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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