[Collect notes on section 1.5] [Collect homework] [Hand out time-sheets] Section 1.5: Continuity Key concept: Continuity.

A continuous (at a) function is one that satisfies the direct substitution property limxa f(x) = f(a). Main points of the section? ..?.. Main point #1: Most of the functions normally encountered in pre-calculus math are continuous. Main point #2: Most ways of combining two continuous functions give functions that are continuous too. Main point #3: If a function f is continuous, it satisfies the intermediate value theorem. Definition: We say the function f(x) is continuous at a iff (1) limxa f(x) = f(a), i.e., in symbols, f(x) f(a) as xa. Otherwise, we say f(x) is discontinuous at a.

If a function is continuous at every point in its domain, we say that it is everywhere continuous, or (just) continuous. Example 1: One of our limit laws tells us that (for all values a) limxa x2 = a2, so the function f(x) = x2 is continuous at a for every a; that is, it is continuous at every point in its domain (in this case, the domain is R, the set of all real numbers). Example 2: The function sqrt(x), whose domain is [0, ), is not continuous at 0, because it is not defined throughout a punctured interval {x: 0 < |x0| < r}, no matter how small r is. Example 3(a): The Heaviside function H(x) is not continuous at 0 (though it is continuous at every other value of x) because limx0 H(x) does not exist (more specfically, the one-sided limits limx0+ H(x) and limx0 H(x) exist but are unequal to each other). Example 3(b): The function f(x) = H(x) H(x) is not continuous at 0 because limx0 f(x) ..?..

equals 0 but f(0) = ..?.. 1. (This is called a removable discontinuity in f because if we changed the value of f(0) to be 0, the function would become continuous at 0.) Theorem: f(x) is continuous at a iff for every > 0 there exists > 0 such that for all x with |x a| < , |f(x) f(a)| < . (Note that the words after the iff look a lot like the definition of limits, except that we now have |x a| < instead of 0 < |x a| < , and we now have f(a) instead of L.) Theorem 6 of section 1.5 (which extends the Direct Substitution Property of section 1.4) says that every polynomial function, rational function, trig function, and root function is continuous at every point in its domain that stays away from the endpoints of its domain. (Later on well see that this property holds for exponential and logarithm functions too.) (If a is an endpoint of the domain of f, and f is a polynomial

function, rational function, trig function, or root function, then f is one-sidedly continuous at a; e.g., f(x) = sqrt(x) is defined for all non-negative x, and this function is continuous from the right at 0.) E.g., f(x) = 1/x is defined for all x0, so for all a0, f(x) is defined in a neighborhood of a, so by Theorem 6, f is continuous at a, so limxa 1/x = limxa f(x) = f(a) = 1/a. Heres how we can use Theorem 6 to evaluate a limit: limx1 (x21)/(x1) = limx1 x+1 (since (x21)/(x1) = x+1 for all x1) = 1+1 (by Theorem 6) = 2. Main point #2: Most ways of combining two continuous functions give functions that are continuous too. If f and g are continuous at a, then so are f+g, fg, fg, and f/g. This statement is almost right. What caveat did I fail to include? ...

..?.. We can only conclude that f/g is continuous at a if in addition to the hypotheses that f and g are continuous at a, were also given the side hypothesis limxa g(x) 0, or equivalently, g(a) 0. (These two versions of the side hypothesis are equivalent because were already assuming that g is continuous at a.) We say: Continuity is preserved by addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of functions. And thats because limits are preserved by addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of functions (see the Limit Laws). Moreover, limits behave well under composition of functions: Theorem 1.5.7: If limxa g(x) = b and limxb f(x) = c, then limxa f(g(x)) = c, provided that the function f is continuous at b. Note that in the statement of the theorem, we could have written f(b) = c instead of limxb f(x) = c as our second

hypothesis, since our third hypothesis (the continuity of f at b) implies that f(b) and limxb f(x) are equal. Application: Evaluate limx0 cos(sin(x)). Answer: Put f(x) = cos x, g(x) = sin x, a = 0, and b = 0. Since limxa g(x) = limx0 sin x = sin 0 = 0 = b (by the continuity of trigonometric functions), and since limxb f(x) = limx0 cos x = cos 0 = 1 = c (again by the continuity of trigonometric functions), and since f(x) = cos x is continuous at b = 0 (yet again by the continuity of trigonometric functions), all three required hypothesis of Theorem 1.5.7 are satisfied, so limx0 cos(sin(x)) = limxa f(g(x)) = c = 1. In an upcoming homework youll see an example showing that the theorem becomes false if we delete the hypothesis f is continuous at b! Extending the domain of a function If a function f is not defined at x = a but has the property that limxa f(x) = L, then it is natural to consider a new function F such that F(x) = f(x) for all x a and F(a) = L.

E.g., let f(x) = x sin 1/x for all x 0, let a = 0 and L = 0. Then it is natural to define {x sin 1/x for x 0 F( x ) = { { 0 for x = 0. Note that this new function F is continuous on all of R. We call F the continuous extension of f to R. Likewise we can consider the continuous extension of the function f(x) = xn sin 1/x to R for all exponents n > 1. These functions will serve as useful counterexamples when we study differentiation.