University of Batna 2

Institute of Industrial Hygiene and Safety

Module : Math 1 (L1)

Dr.Bayarassou

Chapter 3 : Real Functions of One Real Variable

Introduction
This chapter is devoted to the functions of a real variable which are often modeled for the study
of curves and mechanical calculations. In this regard, we present the foundations of the functions
of a real variable, where the objective is to know and interpret the notion of the limit, continuity
and derivability of a function, and to present some of their properties.

Contents
Introduction 1

1 Limits 2
1.1 Limit at a Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Operations on Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Evaluating Limits in Indeterminate Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Continuity 7
2.1 Continuity at Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Operations on Continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 Intermediate Value Theorem (IVT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3 Derivability 10
3.1 Derivability at a Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.2 Operations on derivative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3 Rolle’s Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Limit, Continuity & Derivability 1 LIMITS

Real function
The concept of a function is the fundamental concept of calculus and analysis. Real function f of
one real variable is a mapping from the set D ⊆ R, a subset in real numbers R, to the set of all
real numbers R.
f : D → R, x 7−→ f (x)

• D is the domain of the function f , where D = x ∈ R, f (x) makes sense

1 Limits
Limits are used to analyze the local behavior of functions near points of interest. A function f is
said to have a limit ` at x 0 if it is possible to make the function arbitrarily close to ` by choosing
values closer and closer to x 0 . Note that the actual value at x 0 is irrelevant to the value of the
limit.

The notation is as follows:

lim f (x) = `
x→x 0

which is read as "the limit of f (x) as x approaches x 0 is `"

1.1 Limit at a Point

We consider values of a function that approaches a value from either inferior or superior.
• The left-hand limit of a function f as it approaches x 0 is the limit

lim f (x) = `
x→x 0−

Which indicates that the limit is defined in terms of a number less than the given number x 0 .
• The right-hand limit of a function f as it approaches x 0 is the limit

lim f (x) = `
x→x 0+

Which indicates that the limit is defined in terms of a number greater than the given number x 0 .
• lim f (x) = ` if and only if both the left- hand and right-hand limits at x = x 0 exist and share
x→x 0
the same value.
lim f (x) = ` = lim+ f (x).
x→x 0− x→x 0

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Limit, Continuity & Derivability 1 LIMITS

Example : Compute the limit : lim |x|

x→0
• The right-hand limit at x = 0 : lim |x| = lim+ x = 0
x→0+ x→0
• The left-hand limit at x = 0 : lim− |x| = lim− −x = 0
x→0 x→0
So the right-hand and left-hand limits are equal. Then lim |x| = 0
x→0

Infinite Limits

• If a function is defined on either side of x 0 , but the limit as x approaches x 0 is infinity or negative
infinity, then the function has an infinite limit, we write

lim f (x) = ∞
x→x 0

•The graph of the function will have a vertical asymptote at x 0 .

Limits at Infinity

• Limits at infinity are used to describe the behavior of functions as the independent variable
increases or decreases without bound. we write

lim f (x) = `
x→±∞

• The graph of the function will have a horizontal asymptote at y = `.

1.2 Operations on Limits

# Assume that lim f (x) = ` ∈ R, lim g(x) = m ∈ R and c ∈ R. Therefore :

x→x 0 x→x 0

lim f (x) lim g(x) lim ( f + g) (x) lim ( f × g) (x)

x→x 0 x→x 0 x→x 0 x→x 0

` m `+m `×m

 +∞
 Si m > 0
+∞ m +∞ −∞ Si m < 0

Indeterminate Si m = 0


 −∞
 Si m > 0
−∞ m −∞ +∞ Si m < 0

Indeterminate Si m = 0


+∞ +∞ +∞ +∞
−∞ −∞ −∞ +∞
−∞ +∞ Indeterminate −∞

3
Limit, Continuity & Derivability 1 LIMITS

# lim c f (x) = c lim f (x) = c`

x→x 0 x→x 0

f (x) lim x→x 0 f (x) `

# lim = = if m 6= 0
x→x 0 g(x) lim x→x 0 g(x) m

# Limit of Composition : Suppose that lim g(x) = ` and lim f (x) = `0 , then
x→x 0 x→`

lim f (g(x)) = `0
x→x 0

Comparative Growth
Suppose that f and g are two functions such that lim f (x) = +∞, and lim g(x) = +∞. We
x→+∞ x→+∞
say that f grows faster than g as x → +∞ if the following holds:

f (x) g(x)
lim = +∞ or equivalently, lim =0
x→+∞ g(x) x→+∞ f (x)

Results:
• Exponential functions grow faster than every polynomial functions and polynomial functions
grow faster than logarithmic functions. Let n be positive number:
ex xn
1. lim n = ∞ and, lim =0
x→∞ x x→∞ e x

xn ln(x)
2. lim =∞ and, lim =0
x→∞ ln(x) x→∞ xn

Indeterminate Form

An indeterminate form is an expression involving two functions whose limit cannot be determined
solely from the limits of the individual functions.
∞ 0
+∞ − ∞, 0.∞, ,
∞ 0

1.3 Evaluating Limits in Indeterminate Form

We present some methods that allows us to transform an indeterminate form into one that allows
for direct evaluation.
Polynomial function as x → ±∞ with indeterminate form +∞ − ∞
Factor out the highest power of x in the polynomial function.
Example:
Find lim −2x 3 + 4x − 1,
x→+∞
2 1 2 1
We write, lim −2x 3 (1 − 2
+ 3 ). Thus, lim −2x 3 = −∞ and lim (1 − 2 + 3 ) = 1
x→+∞ x 2x x→∞ x→∞ x 2x
Therefore, lim −2x 3 + 4x − 1 = lim −2x 3 = −∞.
x→+∞ x→+∞

