Section 2.

5 Continuity
51. (a)
(b)

lim

x %!!b

67

x 400. Just observe that if 400  x  401, then x 400. Thus if we choose $ ", we have for any

number %  ! that 400  x  400  $ lx
400l l400
400l !  %.

lim c x 399. Just observe that if 399  x  400 then x 399. Thus if we choose $ ", we have for any

x %!!

number %  ! that 400
$  x  400 lx
399l l399
399l !  %.

(c) Since lim b x lim c x we conclude that lim x does not exist.
x %!!

x %!!

52. (a)

x %!!

lim f(x) lim b x 0 0; x
0  %
%  x  % !  x  %# for x positive. Choose $ %#

x!
lim b f(x) 0.

x !b

x!

(b)

lim f(x) lim c x# sin x" 0 by the sandwich theorem since
x# x# sin x" x# for all x 0.
x !c
x!
Since kx#
0k k
x#
0k x#  % whenever kxk  %, we choose $ % and obtain x# sin "x
0  %

if
$  x  0.
(c) The function f has limit 0 at x! 0 since both the right-hand and left-hand limits exist and equal 0.
2.5 CONTINUITY
1. No, discontinuous at x 2, not defined at x 2
2. No, discontinuous at x 3, " lim c g(x) g(3) 1.5
x$
3. Continuous on [
1 3]
4. No, discontinuous at x 1, 1.5 lim c k(x) lim b k(x) !
x"
x"
5. (a) Yes

(b) Yes,

(c) Yes

(d) Yes

6. (a) Yes, f(1) 1

lim

x
"b

f(x) 0

(b) Yes, lim f(x) 2

x1

(c) No

(d) No

7. (a) No

(b) No

8. [
" !)  (! ")  (" #)  (# $)

9. f(2) 0, since lim c f(x)
2(2)  4 0 lim b f(x)
x#
x#
10. f(1) should be changed to 2 lim f(x)
x1

11. Nonremovable discontinuity at x 1 because lim f(x) fails to exist ( limc f(x) 1 and lim b f(x) 0).
x"
x1
x"

Removable discontinuity at x 0 by assigning the number lim f(x) 0 to be the value of f(0) rather than f(0) 1.
x!

12. Nonremovable discontinuity at x 1 because lim f(x) fails to exist ( lim c f(x) 2 and lim b f(x) 1).
x"
x1
x"
Removable discontinuity at x 2 by assigning the number lim f(x) 1 to be the value of f(2) rather than f(2) 2.
x#

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Addison-Wesley.

68

Chapter 2 Limits and Continuity

13. Discontinuous only when x
2 0 x 2

14. Discontinuous only when (x  2)# 0 x
2

15. Discontinuous only when x#
%x  $ ! (x
3)(x
1) 0 x 3 or x 1

16. Discontinuous only when x#
3x
10 0 (x
5)(x  2) 0 x 5 or x
2
17. Continuous everywhere. ( kx
1k  sin x defined for all x; limits exist and are equal to function values.)
18. Continuous everywhere. ( kxk  " 0 for all x; limits exist and are equal to function values.)
19. Discontinuous only at x 0
20. Discontinuous at odd integer multiples of 1# , i.e., x = (2n
") 1# , n an integer, but continuous at all other x.
21. Discontinuous when 2x is an integer multiple of 1, i.e., 2x n1, n an integer x

n1
# ,

n an integer, but

continuous at all other x.

22. Discontinuous when

1x
#

is an odd integer multiple of 1# , i.e.,

1x
#

(2n
1) 1# , n an integer x 2n
1, n an

integer (i.e., x is an odd integer). Continuous everywhere else.

23. Discontinuous at odd integer multiples of 1# , i.e., x = (2n
1) 1# , n an integer, but continuous at all other x.
24. Continuous everywhere since x%  1 1 and
" sin x 1 0 sin# x 1 1  sin# x 1; limits exist
and are equal to the function values.
25. Discontinuous when 2x  3  0 or x 
3# continuous on the interval

3# _ .
26. Discontinuous when 3x
1  0 or x 

"
3

continuous on the interval
3" _ .

