RECAP

In Module 1 of MAT103 you were introduced to functions and their properties

namely; domain, ranges and graphs were studied. In all cases, functions were
defined over R, for some functions the function was undefined at some points.
We now look at behaviour of a function f (x) as x approaches a point x = a
which may or may not be in the domain of the function.

1 Limits Concept
In this section we demonstrate the conceptual approach to limits, evaluation of
limits and continuity of functions
Question: Why study limits of function?
The idea of limit is necessary in the study of the rates at which quantities
change.
We now give a conceptual approach to limits;
We investigate the behaviour of the function f (x) = x2 − x + 2 for values closer
2.
The following table gives values of f (x) for values of x close to 2, but not equal
to 2

From the table you see that when x is close to 2 on either side of 2, f (x) is close
to 4. In this case then we say the limit of f (x) = 4 as x ”gets closer”or ”tends
to”or ”approaches” 2
Definition 1. In general we write: limx→a f (x) = L or f (x) → L as x → a
which is usually read ”f (x) approaches L as x approaches a”

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 We use the following Limit Laws to evaluate limits of function. Suppose that
c is a constant and the limits
limx→a f (x) and limx→a g(x) exist then
ˆ limx→a [f (x) + g(x)] = limx→a f (x) + limx→a g(x)

ˆ limx→a [f (x) − g(x)] = limx→a f (x) − limx→a g(x)

ˆ limx→a cf (x) = c limx→a f (x)

ˆ limx→a [f (x)g(x)] = limx→a f (x). limx→a g(x)

f (x) limx→a f (x)
ˆ limx→a g(x) = limx→a f (x) if limx→a g(x) ̸= 0

Remarks. It is assumed that the domain of f includes an interval containing a,

but not necessarily a itself. This definition is informal because phrases such as
”close as we want” and ”close enough” are imprecise; the meaning depends
on the context. To a machinist manufacturing pistons, close enough may mean
within a few thousandths of an inch. To an astronomer studying distant galax-
ies, close enough may mean within a few thousand light years. This definition
should be clear enough, however, to enable us recognize and evaluate limits of
specific functions.
Some limits are easy to compute but others are not so easy to evaluate. Limits
of polynomials are found by substitution. Limits of (many but not all) ratio-
nal functions can be found by substitution. Many situations require algebraic
manipulation before applying the limits.
We use the following examples to demonstrate evaluation of limits

Example 1. Evaluate the following limits if they exist

i) limx→2 (7x3 − 5x2 + 2x − 4)

Solution
We evaluate the limit by substitution;

limx→2 (7x3 − 5x2 + 2x − 4) = 7(2)3 − 5(2)2 + 2(2) − 4 = 36

5u2 −4
ii) limx→1 u−1 does not exist since limu→1 (u − 1) = 0

x2 +X−2)
iii) limx→−2 x2 +5x+6

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Solution
Note that this function is undefined at x = −2 we factor the numerator and
denominator

x2 +X−2 (x+2)(x−1)
limx→−2 x2 +5x+6 = limx→−2 (x+2)(x+3 ; cancel common factors

x−1
= limx→−2 x+3 ; evaluate this limit by substituting x = −2
= -3
Remark. When we say that f (x) has a limit L as x approaches a, we are
really saying that we can ensure that the error |f (x) − L| will be less than any
allowed tolerance, no matter how small by taking x close enough to a (but not
equal to a). It is traditional to use ϵ, the Greek letter ”epsilon” for the error
|f (x)−L| and δ, the Greek letter ”delta” for the difference |x−a| that measures
how close x is within that tolerance.
We now extend the concept of limits to:
1. one-side limit: Let f (x) be defined on an interval (a, b), where a < b. If
f (x) approaches arbitrary close to L as x approaches a from within that
interval, then we say that f has right-hand limit at L and write we write;
limx→a+ f (x) = L
Let f (x) be defined on an interval (c, a), where c < a. If f (x) approaches
arbitrary close to M as x approaches a from within that interval, then we
say that f has left-hand limit at M at a and we write;
limx→a− f (x) = M
x
For example the function f (x) = |x| in the figure below, we have
limx→0+ f (x) = 1 and limx→0− f (x) = −1

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 Note: limx→a f (x) exists if limx→a+ f (x) = limx→a− f (x) = limx→a f (x)
2. Limits at infinity: Limits at infinity allows us to look at what happens to
a function it we let x get very large in either positive or negative sense.
By limits at infinity we mean one of the following two limits;
limx→∞ f (x) and limx→−∞ f (x)

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 The graph of f conveys a limiting behaviour by approaching the horizontal
lines y = 0 as x → ∞ and x = 0 as x → 0. These lines are called horizontal
asymptotes and vertical asymptotes of the graph. In general if a curve
approaches a straight line as it recedes very far away from the origin, that
line is called an asymptote of the curve.

