MATHEMATICS 53 Continuity

I. Find and classify all points of discontinuity of the following functions, and redefine the functions at their
points of removable discontinuity.

|x + 1|(2x + 1)

2
x
 if x < 1 
 if x < 0
x+1

1. f (x) = [[x − 1]] if 1 ≤ x < 2



 4. h(x) = [[x + 1]] if 0 ≤ x < 2
x−2 if x ≥ 2




 4 if x = 2
x2 − 4

 2
x −2 if x > 2

 x + 2 if x < 0
 

2. h(x) = [[x]]

 if 0 ≤ x < 1 

 2x + 9 if x ≤ −3

x2 − 1 if x ≥ 1
  2
−x − 4x if − 3 < x < 0

 5. g(x) = [[cos x]] if 0 < x ≤ π
x2 + 4x + 3 
if x < −1

1

 

x+3

if x > π
 
3. h(x) = [[x]]

 if − 1 ≤ x < 1 x−π

|x − 2|

if x ≥ 1

x + 2a
 if x < −2
II. A. Find the value of the constants a and b such that the function f (x) = 3ax + b if − 2 ≤ x ≤ 1

3x − b if x > 1

is continuous everywhere.
(
x + 1 if x ≤ m
B. Determine all values of m such that g(x) = is continuous everywhere.
x2 if x > m

III. If f and g are functions that are continuous at 3 with f (3) = 5 and lim [2f (x) − g(x)] = 4, find g(3).
x→3

IV. Prove the following statements using the Intermediate Value Theorem.

1. The equation x5 + 4x3 + 14 = 7x has at least one real root.

2. The graph of the function f (x) = x3 − 4x2 + x + 3 intersects the x-axis at least once between 1 and
2.

V. A. 1. Show that if lim f (x) = L, then lim |f (x)| = |L|.

x→a x→a
2. Give an example of a function f that is discontinuous at x = a but the function |f | is continuous
at x = a.
B. 1. Let f and g be discontinuous at a. Give an example to show that f + g can be continuous at
a.
2. If f is continuous at a and g is discontinuous at a, can f + g be continuous at a?
C. 1. Are the statements “The function f is continuous on [a, b]” and “The function f is continuous
at every real number in [a, b]” equivalent? Justify.
2. Is there a number that is exactly one more than its cube?

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“Mathematics is not a careful march down a well-cleared highway
but a journey into a strange wilderness, where the explorers often get lost.”

-W.S. Anglin

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