Lecture 19: The Mean Value Theorem

Rolle’s Theorem, Mean Value Theorem, Applications to Physics and Al-

Today:
gebra

Example 94 (Warm-Up). Compute the maximum vertical distance between y = 3x + 2 and

y = x3 on the interval where x ≥ −1 and 3x + 2 is larger than x3 .

For this, note that 3x + 2 ≥ x3 exactly when 0 ≥ x3 − 3x − 2 = (x − 2)(x + 1)2 , which

occurs exactly when x ≤ 2. Because we also require x ≥ −1, we want to maximize the
function d(x) = 3x + 2 − x3 on the interval [−1, 2]. As before, we can use the closed interval
method.
Note that d is differentiable (since d is a polynomial), so the only critical numbers that
d has are where d (c) = 0. Now, 0 = d (c) = 3 − 3c2 , so the only critical numbers of d are
c = 1, −1. Testing d at the endpoints of the interval and at the critical point 1 inside the
interval yields
d(−1) = 0, d(1) = 4, d(2) = 0.
So, the maximum distance between the two graphs is 4.

Example 95 (Warm-Up). True or False: If f is continuous on [−1, 1] and if f  (x) = 0 at

each point where f is differentiable, then f must attain its global minimum value on [−1, 1]
at one of the endpoints x = −1 or x = 1.

This is false. To see why, consider the function f (x) = |x|. Then f (x) is continuous on
[−1, 1] and f  (x) = 1 when x > 0, f  (x) = −1 when x < 0, and f is not differentiable at 0.
But f attains its global minimum value of 0 at x = 0, which is not one of the endpoints of
the interval.
This drives home the important point that local extrema of a continuous function can
occur at points where the function is not differentiable (which are also considered critical
points!).
Last time we saw Fermat’s theorem, which says that if a differentiable function has a
local maximum or minimum at a number c, then f  (c) = 0. The converse of this does not
hold: f (x) = x3 does not have a local maximum or minimum at x = 0 even though f  (0) = 0.
What we do have, however, is the following result by Rolle, which says that if a differentiable
function crosses the same horizontal line twice, then at some point between the crossings it
has either a local maximum or a local minimum.

Theorem 11 (Rolle). If f is continuous on [a, b], differentiable on (a, b), and if f (a) =
f (b), then there is a point c in (a, b) with f  (c) = 0.

Proof. There are three cases: one if f (x) is constant, one where f (d) > f (a) for some d, and
one where f (d) < f (a) for some d.

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 In the case that f (x) is constant, then f  (c) = 0 at every number c between a and b.
In the case that f (d) > f (a), then f attains its global maximum at some point c in (a, b).
But then by Fermat’s theorem, f  (c) = 0.
On the other hand, if f (d) < f (a), then f attains its global minimum at some point c in
(a, b), so Fermat’s theorem gives f  (c) = 0.
Another way to understand Rolle’s theorem is that if f (a) and f (b) lie on a horizontal
line, then there is some number c between a and b at which the graph of y = f (x) has a
horizontal tangent line. It turns out that this is true if we change the slope of the line; this
result is known as the Mean Value Theorem, and is one of the most important theorems in
all of Calculus.

Theorem 12 (Mean Value Theorem). If f is continuous on [a, b] and differentiable on

(a, b), then there is a number c in (a, b) with

f (b) − f (a)
f  (c) = .
b−a

Proof. Since the Mean Value Theorem is just a ‘tilted’ version of Rolle’s Theorem, we prove
it by ‘tilting’ the function f (x) by subtracting from f a clever polynomial. Indeed, if we
define  f (b) − f (a) 
g(x) = f (x) − (x − a),
b−a
then g(a) = f (a), g(b) = f (a), and g(x) is continuous on [a, b] and differentiable on (a, b)
since f (x) and polynomials are as well. Therefore, Rolle’s theorem implies that there is some
c in the interval (a, b) such that
f (b) − f (a)
0 = g  (c) = f  (c) − ,
b−a
which is what we were trying to prove!