27. Continuous everywhere: (2x
1)"$ is defined for all x; limits exist and are equal to function values.
28. Continuous everywhere: (2
x)"& is defined for all x; limits exist and are equal to function values.
29. Continuous everywhere since lim
x3
30. Discontinuous at x
2 since

x2
x
6
x
3

lim
x3

ax
3bax  2b
x
3

lim ax  2b 5 ga3b
x3

lim faxb does not exist while fa
2b 4.

x
2

31. xlim
sin (x
sin x) sin (1
sin 1) sin (1
0) sin 1 0, and function continuous at x 1.
1
32. lim sin 1# cos (tan t) sin 1# cos (tan (0)) sin 1# cos (0) sin 1# 1, and function continuous at t !.
t!

33. lim sec ay sec# y
tan# y
1b lim sec ay sec# y
sec# yb lim sec a(y
1) sec# yb sec a("
") sec# 1b
y1

y1

y1

sec 0 1, and function continuous at y ".

34. lim tan
14 cos sin x"$ tan
14 cos (sin(0)) tan 14 cos (0) tan 14 1, and function continuous at x !.
x!

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Addison-Wesley.

Section 2.5 Continuity

35. lim cos 19
13 sec 2t cos 19
13 sec 0 cos
t!

1
16

cos

1
4

2
# ,

and function continuous at t !.

36. lim1 csc# x  53 tan x csc# 16  53 tan 16 4  53 "3 9 3, and function continuous at
x

'

x 1' .
37. g(x)

x#
9
x
3

(x  3)(x
3)
(x
3)

38. h(t)

t#  3t
10
t
#

39. f(s)

s$
"
s#
1

40. g(x)

x  3, x 3 g(3) lim (x  3) 6
x$

(t  5)(t
2)
t
#

as#  s  1b (s
1)
(s  1)(s
1)

x#
16
x#
3x
4

t  5, t # h(2) lim (t  5) 7
t#

s#  s  "
s1 ,

(x  4)(x
4)
(x
4)(x  1)

x4
x1

s 1 f(1) lim s
s1

s1
s1

4
, x 4 g(4) lim xx 
1

x%

3
#

8
5

41. As defined, lim c f(x) (3)#
1 8 and lim b (2a)(3) 6a. For f(x) to be continuous we must have
x$
x$
6a 8 a 43 .

42. As defined,

lim

x
#c

g(x)
2 and

4b
2 b
"# .

lim

x
#b

g(x) b(
2)# 4b. For g(x) to be continuous we must have

43. As defined, lim c f(x) 12 and lim b f(x) a# a2b
2a 2a#
2a. For f(x) to be continuous we must have
x#
x#
12 2a#
2a a 3 or a
2.
44. As defined, lim c g(x)

b
b1

x0

0
b
b1

b
b1

b b 0 or b
2.

45. As defined,

lim

x
1 c

f(x)
2 and

and lim b g(x) a0b2  b b. For g(x) to be continuous we must have

x0

lim

x
1 b

f(x) aa
1b  b
a  b, and

lim f(x) aa1b  b a  b and

x 1c

lim f(x) 3. For f(x) to be continuous we must have
2
a  b and a  b 3 a

x 1b

5
#

and b "# .

46. As defined, lim c g(x) aa0b  2b 2b and lim b g(x) a0b2  3a
b 3a
b, and
x0
x0
lim g(x) a2b2  3a
b 4  3a
b and lim b g(x) 3a2b
5 1. For g(x) to be continuous we must
x0

x 2c

have 2b 3a
b and 4  3a
b 1 a
3# and b
3# .

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Addison-Wesley.

69

70

Chapter 2 Limits and Continuity

47. The function can be extended: f(0) 2.3.

48. The function cannot be extended to be continuous at

x 0. If f(0) 2.3, it will be continuous from the
right. Or if f(0)
2.3, it will be continuous from the
left.

49. The function cannot be extended to be continuous

at x 0. If f(0) 1, it will be continuous from
the right. Or if f(0)
1, it will be continuous
from the left.

50. The function can be extended: f(0) 7.39.

51. f(x) is continuous on [! "] and f(0)  0, f(1)  0

by the Intermediate Value Theorem f(x) takes
on every value between f(0) and f(1) the
equation f(x) 0 has at least one solution between
x 0 and x 1.

52. cos x x (cos x)
x 0. If x
1# , cos
1#

1#  0. If x 1# , cos 1#

for some x between

1
#

and

1
#

1
#

 0. Thus cos x
x 0

according to the Intermediate Value Theorem, since the function cos x
x is continuous.

