Continuity

The word ‘Continuous’ means without any break or gap. If the graph of a function has no break,
or gap or jump, then it is said to be continuous.

Y Continuous function Discontinuous function

Y
Y
Y
3
(0, 2
1)–  2 1
f (x) = x
X
–2 – /2 O /2
X X X X’
O
X
0
X – – –1 1
–1
2 3
f(x)= 1/x 3 2
(0,– –
y = sin x y = [x]
1) 2
–
Y 3
Y’

Continuity of a Function at a Point.

a function 𝑓(𝑥) is continuous at 𝑥 = 𝑎 if and only if it satisfies the following three conditions:
𝐿. 𝐻. 𝐿. = 𝑅. 𝐻. 𝐿 = 𝑓(𝑎)
OR
𝒍𝒊𝒎 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒍𝒊𝒎+𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒇(𝒂)
𝒙→𝒂− 𝒙→𝒂

Properties of continuous functions:

Let 𝑓(𝑥) and 𝑔(𝑥) be two continuous functions at 𝑥 = 𝑎. Then
(i) 𝑐𝑓(𝑥) is continuous at x = a, where c is any constant
(ii) 𝑓(𝑥) ± 𝑔(𝑥) and 𝑓(𝑥). 𝑔(𝑥) is continuous at 𝑥 = 𝑎.
(iii)𝑓(𝑥)/𝑔(𝑥) is continuous at 𝑥 = 𝑎, provided 𝑔(𝑎) ≠ 0.

Continuity of composite function:

If the function 𝑢 = 𝑓(𝑥) is continuous at the point 𝑥 = 𝑎, and the function 𝑦 = 𝑔(𝑢) is
continuous at the point 𝑢 = 𝑓(𝑎), then the composite function 𝑦 = (𝑔𝑜𝑓)(𝑥) = 𝑔(𝑓(𝑥)) is
continuous at the point x = a.

Differentiability
A function 𝑓(𝑥) is said to be differentiable (finitely) at 𝑥 = 𝑎 if
Left hand derivative = Right hand derivative
𝑓'(𝑎 − 0) = 𝑓'(𝑎 + 0) = finite
𝒇(𝒂−𝒉)−𝒇(𝒂) 𝒇(𝒂+𝒉)−𝒇(𝒂)
i.e., 𝒍𝒊𝒎 =𝒍𝒊𝒎 = finite
𝒉→𝟎 −𝒉 𝒉→𝟎 𝒉
Derivative: The common limit is called the derivative of 𝑓(𝑥) at 𝑥 = 𝑎, denoted by 𝑓'(𝑎). Clearly,
𝒇(𝒙) − 𝒇(𝒂)
𝒇′(𝒂) = 𝒍𝒊𝒎
𝒙→𝒂 𝒙−𝒂
Differentiability in an Open Interval:
A function 𝑓(𝑥) defined in an open interval (a, b) is said to be differentiable or derivable in
open interval (a, b) if it is differentiable at each point of (a, b).
Differentiability in a closed interval:
A function 𝑓 :[ 𝑎, 𝑏] → 𝑅 is said to be differentiable in [a, b] if
(1) f is differentiable in (a, b).
(2) Right hand derivative of f at 𝑥 = 𝑎 exists.
(3) Left hand derivative of f at 𝑥 = 𝑏 exists.
Some standard results on differentiability
(1) Every polynomial function is differentiable at each 𝑥 ∈ 𝑅.
(2) The exponential function 𝑎 𝑥 , 𝑎 > 0 is differentiable at each 𝑥 ∈ 𝑅.
(3) Every constant function is differentiable at each 𝑥 ∈ 𝑅.
(4) The logarithmic function is differentiable at each point in its domain.
(5) Trigonometric and inverse trigonometric functions are differentiable in their domains.
(6) The sum, difference, product and quotient of two differentiable functions is
differentiable.
(7) The composition of differentiable function is a differentiable function.

