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1.5 The Continuity of A Function

This document provides an overview of continuity and discontinuity in calculus. It defines continuity as a function having a graph that can be drawn without lifting the pencil, and discusses continuity at a point in terms of the limit of the function values as x approaches a. It then gives examples of removable, infinite, and jump discontinuities. The document concludes by discussing continuity over an interval and stating the Intermediate Value Theorem.

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13 views4 pages

1.5 The Continuity of A Function

This document provides an overview of continuity and discontinuity in calculus. It defines continuity as a function having a graph that can be drawn without lifting the pencil, and discusses continuity at a point in terms of the limit of the function values as x approaches a. It then gives examples of removable, infinite, and jump discontinuities. The document concludes by discussing continuity over an interval and stating the Intermediate Value Theorem.

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Arkansas Tech University

MATH 2914: Calculus I


Dr. Marcel B. Finan

1.5 The Continuity of a Function


The goal of this section is to introduce the concept of continuity. Graphi-
cally, a function is said to be continuous if its graph has no holes, jumps,
or increases/decreases without bound at a certain point. Stated differently,
a continuous function has a graph which can be drawn without lifting the
pencil from the paper.

Continuity at a Point
We say that a function f (x) is continuous at x = a if and only if the func-
tional values f (x) get closer and closer to the value f (a) as x is sufficiently
close to a. We write
lim f (x) = f (a).
x→a
This means, that for any given  > 0 we can find a δ > 0 such that
|x − a| < δ implies |f (x) − f (a)| < .
In words, we say that “f is continuous at a” if, for each open interval J
containing f (a), we can find an open interval I containing a so that for each
point x in I, f (x) lies in the interval J. See Figure 1.5.1.

Figure 1.5.1

Example 1.5.1
(i) Example 1.4.1 of the previous section shows that polynomials are con-
tinuous everywhere.

1
f (x)
(ii) Similarly, if h(x) = g(x) is a rational function and a is a number such
that g(a) 6= 0 then
f (x) f (a)
lim = .
x→a g(x) g(a)
That is, h(x) is continuous at numbers that are not zeroes of the function
g(x).
(iii) Trigonometric functions are continuous at values where they are defined.

Discontinuity
A function f (x) that is not continuous at x = a is said to be discontinuous
there. We exhibit three examples of discontinuous functions.

Example 1.5.2 (Removable Discontinuity)


2 +x−2
Show that the function f (x) = x x−1 is discontinuous at x = 1.

Solution.
Graphing the given function (see Figure 1.5.2) we find

Figure 1.5.2

The small circle indicates an excluded point on the graph. Thus, we see that
f (1) is undefined and therefore f (x) is discontinuous at x = 1. Note that

lim f (x) = 3.
x→1

Thus, if we redefine f (x) in such a way that f (1) = 3 then we create a


continuous function at x = 1. That is, the discontinuity is removable

Example 1.5.3 (Infinite Discontinuity)


Show that f (x) = x1 is discontinuous at x = 0.

2
Solution.
1
According to Figure 1.3.3, we have that lim does not exist. Thus, f (x)
x→0 x
is discontinuous at x = 0. Since lim f (x) = ±∞, we call x = 0 an infinite
x→0
discontinuity

Example 1.5.4 (Jump Discontinuity)


Show that f (x) = |x|
x is discontinuous at x = 0.

Solution.
The fact that f (x) is discontinuous at x = 0 follows from Figure 1.5.3 below

Figure 1.5.3

The limit properties of previous section can be used to prove the following
properties of continuous functions.

Theorem 1.5.1
If f and g are two continuous functions at x = a and k is a constant then
all of the following functions are continuous at x = a.
◦ Scalar Multiple: kf
◦ Sum and Difference: f ± g
◦ Product: f · g
◦ Quotient: fg , provided that g(a) 6= 0.
◦ Composition: The composition of two continuous functions is continu-
ous.

Continuity on an Interval
We say that a function f is continuous on the open interval (a, b) if it
is continuous at each number in this interval. If in addition, the function is

3
continuous from the right of a, i.e. lim f (x) = f (a), then we say that f
x→a+
is continuous on the interval [a, b). If f is continuous from the left of b,i.e.
lim f (x) = f (b) then we say that f is continuous on the interval (a, b].
x→b−
Finally, if f is continuous on the open interval (a, b), from the right at a and
from the left at b then we say that f is continuous in the interval [a, b].

Example 1.5.5
Find the interval(s) on which each of the given functions is continuous.
2 −1
(i) f (x) = xx2 −4 .
(ii) g(x) = sin ( x1 ).

3 − x, if −5 ≤ x < 2
(iii) h(x) =
x − 2, if 2 ≤ x < 5.

Solution.
(i) (−∞, −2) ∪ (−2, 2) ∪ (2, ∞).
(ii) (−∞, 0) ∪ (0, ∞).
(iii) Since lim h(x) = lim (3 − x) = 1 and lim (x − 2) = 0, h is continuous
x→2− x→2− x→2+
on the interval [−5, 2) ∪ (2, 5)

The Intermediate Value Theorem


Continuity can be a very useful tool in solving equations. So if a function
is continuous on an interval and changes sign then definitely it has to cross
the x−axis. This shows that the function possesses a zero in that interval.

Theorem 1.5.2 (Intermediate Value Theorem)


Let f be a continuous function on [a, b] with f (a) < f (b). If f (a) < d < f (b)
then there is a < c < b such that f (c) = d.

Example 1.5.6
Show that cos x = x3 − x has at least one zero on the interval [ π4 , π2 ].

Solution.
Let f (x) = cos x − x3 + x. Since −.2305 ≈ f ( π2 ) < 0 < 1.008 ≈ f ( π4 ), by the
IVT with a = π2 , b = π4 and d = 0, there is at least one number c in the
interval ( π4 , π2 ) such that f (c) = 0

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