53. Let f(x) x$
15x  1, which is continuous on [
4 4]. Then f(
4)
3, f(
1) 15, f(1)
13, and f(4) 5.
By the Intermediate Value Theorem, f(x) 0 for some x in each of the intervals
%  x 
1,
"  x  1, and
"  x  4. That is, x$
15x  1 0 has three solutions in [
% 4]. Since a polynomial of degree 3 can have at most 3
solutions, these are the only solutions.
54. Without loss of generality, assume that a  b. Then F(x) (x
a)# (x
b)#  x is continuous for all values of
x, so it is continuous on the interval [a b]. Moreover F(a) a and F(b) b. By the Intermediate Value
Theorem, since a  a # b  b, there is a number c between a and b such that F(x) a # b .

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Addison-Wesley.

Section 2.5 Continuity

55. Answers may vary. Note that f is continuous for every value of x.
(a) f(0) 10, f(1) 1$
8(1)  10 3. Since $  1  10, by the Intermediate Value Theorem, there exists a c
so that !  c  1 and f(c) 1.
(b) f(0) 10, f(
4) (
4)$
8(
4)  10
22. Since
22 
3  10, by the Intermediate Value
Theorem, there exists a c so that
4  c  0 and f(c)
3.
(c) f(0) 10, f(1000) (1000)$
8(1000)  10 999,992,010. Since 10  5,000,000  999,992,010, by the
Intermediate Value Theorem, there exists a c so that !  c  1000 and f(c) 5,000,000.

56. All five statements ask for the same information because of the intermediate value property of continuous functions.
(a) A root of f(x) x$
3x
1 is a point c where f(c) 0.
(b) The points where y x$ crosses y 3x  1 have the same y-coordinate, or y x$ 3x  1
f(x) x$
3x
1 0.
(c) x$
3x 1 x$
3x
1 0. The solutions to the equation are the roots of f(x) x$
3x
1.
(d) The points where y x$
3x crosses y 1 have common y-coordinates, or y x$
3x 1
f(x) x$
3x
1 !.
(e) The solutions of x$
3x
1 0 are those points where f(x) x$
3x
1 has value 0.
57. Answers may vary. For example, f(x)

sin (x
2)
x
2

is discontinuous at x 2 because it is not defined there.

However, the discontinuity can be removed because f has a limit (namely 1) as x 2.

58. Answers may vary. For example, g(x)

"
x1

has a discontinuity at x
1 because lim g(x) does not exist.

x
"

lim c g(x)
_ and lim b g(x) _.

x
"
x
"
59. (a) Suppose x! is rational f(x! ) 1. Choose % "# . For any $  0 there is an irrational number x (actually
infinitely many) in the interval (x!
$ x!  $ ) f(x) 0. Then 0  kx
x! k  $ but kf(x)
f(x! )k
1  "# %, so x lim
f(x) fails to exist f is discontinuous at x! rational.
x
!

On the other hand, x! irrational f(x! ) 0 and there is a rational number x in (x!
$ x!  $ ) f(x)
1. Again x lim
f(x) fails to exist f is discontinuous at x! irrational. That is, f is discontinuous at
x
!

every point.
(b) f is neither right-continuous nor left-continuous at any point x! because in every interval (x!
$ x! ) or
(x! x!  $ ) there exist both rational and irrational real numbers. Thus neither limits lim f(x) and
x x!

lim f(x) exist by the same arguments used in part (a).

x x

!

60. Yes. Both f(x) x and g(x) x

g "#

f(x)
g(x)

"
#

are continuous on [! "]. However

is discontinuous at x

f(x)
g(x)

is undefined at x

"
#

since

"
#.

61. No. For instance, if f(x) 0, g(x) x, then h(x) 0 axb 0 is continuous at x 0 and g(x) is not.
62. Let f(x)

"
x
1

"
(x  1)
1

and g(x) x  1. Both functions are continuous at x 0. The composition f g f(g(x))

"
x

is discontinuous at x 0, since it is not defined there. Theorem 10 requires that f(x) be

continuous at g(0), which is not the case here since g(0) 1 and f is undefined at 1.
63. Yes, because of the Intermediate Value Theorem. If f(a) and f(b) did have different signs then f would have to
equal zero at some point between a and b since f is continuous on [a b].

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Addison-Wesley.

