Find the points of local maxima, local minima and the points of inflection of the function f (x) = x5 – 5x4 + 5x3 – 1. Also find the corresponding local maximum and local minimum values.
Given, f (x) = x5 – 5x4 + 5x3 – 1
Differentiating the function,
f’ (x) = 5x4 – 20x3 + 15x2
For local maxima and local minima, f’ (x) = 0
$5 x^{4}-20 x^{3}+15 x^{2}=0 \Rightarrow 5 x^{2}\left(x^{2}-4 x+3\right)=0$
$\Rightarrow 5 x^{-2}\left(x^{2}-3 x-x+3\right)=0 \Rightarrow x^{2}(x-3)(x-1)=0$
$\therefore x=0, x=1$ and $x=3$
$\Rightarrow \quad f^{\prime \prime}(x)_{\text {at } x=0}=20(0)^{3}-60(0)^{2}+30(0)=0$ which is neither
maxima nor minima.
$\therefore f(x)$ has the point of inflection at $x=0$
$f^{\prime \prime}(x)_{\text {at } x-1}=20(1)^{3}-60(1)^{2}+30(1)$
$=20-60+30=-10<0$ Maxima
$f^{\prime \prime}(x)_{\mathrm{at} x-3}=20(3)^{3}-60(3)^{2}+30(3)$
$=540-540+90=90>0$ Minima
The maximum value of the function at x = 1
f(x) = (1)5 – 5(1)4 + 5(1)3 – 1
= 1 – 5 + 5 – 1 = 0
The minimum value at x = 3 is
f(x) = (3)5 – 5(3)4 + 5(3)3 – 1
= 243 – 405 + 135 – 1
= 378 – 406 = -28
Therefore, the function has its maxima at x = 1 and the maximum value = 0 and its has minimum value at x = 3 and its minimum value is -28.