Math 180 Worksheets

3 Continuity and Definition of the Derivative

Keywords: continuity, graphing, intermediate value theorem, limit definition of the deriva-
tive, secant lines

1. (a) On the grid below, draw a function f that is not continuous at x = 2, but
lim f (x) = 1.
x→2

(b) On the grid below, draw a function f that is defined everywhere and whose limit
lim f (x) is undefined.
x→2

(c) Are the functions you drew above continuous at x = 2

i. from the left?

ii. from the right?

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2. On the grid below, draw the function


5
 if x < 0,
f (x) = sin(πx) if 0 6 x 6 1,

x−1 if x > 1.


On what intervals is f (x) continuous? Explain your reasoning!

x2 − 4
3. Let f (x) = .
x+2
(a) Evaluate lim f (x)
x→−2

(b) Determine whether or not f (x) is continuous at a = −2. If not, explain why.

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4. Recall the intermediate value theorem (IVT).

(a) What are the conditions of the IVT?

(b) What is the conclusion of the IVT?

(c) Use the IVT to determine if x3 + 2x + 1 has a root on the interval (−1, 0).

5. (a) Write down the limit definition of the derivative of a function f .

(b) Using the definition you gave above, compute f 0 (x) for f (x) = x2 + 1.

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6. Consider the function f (x) = x2 .

(a) Use the limit definition to compute f 0 (x).

(b) Use your answer from above to evaluate f 0 (−2).

(c) Complete the following table of difference quotients.

h 1.5 1 0.5 0.1

f (−2 + h) − f (−2) −2 ' −0.66 ' −0.52
h
Do the quotients get closer to f 0 (−2) as h gets smaller?

(d) For h = 1 in the table above, draw a line through (−2, f (−2)) and (−2+h, f (−2+
h)) on the figure below. Then try to sketch the tangent line to the function at
the point x = −2.

−4 −3.5 −3 −2.5 −2 −1.5 −1 −0.5

x
−0.5
−1
−1.5
−2
−2.5
−3
−3.5
−4
−4.5
−5
y

The slopes of these lines should correspond to the values of the difference quotients
in the table.

!! 7. Find the following limit by identifying it with the definition of a derivative:

(1 + h)8 + (1 + h)3 − 2
lim
h→0 h