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Continuity

The document discusses continuity of functions. It defines continuity and what it means for a function to be continuous or discontinuous at a point. It provides examples of different types of discontinuities through graphs and explanations. The document also discusses removable, infinite, and jump discontinuities.

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Jesús Castillo
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26 views16 pages

Continuity

The document discusses continuity of functions. It defines continuity and what it means for a function to be continuous or discontinuous at a point. It provides examples of different types of discontinuities through graphs and explanations. The document also discusses removable, infinite, and jump discontinuities.

Uploaded by

Jesús Castillo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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2.

5 Continuity

Edited by: Dr. René Pérez Cuapio

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


Continuity
The limit of a function as x approaches a can often be found
simply by calculating the value of the function at a. Functions with
this property are called continuous at a.

Notice that Definition 1 implicitly requires


three things if f is continuous at a:

1. f (a) is defined (that is, a is in the


domain of f )

2. exists

3. 2
Continuity
If f is defined near a (in other words, f is defined on an open
interval containing a, except perhaps at a), we say that f is
discontinuous at a (or f has a discontinuity at a) if f is not
continuous at a.

Geometrically, you can think of a function that is continuous at


every number in an interval as a function whose graph has no
break in it. The graph can be drawn without removing your pen
from the paper.

3
Example 1
Figure 2 shows the graph of a function f. At which numbers
is f discontinuous? Why?

Figure 2

Solution:
It looks as if there is a discontinuity when a = 1 because the
graph has a break there. The official reason that f is
discontinuous at 1 is that f(1) is not defined.
4
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

The graph also has a break when a = 3, but the reason for
the discontinuity is different. Here, f(3) is defined, but
limx3 f(x) does not exist (because the left and right limits
are different). So f is discontinuous at 3.

What about a = 5? Here, f(5) is defined and limx5 f(x)


exists (because the left and right limits are the same).

But

So f is discontinuous at 5.

5
Example 2
Where are each of the following functions discontinuous?

Solution:
(a) Notice that f(2) is not defined, so f is discontinuous at 2.
Later we’ll see why f is continuous at all other numbers.

6
Example 2 – Solution cont’d

(b) Here f(0) = 1 is defined but

does not exist. So f is discontinuous at 0.

(c) Here f(2) = 1 is defined and

= 3 exists.
7
Example 2 – Solution cont’d

But

so f is not continuous at 2.

(d) The greatest integer function f(x) = has


discontinuities at all of the integers because
does not exist if n is an integer.

8
Continuity
Figure 3 shows the graphs of the functions in Example 2.

Graphs of the functions in Example 2


Figure 3

9
Continuity

Graphs of the functions in Example 2


Figure 3

10
Continuity

The kind of discontinuity illustrated in parts (a) and (c) is


called removable because we could remove the
discontinuity by redefining f at just the single number 2.
[The function g(x) = x + 1 is continuous.]

The discontinuity in part (b) is called an infinite


discontinuity. The discontinuities in part (d) are called
jump discontinuities because the function “jumps” from
one value to another.

11
Continuity

12
Example 5

The function

is rational, so by Theorem 5 it is continuous on its domain, which is

Therefore

13
14
Example 6

The function is continuous for and


on R
Thus is continuous on (0, )

The denominator , is polynomial, so it is continuios


everywhere. However f(x) is rational then

So f is continuous on the intervals and

15
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