71

72

Chapter 2 Limits and Continuity

64. Let f(x) be the new position of point x and let d(x) f(x)
x. The displacement function d is negative if x is
the left-hand point of the rubber band and positive if x is the right-hand point of the rubber band. By the
Intermediate Value Theorem, d(x) 0 for some point in between. That is, f(x) x for some point x, which is
then in its original position.
65. If f(0) 0 or f(1) 1, we are done (i.e., c 0 or c 1 in those cases). Then let f(0) a  0 and f(1) b  1
because 0 f(x) 1. Define g(x) f(x)
x g is continuous on [0 1]. Moreover, g(0) f(0)
0 a  0 and
g(1) f(1)
1 b
1  0 by the Intermediate Value Theorem there is a number c in (! ") such that
g(c) 0 f(c)
c 0 or f(c) c.
66. Let %

kf(c)k
#

 0. Since f is continuous at x c there is a $  0 such that kx
ck  $ kf(x)
f(c)k  %

f(c)
%  f(x)  f(c)  %.

If f(c)  0, then % "# f(c)
"
#

"
#

If f(c)  0, then %
f(c)

f(c)  f(x) 
3
#

3
#

f(c)  f(x) 

f(c) f(x)  0 on the interval (c
$ c  $ ).

"
#

f(c) f(x)  0 on the interval (c
$ c  $ ).

67. By Exercises 52 in Section 2.3, we have xlim

faxb L lim fac  hb L.
c
h0

Thus, faxb is continuous at x c xlim

faxb facb lim fac  hb facb.
c
h0

68. By Exercise 67, it suffices to show that lim sinac  hb sin c and lim cosac  hb cos c.
h0

h0

Now lim sinac  hb lim
asin cbacos hb  acos cbasin hb asin cb lim cos h  acos cb lim sin h
h0

h0

h0

h0

By Example 11 Section 2.2, lim cos h " and lim sin h !. So lim sinac  hb sin c and thus faxb sin x is
h0

continuous at x c. Similarly,

h0

h0

lim cosac  hb lim
acos cbacos hb
asin cbasin hb acos cb lim cos h
asin cb lim sin h cos c.

h0

h0

Thus, gaxb cos x is continuous at x c.

h0

69. x 1.8794,
1.5321,
0.3473

70. x 1.4516,
0.8547, 0.4030

71. x 1.7549

72. x 1.5596

73. x 3.5156

74. x
3.9058, 3.8392, 0.0667

75. x 0.7391

76. x
1.8955, 0, 1.8955

h0

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Section 2.6 Limits Involving Infinity; Asymptotes of Graphs

2.6 LIMITS INVOLVING INFINITY; ASMYPTOTES OF GRAPHS
1. (a)
(c)
(e)
(g)

lim f(x) 0

(b)

x2

lim

x
3 c

f(x) 2

lim

x
3 b

f(x)
2

(d) lim f(x) does not exist

x3

lim b f(x)
1

(f)

lim f(x) does not exist

(h) x lim
f(x) 1
_

x0
x0

lim f(x)  _

x 0c

(i) x
lim
f(x) 0

_
2. (a)
(c)

lim f(x) 2

(b)

lim f(x) 1

(d) lim f(x) does not exist

x4

x 2c

x2

lim f(x)  _
x
3 b
(g) lim f(x)  _
(e)

x
3

(i)

lim f(x)
3

x 2b

lim f(x)
_

(f)

x
3 c

lim

(h)

x 0b

(k) x lim
f(x) 0
_

lim f(x)  _

lim f(x) does not exist

(j)

x 0c

x0

(l) x
lim
f(x)
1

_

Note: In these exercises we use the result

"

lim
mn
x _ x

Theorem 8 and the power rule in Theorem 1:

lim

x _

0 whenever

xm"n

lim

(b)
3

4. (a) 1

(b) 1

5. (a)

"
#

(b)

"
#

6. (a)

"
8

(b)

"
8

7. (a)
53

(b)

10.
3")
11.

lim

t_

12. r
lim_

 0. This result follows immediately from

x" mn

"

lim

x _ x

mn

(b)
53

3
4

9.
"x

m
n

x _

3. (a)
3

8. (a)

f(x)  _

sin 2x
x

"
x

cos )
3)

"
3)

2
t  sin t
t  cos t

x lim
_

13. (a) x lim

_

2x  3
5x  7

lim

)
_

lim

2
t

t_

r  sin r
2r  7
5 sin r

sin 2x
x

r
lim_

x lim
_

0 by the Sandwich Theorem

cos )
3)

0 by the Sandwich Theorem

1  sint t
1  cost t

1  sinr r
2  7r
5 sinr r
2  3x
5  7x

3
4

2
5

0
10
10

1

r
lim_

10
20
0

(b)

"
#

2
5

(same process as part (a))

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Addison-Wesley.

0mn 0.

73