Chapter 1
Real-Valued Functions of a Real
Variable
In this chapter we shall study limit, continuity and differentiability of real
valued functions defined on certain sets.
Genaral information on functions
Definition 1. We call real function of a real variable x on the set E any
application of E in the set R (ie if every element of E is associated with a
single element of R), and we note :
f: E −→ R
x −→ y = f (x)
– E = D(f ) is called the domain of definition of f
– f (E) = im(f ) = {y ∈ R : ∃x ∈ E, y = f (x)} is the set of values of this
function, called the image set of f .
Graph of a function
The graph Γ(f ) of a function f defined from E in R (E part of R), is the set
of points of the plane :
Γ(f ) = {(x, f (x)) ∈ R2 : x ∈ E} ⊆ R2 .
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Even, odd and periodic functions
A function f , defined on an interval I symmetrical, (that is to say ∀x ∈
I, −x ∈ I), is said to be
– Even if and only if ∀x ∈ I, f (−x) = f (x)
– Odd if and only if ∀x ∈ I, f (−x) = −f (x).
Geometrically, if f is even, then its graph is symmetrical with respect to axis
Oy and if f is odd, then it is symmetrical with respect to the origin of the
axis.
– A function f is called periodic if there exists T > 0 such that
∀x ∈ R : f (x + T ) = f (x).
If T is a period of f , then kf is also a period for f .
Example.
1. The application of R in R defined by f (x) = x − [x], where [x] denotes
the integer part of x, is periodic with period 1.
2. The application sin, and cos are periodic with period 2π on R.
Bounded functions and monotonic functions
Definition. Let f : E −→ R, we say that :
– f is bounded above on E, if ∀x ∈ E, ∃M ∈ R : f (x) ≤ M
– f is bounded below on E, if ∀x ∈ E, ∃m ∈ R : m ≤ f (x)
– f is bounded on E, ∀x ∈ E, ∃m, M ∈ R : m ≤ f (x) ≤ M ⇐⇒ ∀x ∈
E, ∃C > 0 : |f (x)| ≤ C.
Example.
1. f (x) = cos x is bounded on R, −1 and +1 are the sup and inf of
function f on E.
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2. f (x) = e− x is bounded on ]0, +∞[, f (]0, +∞[) =]0, 1[, supx∈]0,+∞[ f (x) =
1, and inf x∈]0,+∞[ f (x) = 0.
Definition. A function f defined on a part E of R is said to be monotonically
increasing ([Link]) in E, if
∀x1 , x2 ∈ E : x1 ≤ x2 =⇒ f (x1 ) ≤ f (x2 ) (resp. f (x1 ) ≥ f (x2 )
If the equalities are strict we have strict increasing and decreasing.
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Elementary function
In mathematics, an "elementary function" is a function of a single va-
riable composed of particular simple functions.
Basic examples : The elementary functions of (x) of mathematics comprise :
– Polynomial functions : x 7−→ a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + ... + an xn , ai ∈ R, i =
0, ..., n
– Trigonometric functions : x 7−→ sin x, cos x, tan x, cot x
– Exponential functions : x 7−→ exp x
– Logarithms : x 7−→ ln x
– Inverse trigonometric functions : x 7−→ arcsin x, arccos x, arctan x, ...
– Hyperbolic functions :
exp(x) + exp(−x) exp(x) − exp(−x)
x 7−→ cosh x = , x 7−→ sinh x =
2 2