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Basic Calculus Q3 W6 Lesson 6.1 Determine the relationship

between diffentiability and continuity of a function
General Physics 1 (Philippine Normal University)

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TOPIC 6.1: Differentiability Implies Continuity

The difference between continuity and differentiability is a critical issue. Most, but not all, of
the functions we encounter in calculus will be differentiable over their entire domain. Before
we can confidently apply the rules regarding derivatives, we need to be able to recognize the
exceptions to the rule.

Recall the following definitions:

Definition 1 (Continuity at a Number). A function f is continuous at a number c if all

of the following conditions are satisfied:

(i) f (c) is defined;

(ii) lim f (x) exists; and

x→c

(iii) lim f (x) = f (c).

x→c

If at least one of the these conditions is not satisfied, the function is said to be discontinuous
at c.

Definition 2 (Continuity on R). A function f is said to be continuous everywhere if f is

continuous at every real number.

Definition 3. A function f is differentiable at the number c if

f (c + h) − f (c)
f ′ (c) = lim
h→0 h
exists.

We now present several examples of determining whether a function is continuous or differen-

tiable at a number.

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EXAMPLE 1:

1. The piecewise function defined by


2
 x + 2x − 3

if x 6= 1,
f (x) = x−1
4

if x = 1,

is continuous at c = 1. This is because f (1) = 4,

(x − 1)(x + 3)
lim f (x) = lim = 4,
x→1 x→1 x−1
and f (1) = lim f (x).
x→1

2. The function defined by 

−x2 if x < 2,
f (x) =
3 − x if x ≥ 2.
is not continuous at c = 2 since lim f (x) = −4 6= 1 = lim f (x), that is, the lim f (x) does
x→2− x→2+ x→2
not exist.
√
3. Consider the function f (x) = 3
x. By definition, its derivative is

f (x + h) − f (x)
f ′ (x) = lim
h→0 h
√3
√ p p √
3
x + h − 3 x 3 (x + h)2 + 3 (x + h)(x) + x2
= lim ·p p √
3
h→0 h 3
(x + h)2 + 3 (x + h)(x) + x2
(x + h) − x
= lim p p √3
h→0 h( (x + h) + 3 (x + h)(x) + x2 )
3 2

1
= lim p √
h→0 3 (x + h)2 + 3 (x + h)(x) + 3 x2
p

1
= √ 3
.
3 x2
1 1
Since f ′ (1) =√ = , then f is differentiable at x = 1. On the other hand, f ′ (0) does
3 2
3 1 3
not exist. Hence f is not differentiable at x = 0.

4. The function defined by (

5x if x<1
f (x) =
2x + 3 if x≥1
is continuous but not differentiable at x = 1. Indeed, f (1) = 2(1) + 3 = 5. Now,

• If x < 1, then f (x) = 5x and so lim 5x = 5.

x→1−
• If x > 1, then f (x) = 2x + 3 and so lim (2x + 3) = 5.
x→1+

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Since the one-sided limits exist and are equal to each other, the limit exists and equals 5.
So,
lim f (x) = 5 = f (1).
x→1
This shows that f is continuous at x = 1. On the other hand, computing for the derivative,
5(x + h) − (5x)
• For x < 1, f (x) = 5x and lim = 5.
h
h→0−
(2(x + h) + 3) − (2x + 3)
• For x > 1, f (x) = 2x + 3 and lim = 2.
h→0+ h
Since the one-sided limits at x = 1 do not coincide, the limit at x = 1 does not exist. Since
this limit is the definition of the derivative at x = 1, we conclude that the derivative does
not exist. Therefore, f is not differentiable at x = 1.

5. Another classic example of a function that is continuous at a point but not differentiable at
that point is the absolute value function f (x) = |x| at x = 0. Clearly, f (0) = 0 = lim |x|.
x→0
However, if we look at the limit definition of the derivative,

f (0 + h) − f (0) |0 + h| − |0| |h|

lim = lim = lim .
h→0 h h→0 h h→0 h

Note that the absolute value function is defined differently to the left and right of 0 so
we need to compute one-sided limits. Note that if h approaches 0 from the left, then it
approaches 0 through negative values. Since h < 0 =⇒ |h| = −h, it follows that

|h| −h
lim = lim = lim −1 = −1.
h→0− h h→0− h h→0−

Similarly, if h approaches 0 from the right, then h approaches 0 through positive values.
Since h > 0 =⇒ |h| = h, we obtain

|h| h
lim = lim = lim 1 = 1.
h→0+ h h→0+ h h→0+

Hence, the derivative does not exist at x = 0 since the one-sided limits do not coincide.

The previous two examples prove that continuity does not necessarily imply differentiability.
That is, there are functions which are continuous at a point, but not differentiable at that point.
The next theorem however says that the converse is always TRUE.

Theorem 6. If a function f is differentiable at a, then f is continuous at a.

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Remark 1:

1. If f is continuous at x = a, it does not mean that f is differentiable at x = a.

2. If f is not continuous at x = a, then f is not differentiable at x = a.

3. If f is not differentiable at x = a, it does not mean that f is not continuous at x = a.

4. A function f is not differentiable at x = a if one of the following is true:

(a) f is not continuous at x = a.

(b) the graph of f has a vertical tangent line at x = a.
(c) the graph of f has a corner or cusp at x = a.

Solved Examples
EXAMPLE 1: The function

2
x − 9

if x 6= 3
f (x) = x − 3
6

if x = 3

is continuous at x = 3 since f (3) = 6 and lim f (x) = 6.

x→3

EXAMPLE 2: The function


 x3 if x ≥ 2
f (x) =
x + 1 if x < 2

is not continuous at x = 2 since lim f (x) = 8 while lim f (x) = 3. Since f is not continuous
x→2+ x→2−
at x = 2, it cannot be differentiable at x = 2.
1 1
EXAMPLE 3: The derivative of the function f (x) = is f ′ (x) = − 2 . Observe that f is
x x
differentiable at x = 1 since f ′ (1) = −1. However, f is not differentiable at x = 0 since f ′ (0)
is undefined.

EXAMPLE 4: Consider the function


2x if x ≥ 0,
f (x) =
5x if x < 0.

This function is continuous at x = 0 since f (0) = lim f (x) = lim f (x) = 0. However, this
x→0+ x→0−
function is not differentiable at x = 0. To see this, note that

2 if x > 0,
f ′ (x) =
5 if x < 0,

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