Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/paper-1/12/b/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2016 Paper 1 12 b i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
The first partial derivatives factor asIf either coordinate vanishes, the other equation forces the other coordinate to vanish as well. If both are nonzero, subtracting the two bracket equations gives , and then . Thus the complete list of stationary points is and the four points .
The Hessian matrix isAt the origin it is , which is a positive-definite matrix. At the four other points its eigenvalues are and , independently of the signs. The second-derivative test therefore givesThere are no local maxima. The minimum at the origin is not global, since as .
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