Mid Term-2 : Practice problems

1. Let f : R → R be defined by (
1 − x, x ∈ Q
f (x) =
0, x ∈ R \ Q.
Find all the points (if there are any) at which f is continuous. Justify your answer.

Solution: If p 6= 1 is a rational number, then f (p) 6= 0. But since irrationals are dense,
there is a sequence xn → p such that f (xn ) = 0. So f is not continuous at p. On the other
hand if p is an irrational number, then f (p) = 0. Again by denseness, there is a sequence
of rationals xn → p. But then

lim f (xn ) = lim 1 − xn = 1 − p 6= 0 = f (p)

n→∞ n→∞

since p is irrational and as such cannot equal one. This shows that f is dis-continuous at
all irrationals. We finally claim that f is continuous at p = 1. Note that f (1) = 0. To
prove continuity, given ε > 0 we let δ = ε. If |x − 1| < δ, and x is rational, then

|f (x) − f (1)| = |1 − x| < δ = ε.

On the other hand, for any irrational number x, |f (x) − f (1)| = 0 < ε. So for any real
number x such that |x − 1| < δ, we see that |f (x) − f (1)| < ε.

2. Suppose f : R → R satisfies
|f (x) − f (y)| < (x − y)2 .
Show that f is a constant. Hint. Is f differentiable?

Solution: The problem follows from the following claim.

Claim. f is differentiable on R, and moreover f 0 (x) = 0 for all x.
Proof. Given ε > 0, choose δ = ε. If |h| < δ, then using the above inequality for y = x + h,
we see that
f (x + h) − f (x) |h|2
−0 ≤ = |h| < δ = ε.
h h
This shows that
f (x + h) − f (x)
f 0 (x) = lim = 0,
h→0 h
and hence f must be a constant.

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3. Evaluate the following limits
√
1. limx→0+ x x.

√
x, √
Solution: Let y = x then ln y = x ln x. But
√ ln x 1/x √
lim x ln x = lim = −2 lim = −2 lim x = 0.
x→0+ x→0+ x−1/2 x→0+ x−3/2 →0+

Here we used L’hospitals rule for the second equality. So we see that ln y → 0 as
x → 0+ , which implies that y → 1, and so the limit that we seek is 1.

x2 +x
2. limx→0− |x| .

Solution:
x2 + x h2 + h
lim = lim = − lim (h + 1) = −1.
x→0− |x| h→0+ −h h→0+

4. Let f ∈ C 1 [0, 1] such that f (0) = f (1) = 0. Show that there exists t0 ∈ [0, 1] such that

f (t0 ) + f 0 (t0 ) = 0.

Hint. Apply mean value theorem to h(x) = f (x)ex .

Solution: If h(x) = f (x)ex , then h(0 = h(1) = 0. By the mean value theorem, there exists
t0 ∈ [0, 1] such that
h0 (t0 ) = f 0 (t0 )et0 + f (t0 )et0 = 0.
Since et0 6= 0, this shows that
f 0 (t0 ) + f (t0 ) = 0.

5. Let f : R → R be uniformly continuous. Show that there exists A, B ∈ (0, ∞) such that

|f (x)| < A|x| + B

for all x ∈ R. Hint. Try to mimic the proof of Problem 3 on Assignment 6.

Solution: For easier notation, let us first consider the function g(x) = f (x) − f (0). Then
g(0) = 0 and g is also uniformly continuous. By uniform continuity, there exists δ > 0 such
that
|y − x| < 2δ =⇒ |g(y) − g(x)| < 1.

Claim. For any real numbers a and b and non negative n such that |b − a| = nδ, we have

|f (b) − f (a)| ≤ n.

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 Proof. Without loss of generality, we can assume a < b and so b = a + nδ. for some
positive integer n. If n = 0, there is nothing to prove, so we can assume n > 0. Then

|f (b) − f (a)| ≤ |f (b) − f (b − δ)| + |f (b − δ) − f (b − 2δ)| + · · · + |f (b − (n − 1)δ) − f (a)|

n−1
X
= |f (b − kδ) − f (b − (k − 1)δ)|
k=0
≤ n.

To see the inequality in the third line, apply the above consequence of uniform continuity
to x = b − kδ, y = b − (k − 1)δ (so that |x − y| = δ < 2δ).
Continuing with the problem, let x be an real number. Then there is an integer m (positive
or negative) such that mδ ≤ x < (m + 1)δ. In particular, since |x − mδ| =< δ,

|f (x) − f (mδ)| < 1.

