Why the second derivative negative for Maxima?

Answer 1

When you solve for the 2nd derivative, you are determining whether the function is concave up/down. If you calculated that the 2nd derivative is negative, the function is concave down, which means you have a relative/absolute maximum, given that the 1st derivative equals 0.

To understand why this is, think about the definition of the 2nd derivative. It is a measure of the rate of change of the gradient. At a maximum, the gradient starts positive, becomes 0 at the maximum itself and then becomes negative, so it is decreasing. If the gradient is going down, then its rate of change, the 2nd derivative, must be negative.