Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
For let
Both limits of this integral move with . The figure shows the curve and the strip between and for two sample values of . When , the upper limit lies to the right of , and the strip lies above the axis. When , the order is reversed, , and the strip lies below the axis, so both changes of sign must be kept in mind.
So is an ordinary function of , defined for every positive , and it can be studied like any other: where it rises, where it falls, and how it behaves near special points. You may find in closed form, but the questions below are meant to be answered with the Leibniz rule: if with continuous, then . Use the closed form only to find values.
Explain each answer from the sign of .
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
The derivative. By the Leibniz rule, .
(a) .
(b) at and at . For both factors are negative, so . For , and , so . For both are positive. So has a local maximum at and a local minimum at .
(c) With as an antiderivative, . At : , that is 0.36. The value is positive even though on the strip: the limits run from down to , backwards, and that reverses the sign.
(d) As , (each term of the closed form tends to ). So rises from near to about on , falls to on , and then rises without bound. The level is crossed once on each of these three stretches: 3 solutions.
(e) and . Also , so . By L'Hospital's rule twice (or by Taylor's formula), the limit is .
Check. Numerical integration of between and for , , and agrees with the closed form, and a scan of million points in finds exactly three crossings of the level .
Watch out. Writing forgets the factor . It gives only one turning point, at , and misses the local maximum altogether.
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