On the other hand applying the claim to a = 0, b = mδ and n = |m|.

|f (mδ) − f (0)| < |m|.

So by triangle inequality, we obtain

|f (x) − f (0)| < 1 + |m|.

On the other hand, since mδ ≤ x < (m + 1)δ, it is easy to see that |m| < δ −1 |x| + 1. Using
this and triangle inequality, we see that

|f (x)| ≤ |f (x) − f (0)| + |f (0)|

≤ 1 + |f (0)| + |m|
|x|
≤ 2 + |f (0)| +
δ
≤ A|f (x)| + B,

with B = 2 + |f (0)| and A = δ −1 .

6. (a) If f : [−1, 1] → R is continuous at t = 0, show that

Z h
1
lim f (t) dt = f (0).
h→0 2h −h

Solution: Let Z x
F (x) = f (t) dt.
0
Since f is continuous, by the fundamental theorem of calculus, F is differentiable and

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 F 0 (x) = f (x). Then
h
F (h) − F (−h)
Z
1
lim f (t) dt = lim
h→0 2h −h h→0 2h
1 h F (h) − F (0) F (−h) − F (0) i
= lim + lim
2 h→0 h h→0 −h
F 0 (0) + F 0 (0)
= = F 0 (0) = f (0).
2

(b) Suppose instead that f does not have a discontinuity of the second kind at t = 0, show
that
1 h
Z
lim f (t) dt = f (0+).
h→0+ h 0

Solution: f is continuous, or f has a discontinuity of the first kind. In particular

f (0+) exists. Let ε > 0. Then there exists a δ > 0 such that

t ∈ (0, δ) =⇒ |f (t) − f (0+)| < ε.

Next, note that

Z h
1
dt = 1,
h 0
and so Z h Z h
1 1
f (t) dt − f (0+) = [f (t) − f (0+)] dt.
h 0 h 0
Then if h ∈ (0, δ),
h
1 h
Z Z
1
f (t) dt − f (0+) ≤ |f (t) − f (0+)| dt
h 0 h 0
1 h
Z
< ε dt = ε.
h 0

7. Define a sequence of functions fn : [0, 2] → R by

√
t2 + n
fn (t) = √ .
t+n
u.c
(a) Show that fn −−→ f for some function f : [0, 2] → R.

Solution: Clearly fn → f pointwise on [0, 2], where f (t) = 1 for all t ∈ [0, 2].
u.c
Claim. fn −−→ f .

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 Proof.
√
t2 + n
fn (t) − f (t) = √ −1
t+n
√ √
| t2 + n − t + n|
= √
t+n
|t2 − t|
= √ √ √ (rationalizing)
( t + n)( t2 + n + t + n)
|t2 | + |t|
≤ (since t, t2 ≥ 0)
2n
7
≤ (since t ≤ 2, t2 ≤ 4)
n
So if Mn = supt∈[0,2] |fn (t) − f (t)|, then

7 n→∞
Mn ≤ −−−→ 0,
n
u.c
and so fn −−→ f uniformly.

(b) Calculate
Z 2
lim fn (t) dt,
n→∞ 0

and justify your answer.

Solution: By the theorem on uniform convergence and integration,

Z 2 Z 2
lim fn (t) dt = f (t) dt = 2.
n→∞ 0 0

8. A function f : (a, b) → R (where −∞ ≤ a < b ≤ ∞) is called a Lipschitz function with constant

M , if
|f (t) − f (s)| ≤ M |t − s|
for all s, t ∈ (a, b).
(a) Show that if f as above is Lipschitz, then it is uniformly continuous.

Solution: Given ε > 0, let δ = ε/M in the definition of uniform continuity.

(b) If f : (a, b) → R (where again −∞ ≤ a < b ≤ ∞) is differentiable such that |f 0 (t)| ≤ M ,

then show that f is Lipschitz with constant M .

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Solution: By the mean value theorem, for any s, t ∈ (a, b), there exists a c between s
and t such that f (s) − f (t) = f 0 (c)(s − t). Taking absolute values, since |f 0 (c)| ≤ M ,

|f (s) − f (t)| ≤ M |s − t|.