Continuity of Functions: For a function to be continuous at a point, the function must: Exist at the point Any small change

ge in x produces a small change in the function

A function is said to be continuous over a range of values if it is continuous for all points in the range. We will consider several examples. Continuous functions are predictable. Example 1: f ( x) = 3x 2 is continuous for all x. For example, consider the value x = 2 and the following table for values for x and f(x).
x f(x) Change in x Change in f(x) 2 12 2.1 13.23 0.1 1.23 2.01 2.001 12.1203 12.012 0.01 0.001 0.1203 0.012003

We note that small changes in f(x) are made smaller by smaller changes in x. This shows that the function is continuous at x = 2. We could produce similar tables for all values of x which indicates that the function in continuous for all values of x. The graph of the function is given below.

Now consider the function f ( x) = x 2

Remember: A function will be defined as long as it does not break one of the never rules. In mathematics there are two NEVER RULES: Never divide by zero Never take the square root of a negative value

Continuity: We say that a function f (x) is continuous at a point x = a if the following two conditions are satisfied. 1. The function must be defined at x = a . This means it can not break a NEVER RULE at x = a. . 2.
x >a +

The limit as x a from the positive side MUST EQUAL the limit as x a from the negative side MUST EQUAL f (a).

lim f (x) = lim f (x) = f (a) . This is read as follows: x >a

We also define a function to be continuous in an interval if it is continuous at all points in the interval. A graph is said to be continuous if there are no breaks, no jumps and no gap in it. We can say a function is continuous if we could draw the graph of the function without lifting the pencil from the paper.

Example: Determine where the following functions are not defined. y = x 12 This function will be continuous as long as we do not try to take the square root of a negative value. That is as long as x 12
y= x
2

x + 3x + 2 x 2 + 3x + 2 0; ( x + 2)( x + 1) 0; x 2; x 1

In this function we can NOT divide by zero. So

The function is defined x; x 2; x 1 For _ All