Find the local maximum and minimum of LaTeX:  \displaystyle f(x) = - 9 x^{3} - 11 x^{2} + 5 x + 3 .

To find the critical numbers solve LaTeX:  \displaystyle f'(x) = 0 . The derivative is LaTeX:  \displaystyle f'(x) = - 27 x^{2} - 22 x + 5 . Solving LaTeX:  \displaystyle - 27 x^{2} - 22 x + 5 = 0 gives LaTeX:  \displaystyle x = \left[ -1, \  \frac{5}{27}\right] . Using the 2nd derivative test gives:
LaTeX:  \displaystyle f''\left( -1 \right) = 32  which is greater than zero, so the function is concave up and LaTeX:  \displaystyle f\left(-1\right) = -4 is a local minimum.
LaTeX:  \displaystyle f''\left( \frac{5}{27} \right) = -32  which is less than zero, so the function is concave down and LaTeX:  \displaystyle f\left(\frac{5}{27}\right) = \frac{7636}{2187} is a local maximum.