Proving the Continuity of a Function

A function f (x) can be shown to be continuous by using the following definition for the
continuity of a function at a point x0 .
A function f : R 7 R is continuous at x0 R if
 > 0 > 0 such that |x x0 | < |f (x) f (x0 )| < 
The idea behind this definition is that if I were to provide you with any  > 0 then you
can find me a > 0 such that keeping the distance between x and x0 less than gives that
the distance between f (x) and f (x0 ) will be less than . This can be shown by re-writing the
definition in the following form:
A function f : R 7 R is continuous at x0 R if
 > 0 > 0 such that x < x0 < x + f (x)  < f (x0 ) < f (x) + 
This provides the following graphical representation:

Figure 1: Epsilon-delta example.

The definition ensures continuity of the function by ensuring that no matter what value
is chosen for , there will always be a value of that satisfies the equation, showing that as
limxx0 f (x) = f (x0 ).
1

In order to find a value for > 0 that ensures that |f (x) f (x0 )| < , we want to set a value
for in terms of , ie: = ().
We do this by beginning with the statement of the definition we are trying to prove if we had
a value for delta. That is, can we find the following:
|f (x) f (x0 )| < ()
We aim to write |f (x) f (x0 )| in terms of .
For example: Show that the function f (x) = x2 2 is continuous at x = x0 .
We begin with writing out the definition of continuity on a piece of scrap paper: f (x) = x2 2
is continuous at x = x0 if the following holds true:
 > 0 > 0 such that |x x0 | < |(x2 2) (x20 2)| < 
We then continue on the scrap piece of paper by writing |(x2 2) (x20 2)| in terms of
|x x0 |:
|(x2 2) (x20 2)| = |x2 x20 |
= |(x x0 )2 2x20 + 2xx0 |
= |(x x0 )2 + 2x0 (x x0 )|
|(x x0 )2 | + |2x0 (x x0 )| by the triangle inequality
= |x x0 |2 + 2|x0 ||x x0 |
< 2 + 2|x0 | as |x x0 | <
= ( + 2|x0 |)

(0.1)

There is a trick you can use to tackle this problem. Consider the cases of < 1 and 1
separately. This is because 2 is present and for < 1, 2 < . We will change these cases to in
terms of  after we have determined a value for ().
Let < 1. Then 2 < .
|x2 x20 | < (1 + 2|x0 |)
(0.2)
We would like (0.2) to read as |x2 x20 | < . In order to achieve this, on our scrap piece of paper

we write: (1 + 2|x0 |) = . We then rearrange the equation to achieve = 1+2|x
. This value of
0|
will achieve the result required in the definition for < 1. This is equivalent to  < 1 + 2|x0 |.
Since we have now determined that when < 1,  < 1 + 2|x0 |, we should now consider the
cases for  < 1 + 2|x0 | and  1 + 2|x0 | instead as we are aiming to determine the value of we
should use for a given value of  in the definition.
(0.1) gives that when = 1 then ( + 2|x0 |) = 1 + 2|x0 |  for all  1 + 2|x0 |. This means
that for  1 + 2|x0 |, = 1 will satisfy the definition.
This means that if you provide me with any value of epsilon then should be chosen as
follows:


1+2|x0 | for  < 1 + 2|x0 |
=
1
for  1 + 2|x0 |



= min
,1
1 + 2|x0 |
2


This is becasue as  1 + 2|x0 |, 1+2|x
1.
0|
This means that your answer to proving the continuity of f (x) = x2 2 should look like the
following off your scrap piece of paper:
The function f (x) = x2 2 is continuous at x = x0 if:

 > 0, let = min{ 1+2|x
, 1}.
0|
Then for |x x0 | < :

|(x2 2) (x20 2)| = |x2 x20 |

= |(x x0 )2 + 2x0 (x x0 )|
|(x x0 )2 | + |2x0 (x x0 )| by the triangle inequality
= |x x0 |2 + 2|x0 ||x x0 |
< 2 + 2|x0 | as |x x0 | <
= ( + 2|x0 |)

, since this is the minimum of
When = 1+2|x
0|
2
means that < , which in turn means that:


1+2|x0 |

and 1, this means that < 1. This then

( + 2|x0 |) < (1 + 2|x0 |)

< 

When = 1, ( + 2|x0 |) = 1 + 2|x0 |. Since = 1, 1+2|x
> 1 as this is the minimum of the two
0|
values of , which means that  > 1 + 2|x0 |. This then means that for = 1, ( + 2|x0 |) < .
This then implies that

|(x2 2) (x20 2)| < ( + 2|x0 |)

< 
This means that f (x) = x2 2 is a continuous function for all values of x0 .

Other Useful Tricks

As we have seen with polynomials, the trick of considering < 1 and 1 separately is very
useful. The best way to approach these problems is to find a way to replace all xs with x x0 s
and then replace these with s. Then we find a way to rearrange the resultant equation for in

terms of  as was done to create = 1+2|x
in the previous example. The next step is to identify
0|
where this no longer holds and try to find a way around the problem with a different value for
. For example, when involves log(), an alternate value for may need to be found as well as
log is only defined for values greater than 0.

Questions To Try
Try proving the continuity of the following equations:
3

1. x3 + 2x2 7x + 6
2. Prove by induction that all polynomials are continuous. (Good for practicing proof by
induction)
3. exp(x) (Useful for practicing how to deal with functions other than polynomials)
The answers to these questions will be posted in a separate document.

If you have any corrections or any ideas for things I could add to make this document better,
then please email me: sej20@bath.ac.uk