Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2014 / Paper 1 / 20 / a / Solution

Maximizing the squared distance avoids differentiating a square root. The Lagrange multiplier equations for $f=x^2+y^2$ areAdding and subtracting the first two gives $(2-3\lambda )(x+y)=0$ and $(2-\lambda )(x-y)=0$. The feasible stationary points therefore lie on $x=y$ or $x=-y$. The first case gives $(x,y)=(\pm 2/\sqrt{3},\pm 2/\sqrt{3})$ and squared distance $8/3$. The second gives $(2,-2)$ and $(-2,2)$, with squared distance $8$.

The ellipse is compact and its constraint gradient does not vanish on the curve, so an extremum exists among these points. A direct global check is $4=f+xy\ge f/2$, using $xy\ge -f/2$. Equality occurs when $x=-y$. Consequently