Ma1010 2014 PS 3

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
IIT MADRAS
MA1010: Calculus I : Functions of one variable1
Problem Sheet III
|x| |x|
1. Find lim and lim .
x→0− x x→0+ x
2. Let f : R → R be such that lim f (x) = `. Prove that f (n) → ` as n → ∞.

x→∞
3. Let [x] denote the greatest integer not exceeding x. Prove that for n ∈ N,
lim [x] = n and lim [x] = n − 1.
x→n+ x→n−
4. Use the sequential characterization, show that if limx→a f (x) = A and lim g(y) = B,
y→A
then lim (g ◦ f )(x)) = B, provided g ◦ f )(x) := g(f (x)) is well defined and f does
x→a
not attain A in a deleted neighbourhood of A.
5. Let f : (0, ∞) → R. Show that lim f (x) = b if and only if lim f (x−1 ) = b.
x→0 x→∞
x3 −1

, x 6= 1,
6. Find all the values of b such that f : R → R defined by f (x) = x−1 is
b, x=1
continuous at x0 = 1.
sin x

, x 6= 0,
7. Find all the values of b such that f : R → R defined by f (x) = x is
b, x=0
continuous at x0 = 0.
8. Use the definition of continuity and the properties of limits to show that each of the
following functions is continuous (at the given number a or the given interval):
(a) f (x) = (x + 2x3)4; a = −1.

2
(2x − 3x)
(b) f (x) = ; a = 1.
1 + x3
√
(c) 2 3 − x; a ∈ (−∞, 3].
9. There exists x ∈ R such that sin x = x2 − x. Why?
10. Suppose f : [a, b] → R is continuous. If c ∈ (a, b) is such that f (c) > 0, and
if 0 < β < f (c), then show that there exists δ > 0 such that f (x) > β for all
x ∈ (c − δ, c + δ) ∩ [a, b].
11. Let f : R → R satisfy the relation f (x + y) = f (x) + f (y) for every x, y ∈ R. If f

is continuous at 0, then show that f is continuous at every x ∈ R, and in that case
f (x) = xf (1) for every x ∈ R.
12. There does not exist a continuous function f from [0, 1] onto R. Why?
1
Some of the problems are taken from the book Calculus of One Variable by M.T. Nair.
1
13. Prove that if f : [a, b] → R is continuous on the intervals [a, c] and [c, b] for some
c ∈ (a, b), then f is continuous on [a, b].
14. Suppose f : [a, b] → [a, b] is continuous. Show that there exists c ∈ [a, b] such that
f (c) = c.
15. Suppose f : [a, b] → R satisfies |f (x) − f (y)| ≤ K|x − y| for all x, y ∈ [a, b] for some
K ≥ 0. Then f is a continuous function. Why?
16. Suppose f : [a, b] → [a, b] is such that there exists r satisfying 0 < r < 1 and
|f (x) − f (y)| ≤ r|x − y| for all x, y ∈ [a, b]. Let x1 ∈ [a, b] and for n ∈ N, let
xn+1 := f (xn ). Prove that xn → c for some c and f (c) = c.
17. Let f : R → R be defined by f (x) = 1 + x + x2 . Without solving a quadratic
equation, can you assert that there is some x0 such that f (x0 ) = 2?
18. If p(x) is a polynomial of odd degree, then there exists at least one x0 ∈ R such
that p(x0 ) = 0. Why?
19. Suppose f : R → R is continuous such that f (x) → 0 as |x| → ∞. Prove that f
attains either a maximum or a minimum.
20. Let f : [a, b] → [a, b] be such that |f (x) − f (y)| ≤ |x − y|/2 for all x, y ∈ [a, b]. Show
that there exists x0 ∈ [a, b] such that f (x0 ) = x0 .
21. Prove the following.
(a) Let f : R → R be a continuous function. If lim f (x) = c and lim f (x) = d,
x→−∞ x→∞
where c < d, then for every y ∈ (c, d), there exists x ∈ R such that f (x) = y.
(b) Let f : R → R be a continuous function. If lim f (x) → c and lim f (x) = ∞,
x→−∞ x→∞
where c < d, then for every y ∈ (c, ∞), there exists x ∈ R such that f (x) = y.
(c) From (b) above, deduce that for every y ∈ (0, ∞), there exists x ∈ R such that
ex = y.
22. Prove that if f is strictly monotonic on an interval I, then f is injective on I.
23. Let n ∈ N. Prove that for every y ≥ 0, there exists a unique x ≥ 0 such that xn = y.
24. Suppose f is a continuous function defined on an interval I and x0 is an interior
point of I. Prove the following.
(a) If f is increasing on (x0 − h, x0 ) and decreasing on (x0 , x0 + h) for some h > 0,
then f attains local maximum at x0 .
(b) If “increasing” and “decreasing” in (a) above are interchanged, then in the
conclusion “maximum” can be replaced by “minimum”.
(c) If “increasing” and “decreasing” in (a) are replaced by “strictly increasing” and
“strictly decreasing”, respectively, then we obtain “strict local maximum”.
25. Let f be a continuous function defined on an interval I. Show that, if f is injective,
then it is strictly monotonic on I [Hint: Use Intermediate Value Theorem].

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DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS

MA1010: Calculus I : Functions of one variable1

Problem Sheet III

2. Let f : R → R be such that lim f (x) = `. Prove that f (n) → ` as n → ∞.

(a) f (x) = (x + 2x3)4; a = −1.

9. There exists x ∈ R such that sin x = x2 − x. Why?

11. Let f : R → R satisfy the relation f (x + y) = f (x) + f (y) for every x, y ∈ R. If f

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