2 Continuity of functions
In this section we examine important properties possessed by continuous func-
tions. Quantities change either in a continuous or discontinuous way for example
the growth of a cancer cell changes by small amounts over short intervals of time.
But not all quantities in this way. The parking lot fees are quoted in portions
as 2.00 per hour, after the first 1 hour it suddenly jumps to 4.00, the func-
tion relating parking charges with parking hours will be discontinuous at each
hour.Continuous processes take place gradually without interruption or abrupt
change.
Definition 2. A functionf (x) is said to be continuous at x = a if
limx→a f (x) = f (a)

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 NOTE:Continuity of f at a point a requires that:
1. f (a) is defined 2. limx→a f (x) exists and is equal to f (a)
If any one of these conditions is not satisfied, then f is not continuous at a.

Algebraic Properties of Continuous Functions

If the functions f and g are continuous at a point a, then the following functions
are continuous at a:

1. Sums: f + g;

2. Differences: f − g;

3. Products: f.g;

4. Constant multiples: k.f ;

f
5. Quotients: g (provided that g(a) ̸= 0).
Definition 3. If a functionf is not continuous at a, we say that it is discon-
tinuous at a, or that a is a discontinuity of f or a point of discontinuity
of f .

Remark. Briefly, continuity of a function f at a point a means that the

limit of f at the point a is equal to the value of f at a. In other words, when x
is close to a, then f (x) is close to f (a).

Example 2. The figure below illustrates continuity of f , the points (x, f (x))
on the graph of f approach the point (a, f (a)) on the graph. So there is no gap
in the curve

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Example 3. Determine the points of discontinuity of the function f (x) whose
graph appears below:

i) f is has a discontinuity at a = 1 since f (1) is undefined

ii) At x = 3 the function is defined but has break, and therefore f has a discon-
tinuity at x = 3 since limx→3 f (x) does not exist.

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iii) At x = 5, f (5) is defined and limx→5 f (x) exists but f has a discontinuity
since limx→5 f (x) ̸= f (5)
4x+5
Example 4. Using limit properties show that f (x) = 9−3x is continuous on
x = −1

Solution
4x+5 limx→−1 (4x+5)
limx→−1 9−3x = limx→−1 (9−3x) ; By law 5
4 limx→−1 (x)+limx→−1 (5)
= limx→−1 9−3 limx→−1 (x) ; By law 1 and 3
4(−1)+5
= 9−3(−1) = f (−1)
limx→−1 (f (x)) = f (−1) hence f (x) is continuous at −1

We now define different types of discontinuities.

Definition 4. If at a point a ∈ A the limit limx→a f (x) exists, but f (a) either
is not defined or limx→a f (x) ̸= f (a), then a is a removable point of discon-
tinuity. In other words, f is discontinuous at a but can be re-defined at that
single point so that it becomes continuous there.

Example 5. The function

x3 , if x ̸= 0
f (x) = {
2, if x = 0,

is discontinuous at a = 0 and limx→0 f (x) = 0 so that limx→0 f (x) ̸= f (0).

Thus the point 0 is a removable point of discontinuity. To remove it, define
f (0) = 0.

Definition 5. If f is discontinuous at a point a ∈ A and one-sided limits f (a− )

and f (a+ ) both exists, but f (a− ) ̸=f(a+ ), then f is said to have a discontinuity
of the first kind or jump discontinuity.
Example 6. The function

x, if x < 1
f (x) = {
3x2 − 1, if x ≥ 1

is discontinuous at a = 1, the left-hand and right-hand limits of f at 1 both

exists and limx→1− f (x) = 1 ̸= 2 = limx→1+ f (x). Thus the point a = 1 is a
jump discontinuity.

Definition 6. If at a ∈ A, at least one of the one-sided limits does not exist

or is infinite, then we say that the point a is a discontinuity discontinuity of
the second kind or infinite discontinuity.