Example 5 A chemical company claims that 6 days after its new insecticide is applied to a one - acre field infested with a population
Example A chemical company claims that days after its new insecticide is applied to a oneacre field infested with a population of a certain insect, the population will be minimal. The company bases its claim on its belief that the function
accurately predicts the population size in ten thousands of the insect days after application. Assuming the population model is accurate, should the company's claim be accepted or rejected?
Solution A figure is not appropriate here. The company is making a claim about a function's maximum value. Mathematically, this is a statement about the derivative of the function. Since we are given the function, we will differentiate it
Now, when and and is undefined at But and make no sense in terms of the physical situation, so we disregard them. The only critical value is Figure shows the sign chart for and indicates that produces a relative minimum.