Standard Differentiation
(1) Differentiation of algebraic functions
𝑑 𝑑 1 𝑑 1 𝑛
(i) 𝑥 𝑛 = 𝑛𝑥 𝑛−1 , 𝑥 ∈ 𝑅, 𝑛 ∈ 𝑅, 𝑥 > 0 (ii) (√𝑥) = (iii) ( 𝑛) = −
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 2 √𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑥 𝑥 𝑛+1

(2) Differentiation of trigonometric functions:

𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
(i) 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑥 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝑥 (ii) 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝑥 = − 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑥 (iii) 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑥 = 𝑠𝑒𝑐 2 𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
(iv) 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝑥 = 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝑥 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑥 (v) cosec ⥂ 𝑥 = −cosec𝑥 𝑐𝑜𝑡 𝑥 (vi) 𝑐𝑜𝑡 𝑥 = −cosec 2 𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

(3) Differentiation of logarithmic and exponential functions:

𝑑 1 𝑑
(i) 𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑥 = , for x > 0 (ii) 𝑒𝑥 = 𝑒𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑 𝑑 1
(iii) 𝑎 𝑥 = 𝑎 𝑥 𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑎, for a > 0 (iv) 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑎 𝑥 = , for x > 0, a> 0, a  1
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑥 𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑎

(4) Differentiation of inverse trigonometrical functions:

𝑑 1 𝑑 −1
(i) 𝑠𝑖𝑛−1 𝑥 = √1−𝑥2, for − 1  x  1 (ii) 𝑐𝑜𝑠 −1 𝑥 = √1−𝑥2, for − 1  x  1
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
 , for | x |  1 , for | x |  1
𝑑 1 𝑑 −1
(iii) 𝑠𝑒𝑐 −1 𝑥 = (iv) cosec −1 𝑥 =
𝑑𝑥 |𝑥|√𝑥 2 −1 𝑑𝑥 |𝑥|√𝑥 2 −1
𝑑 1 𝑑 −1
(v) 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 𝑥 = , for x  R (vi) 𝑐𝑜𝑡 −1 𝑥 = , for x  R
𝑑𝑥 1+𝑥 2 𝑑𝑥 1+𝑥 2

Theorems for Differentiation

Chain rule
Case I : If y is a function of u and u is a function of x, then derivative of y with respect to x is
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑢
=
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑥
Case II : If y and x both are function of t, then
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦/𝑑𝑡
= .
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥/𝑑𝑡
Sum and difference rule :
𝒅 𝒅 𝒅
(𝒇(𝒙) ± 𝒈(𝒙)) = (𝒇(𝒙)) ± (𝒈(𝒙))
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
Product rule :
𝒅 𝒅 𝒅
(𝒇(𝒙)𝒈(𝒙)) = 𝒇(𝒙) 𝒈(𝒙) + 𝒈(𝒙) 𝒇(𝒙)
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
Quotient rule :
𝒅 𝒅
𝒅 𝒇(𝒙) 𝒈(𝒙)𝒅𝒙(𝒇(𝒙))−𝒇(𝒙)𝒅𝒙(𝒈(𝒙))
( )= ,
𝒅𝒙 𝒈(𝒙) (𝒈(𝒙))𝟐
provided 𝑔(𝑥) ≠ 0
Some suitable substitutions

S. N. Function Substitutio S. N. Function Substitutio

n n
(i) √𝑎2 − 𝑥 2 𝑥 = 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 (ii) √𝑥 2 + 𝑎 2 𝑥 = 𝑎 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃
or 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 or 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑡 𝜃
(iii) √𝑥 2 − 𝑎2 𝑥 = 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 (iv) 𝑎−𝑥 𝑥
or √
𝑎+𝑥 = 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃
𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝑒 𝑐𝜃
(v) 𝑥2 (vi) √𝑎𝑥 − 𝑥 2 𝑥 = 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃
−𝑎2 𝑥2
√ 2 = 𝑎2 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃
𝑎 + 𝑥2
(vii) 𝑥 𝑥 (viii) 𝑥 𝑥 = 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃
√𝑎+𝑥 = 𝑎 𝑡𝑎𝑛2 𝜃 √𝑎−𝑥
(ix) √(𝑥 − 𝑎)(𝑥 − 𝑏) 𝑥 (x) √(𝑥 − 𝑎)(𝑏 − 𝑥) 𝑥
= 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑐 2 𝜃 = 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃
− 𝑏 𝑡𝑎𝑛2 𝜃 + 𝑏 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