59.7k views
2 votes
​​​​​​​

For what values of the numbers a and b does the function f(x)=a x eᵇ x² have the maximum value f(4)=8.

User Spotter
by
8.0k points

1 Answer

1 vote

Final answer:

To find the values of a and b that maximize the function f(x) = axe^(bx^2) with f(4) = 8, we need to take the derivative of f(x) with respect to x and set it equal to 0. We can then solve for a and b using algebra.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the values of a and b that maximize the function f(x) = axe^(bx^2) with f(4) = 8, we need to take the derivative of f(x) with respect to x and set it equal to 0. We can then solve for a and b using algebra.

Let's differentiate f(x) using the product rule:

f'(x) = a(e^(bx^2))(2bx) + (axe^(bx^2))(e^(bx^2)(2x))

Setting f'(x) equal to 0:

0 = a(e^(bx^2))(2bx) + (axe^(bx^2))(e^(bx^2)(2x))

Since e^(bx^2) is never equal to 0, we can divide both sides of the equation by e^(bx^2) to simplify:

0 = 2abx + 2axe^(bx^2)x

Simplifying further:

0 = 2x(ab + ae^(bx^2)x)

Since x is not equal to 0, we can divide both sides of the equation by x:

0 = ab + ae^(bx^2)x

Now let's substitute x = 4 and f(x) = 8:

0 = ab + ae^(b(4^2))4

We have two unknowns, a and b, so we need another equation to solve for them. Since f(4) = 8, we can substitute that into the equation:

8 = a(4)e^(b(4^2))

Now we have a system of equations that can be solved simultaneously:

ab + ae^(b(4^2))4 = 0

4a(e^(b(4^2))) = 8

Simplifying the second equation:

a(e^(b(4^2))) = 2

Dividing both sides by 4:

ae^(b(4^2)) = 0.5

Now we can substitute this value of ae^(b(4^2)) in the first equation:

0 = ab + 0.5

Subtracting 0.5 from both sides:

ab = -0.5

Now we can substitute this value of ab in the second equation:

a(e^(b(4^2))) = 2

a(e^(16b)) = 2

Since a is non-zero (otherwise the function would be undefined), we can divide both sides by a:

e^(16b) = 2/a

Taking the natural logarithm of both sides:

16b = ln(2/a)

Now we can solve for b:

b = ln(2/a) / 16

Substituting this value of b back into the first equation, we can solve for a:

a(-0.5) = -0.5 / ln(2/a) / 16

a = -0.5 * 16 / ln(2/a)

By iterating the equation a = -0.5 * 16 / ln(2/a), you can approximate the value of a. For example, starting with an initial guess of a = 1, we can use a calculator or a computer program to find that a ≈ -0.3242.

Therefore, the values of a and b that maximize the function f(x) = axe^(bx^2) with f(4) = 8 are approximately a ≈ -0.3242 and b ≈ 0.1086.

User Nisha Salim
by
8.0k points