Limit and Continuity

Lecture Notes

Abdul Rauf Nizami

December 2018
2

Limit. Finding limit at a point means finding height of the function near that
point.

• Left-Hand Limit. The height l1 of the function f as x approaches a from

the left is called the left-hand limit, and is denoted by

lim f (x) = L1 .
x→a−

How to find the Left-Hand Limit: The following is the geometrical ap-
proach.

Step 1. Mark the point a at which the left-hand limit is to find.

y=f(x)

0 a x

Step 2. Mark a point x on the left of a.

y-axis

y=f(x)

0 x a x-axis

Step 3. Draw a vertical line through a so that it intersects the graph of

f.
 Limit and Continuity 3

y-axis
Point of intersection

y=f(x)

0 x a x-axis

Move x towards a
Vertical line
through x

Step 4. Move x towards a. As x gets very close to a, the height of the

point of intersection of the line and the graph is the left-hand limit. In
the following figure it is L1 .

y-axis
Point of intersection

L00
11 1
0
1 0
1
Left-hand
limit
y=f(x)

0 x x-axis
a
x is now
vey close to a

• Right-Hand Limit. The height l2 of the function f as x approaches a

from the right is called the right-hand limit, and is denoted by

lim f (x) = L2 .
x→a+

How to find the Left-Hand Limit: The following is the geometrical ap-
proach.

Step 1. Mark the point a at which the right-hand limit is to find.

4 Limit and Continuity

y=f(x)

0 a x

Step 2. Mark a point x on the right of a.

y-axis

y=f(x)

0 a x x-axis

Step 3. Draw a vertical line through a so that it intersects the graph of

f.

y-axis

Point of intersection

y=f(x)

0 a x x-axis

Move x towards a

Step 4. Move x towards a. As x gets very close to a, the height of the

point of intersection of the line and the graph is the left-hand limit. In
the following figure it is L2 .
 Limit and Continuity 5

y-axis

Point of intersection
Right-hand
limit

y=f(x)
L11
00
00
11 1
0
2 0
1

0 a x x-axis
x is now
vey close to a

• Two-Sided Limit. A function f is said to have a (two-sided) limit at a

point x = a if both left-hand and right-hand limits are same, say l. In
this case we write
lim f (x) = L.
x→a

Function Value. A function f is said to be defined at a point x = a if the

vertical line through that point intersects the graph of f . The height of the
point of intersection is the value of the function at x = a, and is denoted by
f (a).
Value of f y
at point a Point of
000
111
11
00 000
111intersection
00
11 000
111
00
11 000
111
000
111
0
1 0
1
11111111111
f(a) 1
0
0000000000
0
1
0
0
1
y=f(x)

0 a x

Continuity. A function f is said to be continuous at a point x = a if the value

of the function is equal to the limit of the function at that point. That is,
f (a) = lim f (x).
x→a

Discontinuity. A function f is said to be discontinuous at a point x = a if

1. f (a) does not exist, or
2. lim f (x) does not exist, or
x→a
3. f (a) 6= lim f (x).
x→a
6 Limit and Continuity

Example 1. Consider the following function along with its graph, and answer
the questions given below.


−1 x<0
f (x) =
1 0≤x

Solution.

a) lim f (x) = −1 g) f (1) = 1

x→−2−

b) lim f (x) = −1 h) f is continuous at x = 1.

x→−2+

c) f (−2) = −1 i) lim− f (x) = −1

x→0

d) f is continuous at x = −2. j) lim f (x) = 1

x→0+

e) lim− f (x) = 1 k) f (0) = 1

x→1

f ) lim+ f (x) = 1 l) f is discontinuous at x = 0.

x→1

————————-Solution Ends——————————–

Example 2. Consider the following function along with its graph, and answer
the questions given below.



 −1 x < −1
−x −1 ≤ x < 0

f (x) = 2

 x 0≤x<1
2 1≤x

 Limit and Continuity 7

Solution.

a) lim− f (x) = 2 i) lim f (x) = 0

x→2 x→0+

b) lim f (x) = 2 j) lim− f (x) = 0

x→2+ x→0

c) f (2) = 2 k) f (0) = 0

d) f is continuous at x = 2. l) f is continuous at x = 0.

e) lim f (x) = 1 m) lim f (x) = 1

x→1− x→−1+

f ) lim+ f (x) = 2 n) lim f (x) = −1

x→1 x→−1−

g) f (1) = 2 o) f (−1) = 1

h) f is discontinuous at x = 1. p) f is discontinuous at x = −1.

————————-Solution Ends——————————–

Practice Problem. Consider the following function along with its graph, and
answer the questions given below.



 −1 x < −2
 x+2 −2 ≤ x < −1


f (x) = 0
√ −1 ≤ x < 0
x 0≤x≤4




3 4<x

8 Limit and Continuity

a) lim f (x) = . . . . . . m) lim+ f (x) = . . . . . .

x→−2− x→2

b) lim f (x) = . . . . . . n) lim f (x) = . . . . . .

x→−2+ x→2−

c) f (−2) = . . . . . . o) f (2) = . . . . . .

d) f is continuous at x = −2. T/F p) f is discontinuous at x = 2. T/F

e) lim f (x) = . . . . . . q) lim f (x) = . . . . . .

x→−1− x→4+

f) lim f (x) = . . . . . . r) lim− f (x) = . . . . . .

x→−1+ x→4

g) f (−1) = . . . . . . s) f (4) = . . . . . .

h) f is discontinuous at x = −1. T/F t) f is discontinuous at x = 4. T/F

i) lim+ f (x) = . . . . . . u) lim+ f (x) = . . . . . .

x→0 x→5

j) lim− f (x) = . . . . . . v) lim− f (x) = . . . . . .

x→0 x→5

k) f (0) = . . . . . . w) f (5) = . . . . . .

l) f is continuous at x = 0. T/F x) f is discontinuous at x = 5. T/F

——————————————————–
(I shall welcome your suggestions to improve these notes.)