112 Chapter 1 Limits

1.4 Continuous Functions

Continuous Functions
The graph of the function
s  f(t)  4t 2 0  t  30
giving the position of the maglev at any time t (discussed in Section 1.1) is shown in
Figure 1. Observe that the curve has no holes or jumps. This tells us that the displace-
ment of the maglev must vary continuously with respect to time—it cannot vanish at
any instant of time, and it cannot skip a stretch of the track to reappear and resume its
motion somewhere else. The function s is an example of a continuous function. Observe
that you can draw the graph of this function without lifting your pencil from the paper.

s (ft)

3000
s  4t2

2000

1000
FIGURE 1
s  f(t)  4t 2 gives the position 0 10 20 30 t (sec)
of the maglev at any time t.

Functions that are discontinuous also occur in practical applications. Consider, for
y
example, the Heaviside function H defined by
0 if t  0
1 H(t)  e
1 if t 0
and first introduced in Example 3 in Section 1.1. You can see from the graph of H that
0 t it has a jump at t  0 (Figure 2). If we think of H as describing the flow of current in
an electrical circuit, then t  0 corresponds to the time at which the switch is turned
FIGURE 2 on. The function H is discontinuous at 0.
The Heaviside function is
discontinuous at t  0.
Continuity at a Number
We now give a formal definition of continuity.

DEFINITION Continuity at a Number

Let f be a function defined on an open interval containing all values of x close
to a. Then f is continuous at a if
lim f(x)  f(a) (1)
x→a

If we write x  a  h and note that x approaches a as h approaches 0, we see that

the condition for f to be continuous at a is equivalent to
lim f(a  h)  f(a) (2)
h→0
 1.4 Continuous Functions 113

Briefly, f is continuous at a if f(x) gets closer and closer to f(a) as x approaches a.

Equivalently, f is continuous at a if proximity of x to a implies proximity of f(x) to
f(a). (See Figure 3.)

y  f(x)
f(a)

f(x)

FIGURE 3 0 a x x
As x approaches a, f(x) approaches f(a).

If f is defined for all values of x close to a but Equation (1) is not satisfied, then f
is discontinuous at a or f has a discontinuity at a.
Note It is implicit in Equation (1) that f(a) is defined and the lim x→a f(x) exists.
However, for emphasis we sometimes define continuity at a by requiring that the
following three conditions hold: (1) f(a) is defined, (2) lim x→a f(x) exists, and
(3) lim x→a f(x)  f(a) .

EXAMPLE 1 Use the graph of the function shown in Figure 4 to determine whether
f is continuous at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

FIGURE 4 0 1 2 3 4 5 x
The graph of f

Solution The function f is continuous at 0 because

lim f(x)  1  f(0)
x→0

It is discontinuous at 1 because f(1) is not defined. It is discontinuous at 2 because

lim f(x)  2  1  f(2)
x→2

Since
lim f(x)  0  f(3)
x→3

we see that f is continuous at 3. Next, we see that lim x→4 f(x) does not exist, so f is
not continuous at 4. Finally, because lim x→5 f(x) does not exist, we see that f is dis-
continuous at 5.
114 Chapter 1 Limits

Refer to the function f in Example 1. The discontinuity at 1 and at 2, where the limit
exists, is called a removable discontinuity because f can be made continuous at each of
these numbers by defining or redefining it there. For example, if we define f(1)  1, then
f is made continuous at 1; if we redefine f(2) by specifying that f(2)  2, then f is also
made continuous at 2.
The discontinuity at 4 is called a jump discontinuity, whereas the discontinuity at
5 is called an infinite discontinuity. Because the limit does not exist at a jump or at
an infinite discontinuity, the discontinuity cannot be removed by defining or redefin-
ing the function at the number in question.

EXAMPLE 2 Let
x2  x  2
if x  2
f(x)  • x  2
1 if x  2
Show that f has a removable discontinuity at 2. Redefine f at 2 so that it is continuous
everywhere.

Solution First, let’s find the limit of f(x) as x approaches 2:

x2  x  2 (x  2)(x  1)
lim  lim
x→2 x2 x→2 x2
 lim (x  1)  3
x→2

Because lim x→2 f(x)  3  1  f(2), we see that f is discontinuous at 2. We can

remove this discontinuity and thus render f continuous everywhere by redefining the
value of f at 2 to be equal to 3. (See Figure 5.)

y y
5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

1 0 1 2 3 x 1 0 1 2 3 x
FIGURE 5
The discontinuity at 2 is removed (a) f has a removable (b) f is continuous at 2.
by redefining f at x  2. discontinuity at 2.

Continuity at an Endpoint
When we defined continuity, we assumed that f(x) was defined for all values of x close
to a. Sometimes f(x) is defined only for those values of x that are greater than or equal
to a or for values of x that are less than or equal to a. For example, f(x)  1x is defined
for x 0, and t(x)  13  x is defined for x  3. The following definition covers
these situations.
116 Chapter 1 Limits

DEFINITION Continuity on Open and Closed Intervals

A function f is continuous on an open interval (a, b) if it is continuous at every
number in the interval. A function f is continuous on a closed interval [a, b]
if it is continuous on (a, b) and is also continuous from the right at a and from
the left at b. A function f is continuous on a half-open interval [a, b) or (a, b]
if f is continuous on (a, b) and f is continuous from the right at a or f is contin-
uous from the left at b, respectively.

EXAMPLE 4 Show that the function f defined by f(x)  24  x 2 is continuous on

the closed interval [2, 2].

Solution We first show that f is continuous on (2, 2). Let a be any number in
(2, 2). Then, using the laws of limits, we have
lim f(x)  lim 24  x 2  2lim (4  x 2)  24  a 2  f(a)
x→a x→a x→a

y and this proves the assertion.

Next, let us show that f is continuous from the right at 2 and from the left at 2.
2 Again, by invoking the limit properties, we see that
y  4  x2
lim f(x)  lim  24  x 2  2 lim (4  x 2)  0  f(2)
x→2 x→2 x→2

and
2 0 2 x
lim f(x)  lim 24  x 2  2 lim(4  x 2)  0  f(2)
x→2 x→2 x→2
FIGURE 8
The function f(x)  24  x 2 is and this proves the assertion. Therefore, f is continuous on [2, 2]. The graph of f is
continuous on [2, 2]. shown in Figure 8.

THEOREM 1 Continuity of a Sum, Product, and Quotient

If the functions f and t are continuous at a, then the following functions are also
continuous at a.
a. f t
b. ft
c. cf, where c is any constant
f
d. , if t(a)  0
t

We will prove Theorem 1b and leave some of the other parts as exercises. (See
Exercises 94–95.)

PROOF OF THEOREM 1b
Since f and t are continuous at a, we have
lim f(x)  f(a) and lim t(x)  t(a)
x→a x→a