Continuity
10/07/2005
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Interior Point
An interior point of a set of real numbers is a point that can be
enclosed in an open interval that is contained in the set.
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Definition
• A function is continuous at an interior point c of its domain if
limx→c f (x) = f (c).
• If it is not continuous there, i.e. if either the limit does not exist or
is not equal to f (c) we will say that the function is discontinuous
at c.
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Note:
1. The function f is defined at the point x = c,
2. The point x = c is an interior point of the domain of f ,
3. limx→c f (x)exists, call it L, and
4. L = f (c).
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Example
Is the function
(
x2 x<1
f (x) =
x3 + 2 1 ≤ x
continuous at x = 1?
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Right Continuity and Left Continuity
• A function f is right continuous at a point c if it is defined on an
interval [c, d] lying to the right of c and if limx→c+ f (x) = f (c).
• Similarly it is left continuous at c if it is defined on an interval
[d, c] lying to the left of c and if limx→c− f (x) = f (c).
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Definition
A function f is continuous at a point x = c if c is in the domain
of f and:
1. If x = c is an interior point of the domain of f , then
limx→c f (x) = f (c).
2. If x = c is not an interior point of the domain but is an endpoint
of the domain, then f must be right or left continuous at x = c,
as appropriate.
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• A function f is said to be a continuous function if it is continuous
at every point of its domain.
• A point of discontinuity of a function f is a point in the domain
of f at which the function is not continuous.
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Facts
• All polynomials,
• Rational functions,
• Trigonometric functions,
• The absolute value function, and
• The exponential and logarithm functions
are continuous.
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Example
x2 −4
• The rational function f (x) = x−2 is a continuous function.
• The domain is all real numbers except 2.
• limx→2 f (x) = 4 exists.
It has a continuous extension
(
f (x) if x is in the domain of f
F (x) =
4 if x = 2.
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Example
The function
(
sin x x 6= π/3
f (x) =
0 x = π/3
is discontinuous at π/3.
We can“remove”the discontinuity by redefining the value of f at
π/3.
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Definition
• If c is a discontinuity of a function f , and if limx→c f (x) = L
exists, then c is called a removable discontinuity. The discontinuity
is removed by defining f (c) = L.
• If f is not defined at c but limx→c f (x) = L exists, then f has
a continuous extension to x = c by defining f (c) = L.
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Example
Suppose that f (x) is defined piecewise as
(
−x2 + 1 x < 2
f (x) =
x+k x>2
Let us find a value of the constant k such that f has a continuous
extension to x = 2.
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The Intermediate Value Theorem
If a function f is continuous on a closed interval [a, b], and if
f (a) < L < f (b) (or f (a) > L > f (b)), then there exists a point
c in the interval [a, b] such that f (c) = L.
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Example
Show that the equation x5 − 3x + 1 = 0 has a solution in the
interval [0, 1].
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Example
Does the equation 1/x = 0 have a solution?
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The Tangent Line and Their Slope
• The Tangent Line Problem Given a function y = f (x) de-
fined in an open interval and a point x0 in the interval, define the
tangent line at the point (x0, f (x0)) on the graph of f .
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Example
Find the equations of the tangent lines to the graph of f (x) =
√ √ √
1 − x2 at the points (0, 1) and ( 22 . 22 ).
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Example
Let f (x) = x2.
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Definition
Given a function f and a point x0 in its domain, the slope of the
tangent line at the point (x0, f (x0)) on the graph of f is
f (x0 + h) − f (x0)
lim .
h→0 h
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Example
√
Given f (x) = x, find the equation of the tangent line at x = 4.
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Example
Find the tangent line to the graph of f (x) = x1/3 at x = 0.
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Example
Let f be the piecewise defined function
(
2 − x2 x ≤ 1
f (x) =
x3 x>1
Is the function continuous, and does it have a tangent line at x = 1?
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