FIRST CYCLE SECONDARY SCHOOL MATHEMATICS TUTORIAL EXERCISES
1 Continuity
Definition 1:(Continuity at a point) A function f , is continuous at a point c if the following conditions
are satisfied;
1. f (c) is defined
2. limx→c f (x) exists
3. limx→c f (x) = f (c)
Definition 2: (Continuity on an open interval ) A function f is continuous on an open interval (a, b),
if it is continuous at each point in the interval. If the interval is (−∞, ∞) then f is everywhere
continuous.
Note: If one of the conditions above is not satisfied, then we say that f is discontinuous at the
point c.
Exercise 1: Show that the functions are continuous at the indicated points
1. f (x) = 2x2 − 4x + 2, x = −2
sin θ π
2. f (θ) = cos 2θ , θ= 2
3x
3. f (x) = 4x2 −1
,
x=1
4. f (z) = log x21+1 , x = 0
x+2
5. f (x) = e x−3 , x=2
1.1 Discontinuity
A function f is discontinuous at a point c, if it is not continuous at c. Discontinuity falls into two
categories: removable and nonremovable discontinuity.
Removable Discontinuity: A function f is said to have a removable discontinuity at the point c if
the following conditions are true;
1. limx→c− f (x) = limx→c+ f (x)
2. limx→c f (x) ̸= f (c)
Note: In this case f (c) might be defined as well as it might not be defined.
Non-removable Discontinuity: A function f is said to have a nonremovable discontinuity at c, if
one of the following conditional cases is true.
Case 1: In this case, f (c) might be defined as well as undefined.
1. limx→c− f (x) and limx→c+ f (x) both exist.
2. limx→c− f (x) ̸= limx→c+
Case 2: In this case, f (c) is undefined. (this kind of point is called singular point)
1. limx→c f (x) does not exits
Exercise 2: Describe the discontinuities of the functions at the indicated points.
x2 −1
1. g(x) = x+1 , x = −1
2. h(x) = x1 , x=0
π
3. t(x) = tan x, x= 2
|x−2|
4. f (x) = x−2 ,
x=2
(
1 x<3
5. f (x) = , x=3
2 x≥3
(
x2 , x ≤ 4
6. f (x) √ , x=4
x x>4
Note: A removable discontinuous function can be redefined at its point of discontinuity to make it
continuous, while for nonremovable its not possible.
Note: A function is continuous on a closed interval [a, b], if it’s continuous on the on open interval
(a, b) and the following are true
1. limx→a+ f (x) = f (a)
2. limx→b− f (x) = f (b)
1.1.1 Properties of Continuity
If b ∈ R and f, g are continuous functions at x = c, the following functions are also continuous at c.
1. Scalar multiple : bf
2. Product: f g
3. Sum and Difference: f ± g
f
4. Quotient: g if g(c) ̸= 0
Note: The following types of functions are continuous at every point in their domains
1. Polynomial functions, Rational functions, Radical functions
2. Exponential functions, logarithmic functions
3. Trigonometric functions
1.1.2 The intermediate Value Theorem (IVT)
It states: If f is continuous on the closed interval [a, b] and y0 is any number between f (a) and f (b),
there’s atleast one number x0 such that f (x0 ) = y0 .
Exercise: (IVT)
1. Show that the polynomial f (x) = x2 + 2x − 1 has a root in the interval [0, 1].
2. Apply the IVT in the given interval and find x0
(a) f (x) = x2 + x − 1, [0, 5], f (x0 ) = 11
x2 +x
(b) f (x) = x−1 , [ 52 , 4], f (x0 ) = 6
Exercises:
1. Find the constants a and b so that the function is continuous on the entire real line.
(
x3 , x≤2
(a) f (x) = 2
ax , x > 2
2,
x ≤ −1
(b) f (x) = ax + b, −1 < x < 3
−2, x≥3
(
4 sin x
(c) f (x) = x ,x<0
a − 2x, x ≥ 0
2. Find the x-values (if any) at which f is not continuous. Which of the discontinuities are remov-
able? Redefine the functions with removable discontinuity to make them continuous.
1
(a) f (x) = x−1
x
(b) f (x) = 1+x2
x−3
(c) f (x) = x2 −9
(d) f (x) = x2 − 2x + 1
|x+2|
(e) f (x) = x+2
(f) f (x) = tan( πx
2 )
(g) f (x) = csc(2x)
(
x+2
2 , x≤2
(h) f (x) =
3 − x, x>2
(i) f (x) = ⌊x⌋ = {greatest integer n ∈ Z : n ≤ x}
1, x<0
x, 0 < x1
3. Let f (x) =
2 − x, 1 < x3
x − 4, x > 3
(a) Is it possible to define f at x = 0 in such a way that f becomes conts at x = 0? If so, then
we should set f (0) =?
(b) Is it possible to define f at x = 1 such that f becomes continuous at x = 1? If so, then we
should set f (1) =?
(c) Is it possible to define f at x = 3 so that f becomes conts at x = 3? If so then we should
set f (3) =?
1.2 Differentiability