Limits and Continuity Paper

LIMITS AND CONTINUITY
OLIVIA YANCEY
1. Limits
Definition 1.1 (Intuitive Meaning of Limit). To say that the limit
limxc f (x) = L means that when x is near but different than c, then
f (x) is near L.
Definition 1.2 (Rigorous Definition of Limit). To say that limxc f (x) =
L means that for all > 0 there is a corresponding > 0 such that
|f (x) L| < , provided that 0 < |x c| < .
Example 1.3. Prove that limx4 (3x 7) = 5.
Proof. Let > 0. Choose = 3 . Then 0 < |x 4| < implies that
|x 4|
3|x 4|
|3(x 4)|
|3x 12|
|(3x 7) 5|
<
<
<
<
<

3

.
1.1. Properties of Limits. Suppose that c is a constant, limxa f (x)

and limxa g(x) exists. Then,
(1) limxa [f (x) g(x)] = limxa f (x) limxa g(x)
(2) limxa [cf (x)] = c limxa f (x)
(3) limxa [f (x)g(x)] = limxa f (x) limxa g(x)
(x)
xa f (x)
(4) limxa [ fg(x)
] = lim
, limxa g(x) 6= 0
limxa g(x)
n
(5) limxa [f (x)] = [limxa f (x)]n , n > 0
(6) limxa c = c
(7) limxa x = a
n
(8) limxa xp
= an , with
p n being a positive integer.
(9) limxa n f (x) = n limxa f (x), with limxa f (x) 0 if n is
even.
Date: September 17, 2015.
1
OLIVIA YANCEY
1.2. Limits at Infinity. If f (x) gets as close to a number L as we

please when x gets sufficiently large, then we write
lim f (x) = L.
Similarly, if f (x) approaches L when x is negative and has a sufficiently

large absolute value then we write
lim f (x) = L.
2. Continuity
Definition 2.1 (Intuitive Definition of Continuity). The function f is
continuous at x = c if f is defined at x = c and if
lim f (x) = f (c).
xc
In other words, f (x) is as close as we want to f (c) provided x is close

enough to c. the function is continuous on an interval [a, b] if it is
continuous at every point in the interval.
Definition 2.2 (Rigorous Definition of Continuity). A function f :
A IR is continuous at a point c A if, for all > 0, there exists
a > 0 such that whenever |x c| < (and x A) it follows that
|f (x) f (c)| < .
If f is continuous at every point in the domain A, then we say that
f is continuous on A.
Theorem 2.1 (Continuity of Sums, Products, and Quotients of Functions). Suppose that f and g are continuous on an interval and that b
is a constant. Then, on that same interval,
(1) bf (x) is continuous.
(2) f (x) + g(x) is continuous.
(3) f (x)g(x) is continuous.
(x)
(4) fg(x)
is continuous, provided g(x) 6= 0 on the interval.
Proof. For the following four parts, let b be a constant and assume f
and g are continuous on a domain with c being an arbitrary element of
the domain. Also, to avoid since f and g are continuous we know that
limxc f (x) = f (c) and also limxc g(x) = g(c).
To prove (1) we need to show that limxc (bf (x)) = bf (c). Since f (x)
is continuous and by the second property of limits,
lim(bf (x)) = b lim f (x) = bf (c).
xc
xc
LIMITS AND CONTINUITY
And we have bf (x) being continuous.

Now to prove (2) we need to show that limxc (f (x) + g(x)) = f (c) +
g(c). Since both f and g are continuous and by applying the first limit
property, we have
lim(f (x) + g(x)) = lim f (x) + lim g(x) = f (c) + g(c).
xc
xc
xc
Thus f (x) + g(x) is continuos.

To show (3) we must achieve limxc (f (x)g(x)) = f (c)g(c). Since f and
g are continuous and by the third limit property,
lim(f (x)g(x)) = lim f (x) lim g(x) = f (c)g(c).
xc
xc
xc
Therefore, f (x)g(x) is continuous.

(x)
(c)
Finally, to prove (4) we need to show that limxc fg(x)
= fg(c)
provided
that g(x) 6= 0 on the interval. Since f and g are continuous and by the
forth limit property we have,
f (x)
limxc f (x)
f (c)
=
=
.
xc g(x)
limxc g(x)
g(c)
lim
Hence
f (x)
g(x)
is continuous provided that g(x) 6= 0 on the interval.
Theorem 2.2 (Intermediate Value Theorem). Suppose f is continuous

on a closed interval [a, b]. If k is any number between f (a) and f (b),
then there is at least one number c in [a, b] such that f (c) = k.
The usefulness of the Intermediate Value Theorem comes when we
are trying to prove the existence of a root of a function. If we have
one end point being negative and the other being positive, then by the
Intermediate Value Theorem, the function must cross the x axis.
Example 2.3. Use the Intermediate Value Theorem to show that the
equation x cos x = 0 has a solution between x = 0 and x = 2 .
Solution: Let f (x) = x cos x and W = 0. We will begin by solving
for the endpoints. We see that
f (0) = 0 cos 0 = 1.
Also,
f ( ) = cos = .
2
2
2
2
Since f is continuous on [0, 2 ] and W = 0 is between f (0) and f ( 2 ),

the Intermediate Value Theorem implies the existence of a c in the
interval (0, 2 ) with the property that f (c) = 0. Such a c is a solution
to the equation x cos x = 0.
OLIVIA YANCEY
2.1. Relationship Between Differentiability and Continuity.

Theorem 2.3. If f (x) is differentiable at a point x = a, then f (x) is
continuous at x = a
3. LHopitals Rule
If f and g are differentiable, f (a) = g(a) = 0, and g 0 (a) 6= 0, then
f (x)
f 0 (a)
lim
= 0 .
xa g(x)
g (a)
Example 3.1. Use lHopitals rule to confirm that limx0
Solution: Both limits have the
0
0
sin(x)
x
=1
form, so by lHopitals Rule,
cos x
sin x
= lim
= 1.
x0
x0 x
1
lim
LHopitals rule applies to limits involving infinity, provided f and g

are differentiable. For any real number a or :
When limxa f (x) = and limxa g(x) =
or
When limx f (x) = limx g(x) = 0.
It can be shown that:
f (x)
f 0 (x)
lim
= lim 0
,
xa g(x)
xa g (x)
provided the limit on the right-hand exists.
Example 3.2. Calculate limx
x
ex
Solution: Both x and ex tend to as x . So by lHopitals Rule

x
1
= lim x = 0.
lim
x e
x ex

Limits and Continuity Paper

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Limits and Continuity Paper

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Limits and Continuity Paper

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

LIMITS AND CONTINUITY

1.1. Properties of Limits. Suppose that c is a constant, limxa f (x)

1.2. Limits at Infinity. If f (x) gets as close to a number L as we

Similarly, if f (x) approaches L when x is negative and has a sufficiently

In other words, f (x) is as close as we want to f (c) provided x is close

LIMITS AND CONTINUITY

And we have bf (x) being continuous.

Thus f (x) + g(x) is continuos.

Therefore, f (x)g(x) is continuous.

is continuous provided that g(x) 6= 0 on the interval.

Theorem 2.2 (Intermediate Value Theorem). Suppose f is continuous

Since f is continuous on [0, 2 ] and W = 0 is between f (0) and f ( 2 ),

2.1. Relationship Between Differentiability and Continuity.

form, so by lHopitals Rule,

LHopitals rule applies to limits involving infinity, provided f and g

Solution: Both x and ex tend to as x . So by lHopitals Rule

You might also like