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 This is a rather remarkable fact which has strong physical applications. It says that if
f is a differentiable function on the interval [a, b], then the average rate of change of f over
[a, b] is equal to the instantaneous rate of change of f at some (unknown) point c between a
and b.
For physical problems, you can assume that displacement (say the net distance traveled
by a car) is continuous and differentiable.

Example 96. A car drives along the highway (with speed limit 75mph). At 2:00pm the
car was passing by Evanston. At 2:45pm, it was 60 miles away. Should the driver receive a
speeding ticket?

Let s(t) be the number of miles traveled t hours after 2:00pm. We may assume that s(t)
is continuous on [0, 34 ] and that s (t) = v(t) exists on (0, 34 ). So, by the MVT, there is a time
c in (0, 34 ) at which
s( 3 ) − s(0) 60
v(c) = s (c) = 43 = 3 = 80mph.
4
−0 4
That is, at some point in time the driver must have been going 80mph. So yes, they should
receive a ticket.

Note that the MVT does not tell us when the driver was going 80mph, only that they
were going that fast at some time.
Recall one application of the Intermediate Value Theorem was to show that various
functions have roots. The Mean Value Theorem allows us to do something else: show that
a function does not have too many roots.

Example 97. Show that x3 − 27x − 7 = 0 has exactly one root in [−2, 2].

Let f (x) = x3 − 27x − 7. Then f (x) is continuous, f (−2) = 39, and f (2) = −53, and 0
is between −53 and 39, so by the Intermediate Value Theorem (IVT) f has a root between
−2 and 2.
Suppose that f has two (or more) roots in [−2, 2], say f (c) = f (d) = 0 with c < d.
Since f is differentiable, the Mean Value Theorem (MVT) implies that there is a number e
between the two roots c and d with
f (d) − f (c)
f  (e) = = 0.
d−c
But f  (x) = 3x2 − 27 = 0 only at x = 3, −3, which are not between −2 and 2 (and therefore
are not between c and d. This proves that f cannot have two or more roots in [−2, 2].
Since f has at least, and no more than, one root in [−2, 2], we conclude that x3 −27x−7 =
0 has exactly one root in [−2, 2].

We should emphasize that we have no idea what the root is; we only know that it exists.
The MVT also allows us to figure out some things that, although intuitively obvious, we
technically didn’t know until now.

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 Theorem 13. If f  (x) = 0 for all x in an interval, then f (x) is constant on that interval
(i.e. f (x) = C for some constant C).

Proof. If f  (x) = 0 for all x in the interval, then f is differentiable (and therefore continuous).
So, if a and b are any numbers in the interval, then
f (a) − f (b)
= f  (d) = 0 for some d between a and b.
a−b
That is, f (a) = f (b). Because the values of f (x) at any two points are equal, f (x) must be
constant.
As a corollary, we have the following result which was hinted at when we first introduced
derivatives.

Corollary 1. If f and g are continuous functions on an interval, and f  (x) = g  (x), then
f (x) = g(x) + C for some constant C.

Proof. Let h(x) = f (x) − g(x). Then h(x) is continuous and h (x) = 0 for every x, so that
h(x) = C for some constant C. That is, f (x) − g(x) = C.
Example 98. Show that arcsin(x) + arccos(x) = π2 .

Note that
d 1 −1
[arcsin(x) + arccos(x)] = √ +√ = 0,
dx 1 − x2 1 − x2
so that there is some constant C with
arcsin(x) + arccos(x) = C.
To find C, let’s plug in a value of x for which we can evaluate arcsin(x) + arccos(x); for
simplicity, let’s take x = 0. Then
π π
C = arcsin(0) + arccos(0) = 0 + = .
2 2
Example 99 (Hypotheses are important!). Consider f (x) = |x|. Then f (x) is continuous,
f (−2) = 2 = f (2), but there is no number c between −2 and 2 with f  (c) = 0. The problem
is caused by the fact that f  (0) is not defined. So, if f even fails to be continuous at a single
number, then we’re in trouble.

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