What is relative extrema?

Relative extrema is a term used in calculus to describe points on the graph of a function where there are minimums and maximums. It can be visualized as representing the peaks and valleys on a line graph.

There are four kinds of extrema that can be found in the graph of a function. These are the absolute maximum, the absolute minimum, the relative maximums and the relative minimums.

The absolute maximum refers to the highest point on the entire graph. In contrast, a relative maximum refers to the highest point in a region of the graph, but not necessarily the highest point on the entire graph. The same logic holds true when comparing the absolute minimum to the relative minimums.