Continuity

1. Informal Definition of Continuity

Intuitively, if the graph of a function has no breaks or
holes, we will say the graph is a “continuous curve”
More precisely, if any of the followings occur, we say
the graph has breaks or holes
• The function is undefined at c
• The limit of f(x) does not exist as x approaches c
• The value of the function at c and the limit of the
function at c are different
 Continuity
Example 1
The function is undefined at c
 Continuity
Example 2
The limit of f(x) does not exist as x approaches c
 Continuity
Example 2 (continue)
The limit of f(x) does not exist as x approaches c
 Continuity
Example 3
The value of the function at c and the limit of the function at c are
different
 Continuity
2. Definition of Continuity
The 4 graphs given suggest the following definition:

Definition 1 A function is said to be “continuous at x=c” if and

only if the following conditions are true
• f(c) is defined
• lim f ( x) exists
xc
• lim f ( x)  f(c)
x c

If one of these conditions fails to hold, we say that the function is

“discontinuous at c”.
All three previous examples illustrate a discontinuity at c. First
example is when condition 1 fails, second and third are when the
second and third conditions fail respectively.
 Continuity
2. Definition of Continuity (continue)

Example 4 Determine whether the following functions are continuous at x=2,

 x2  4  x2  4
x 4
2
 
f ( x)  , g ( x )   x  2 , x  2 h( x )   x  2 , x  2
x2  
 3 , x  2,  4 , x  2,

In all the cases, the functions are identical except at x= 2 and all three function
have the same limit at x=2, that is

x2  4
lim f ( x )  lim g ( x )  lim h( x )  lim  lim ( x  2)  4
x2 x2 x2 x2 x  2 x2
 Continuity
2. Definition of Continuity (continue)

Example 4 (continue)
• 𝑓 is undefined at 𝑥 = 2 hence f has discontinuity at 𝑥 = 2 (see figure
below)
 Continuity
2. Definition of Continuity (continue)

Example 4 (continue)
• The function g is defined at x=2 but the value of the function at x=2,
g(2) =3, which is not equal to the limit as x approaches 2. Hence, g also
has discontinuity at x=2 (see figure below).
 Continuity
2. Definition of Continuity (continue)
Example 4 (continue)
• The function h is defined at x=2 and the value of the function at x=2,
h(2) =4, which is the same as the limit as x approaches 2. Hence, h is
continuous at x=2 (see figure below).

Note from the graph that the function h can be written more simply as
h(x)=x+2, but we write it this way just so we can emphasize the
relationship between h and f and g.
 Continuity
3. Some Properties of Continuous Functions

Theorem 1 If the functions f and g are continuous at x=c, then

(a) f  g is continuous at x  c
(b) f  g is continuous at x  c
(c) f  g is continuous at x  c
f
(d) is continuous at x  c if g(c)  0 and has a discontinuity
g
at c if g (c)  0
 Continuity

3. Some Properties of Continuous Functions (continue)

Theorem 2
(a) A polynomial is continuous everywhere
(b) A rational function is continuous at every point where the
denominator is nonzero and is discontinuous at the point
where the denominator is zero
 Continuity
3. Some Properties of Continuous Functions (continue)

Example 5 For what value of x that there is a discontinuity in the graph of

𝑥2 − 9
𝑓 𝑥 = 2
𝑥 − 5𝑥 + 6

f is a rational function hence it is discontinuous at every point where the

denominator is equal to zero

Solving for the solution of

x 2  5x  6  0

yields x=2 and x=3 which are the points where f has discontinuities
 Continuity
3. Some Properties of Continuous Functions (continue)

Example 6 Show that |𝑥 + 1| is continuous everywhere

 x  1 if x  1

f ( x)   0 if x  1
  ( x  1) if x  1
Since 𝑥 + 1 and – (𝑥 + 1) are polynomial function on the open intervals
(1,) and (,1) hence is continuous everywhere. The only
possibility of discontinuity is at x  1
Since |0|=0 , we must show that

lim 𝑥 + 1 = 0
𝑥→−1
Consider the above function, we obtain

lim 𝑥 + 1 = lim + 𝑥 + 1 = 0 and lim − 𝑥 + 1 = lim − − (𝑥 + 1) = 0

𝑥→−1+ 𝑥→−1 𝑥→−1 𝑥→−1

Since, lim 𝑥 + 1 = 0 = 𝑓(0), |𝑥 + 1| is continuous at 𝑥 = 0.

𝑥→−1
 Continuity
4. Continuous on a Closed Interval

Definition 2
1. A function is said to be continuous on an interval (a,b) if and only if f is
continuous at every point in (a,b).
2. A function is said to be continuous on a closed interval [a,b] if the following
conditions are satisfied:
(a) f is continuous on (a,b)
(b) f is continuous from the right at a ( lim f ( x)  f (a))

xa
(c) f is continuous from the left at b ( lim f ( x)  f (b))

x b
3. A function is said to be continuous on an interval (a,b] if the following
conditions are satisfied:
(a) f is continuous on (a,b)
(b) f is continuous from the left at b ( xlim
f ( x)  f (b))
b
4. A function is said to be continuous on an interval [a,b) if the following
conditions are satisfied:
(a) f is continuous on (a,b)
(b) f is continuous from the right at a ( lim f ( x)  f (a))
xa
 Continuity
4. Continuous on a Closed Interval (continue)

Example 9 What can you say about the continuity of the function f ( x)  9  x 2

The domain of this function is on the closed interval [-3,3], hence we

need to investigate the continuity on the open interval (-3,3) and on the
endpoints.

Let c be any point in the interval (-3,3), we have

lim f ( x)  lim 9  x2  lim (9  x 2 )  9  c 2  f (c)

x c x c x c

which proves that f is continuous in (-3,3). For the end points,

lim f ( x)  lim 9  x 2  lim (9  x 2 )  0  f (3)

x 3 x 3 x 3

and
lim f ( x)  lim 9  x2  lim (9  x 2 )  0  f (3)
x 3 x 3 x 3

Thus, f is continuous on the closed interval [-3,3] .