (a distance of x<\/em> on the left and the right side).<\/p>\n the two equations above are the constraints<\/strong>. let’s replace the variables b<\/em> and h<\/em> in our objective function by their equivalent expressions in terms of x<\/em>.<\/p>\n a<\/em> = bh<\/em> = (2x<\/em>)(9 – x<\/em>2<\/sup>) = 18x<\/em> – 2x<\/em>3<\/sup><\/p>\n now we can take a derivative and set it equal to zero.<\/p>\n of course, only the positive x<\/em>-value makes sense in this context. plug x<\/em> = √3 into the area formula (objective function) to find the maximum area.<\/p>\n this review article is all about optimization. here, you’ll learn the tools and techniques for setting up and solving these often difficult problems. and along the way, we’ll work out a few examples! optimization the method of optimization uses derivatives to find maximum or minimum values. however, the functions that need to be optimized typically […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":223,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[240],"tags":[241],"ppma_author":[24932],"class_list":["post-11927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ap","tag-ap-calculus"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\noptimization<\/h2>\n
example: a widget factory<\/h3>\n
using the relation to reduce variables<\/h3>\n
using the derivative to find the maximum<\/h3>\n
solving the original problem<\/h3>\n
method of optimization<\/h2>\n
\n
example: rectangles and parabolas<\/h3>\n
solution<\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"