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Limit, Continuity & Derivability 1 LIMITS

∞
Rational function as x → ±∞ with indeterminate form
∞
Divide out the highest power of x in both the numerator and denominator.
x2 − 1
Example: lim . Both numerator and denominator approach +∞ as x → +∞. Thus
x→+∞ x + 3

1
x 2 (1 − )
x2 − 1 x2
lim = lim = +∞
x→+∞ x + 3 x→+∞ 3
x(1 + )
x

0

Factoring Method form
0
Factoring method is a technique to finding limits that works by canceling out common factors.
Example:
x2 − 9
Find lim
x→3 x − 3
x2 − 9 0
Using the substitution rule gives lim =
x→3 x − 3 0
find the common divisor which is (x − 3) and divide both the numerator and denominator by it,

x2 − 9 (x − 3)(x + 3)
lim = lim
x→3 x − 3 x→3 x −3
= lim (x + 3)
x→3

=6

0 ∞

L’Hospital’s Rule or form
0 ∞
Suppose f and g are differentiable and g 0 (x) 6= 0 near x 0 (except possibly at x 0 ). Suppose that

f (x) 0 f (x) ±∞
lim = , or lim =
x→x 0 g(x) 0 x→x 0 g(x) ±∞
Then,
f (x) f 0 (x)
lim = lim 0 .
x→x 0 g(x) x→x 0 g (x)
Example:
x +2
Find lim
x→−2 x 2 + 3x + 2
x +2 0
Using the substitution rule gives lim = . Apply L’Hospital’s Rule
x→−2 x2 + 3x + 2 0

x +2 (x + 2)0
lim = lim
x→−2 x 2 + 3x + 2 x→−2 (x 2 + 3x + 2)0
1
= lim
x→−2 2x + 3

= −1.

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Limit, Continuity & Derivability 1 LIMITS

Conjugate multiplication
This method useful for fraction functions that contain square roots. It rationalizes the numerator
or denominator of a fraction, which means getting rid of square roots.
Example : p
x −2
Evaluate lim
x→4 x −4 p
x −2 0
By substitution, we find : lim =
x→4 x − 4 0 p p
Multiply the numerator and denominator by the conjugate of x − 2 which is x + 2 , we obtain
p p p
x −2 ( x − 2)( x + 2)
lim = lim p
x→4 x − 4 x→4 (x − 4)( x + 2)

x −4
= lim p
x→4 (x − 4)( x + 2)

1
= lim p (Cancel the (x − 4))
x→4 x +2
1
=
4

Alternative methods to evaluate limits

Squeeze Theorem
Suppose that g(x) ¶ f (x) ¶ h(x) for all x close to x 0 but not equal to x 0 . If lim g(x) = ` =
x→x 0
lim h(x), then
x→x 0
lim f (x) = `
x→x 0

The quantity x 0 and ` may be a finite number or ±∞.

Results: we represent two important limits :

sin(x) 1 − cos(x)
lim = 0, lim =0
x→+∞ x x→+∞ x

Monotone Limits
Suppose that the limits of f and g both exist as x → x 0 . if f (x) ¶ g(x) when x is near x 0 , then

lim f (x) ¶ lim g(x)

x→x 0 x→x 0

Some Special Limits

sin(x) tan(x) 1 − cos(x) 1

lim = 1, lim = 1, lim =
x→0 x x→0 x x→0 x2 2
ln(x + 1) exp(x) − 1
lim = 1, lim =1
x→0 x x→0 x

6
Limit, Continuity & Derivability 2 CONTINUITY

2 Continuity
Continuous functions are functions that take nearby values at nearby points.

2.1 Continuity at Point

Definition 2.1
• Let I ⊆ R and f : I → R be a function. we say that f is continuous at a point x 0 ∈ I if,

lim f (x) = f (x 0 )
x→x 0

Otherwise, f is said to be discontinous at x 0 .

• We say that f is continuous on I if f is continuous at every point of I.

Checking Continuity at a Point

A function f is continuous at x = x 0 if the following three conditions hold:

1. f (x 0 ) is defined (that is, x 0 belongs to the domain of f )

2. lim f (x) exists (that is, left-hand limit = right-hand limit)

x→x 0

3. lim f (x) = f (x 0 )
x→x 0

One-sided continuity :
• f is left continuous at a point x 0 if, lim f (x) = f (x 0 )
x→x 0−

• f is right continuous at a point x 0 if, lim f (x) = f (x 0 )

x→x 0+
• f is continuous at x 0 if and only if these two limits exist and are equal.

lim f (x) = f (x 0 ) = lim+ f (x)

x→x 0− x→x 0

Remark 1
# Every polynomial function is continuous on R.
# Every rational function is continuous on its domain.
# sin and cos are continuous everywhere on R
# The square root is continuous on R+

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Limit, Continuity & Derivability 2 CONTINUITY

2.2 Operations on Continuity

The basic properties of continuous functions follow from those of limits:

If f : I → R and g : I → R are continuous at x 0 of I, and λ is a constant, then :

1. f + g is continuous at x 0

2. λ f is continuous at x 0

3. f g is continuous at x 0
1
4. If f (x 0 ) 6= 0, then is continuous at x 0 .
f

Theorem 1 Let f : I → R and g : J → R two functions such that f (I) ⊆ J. If f is continuous at x 0

of I and if g is continuous at f (x 0 ), then g ◦ f is continuous at x 0 .

Example :
Determine whether h(x) = cos(x 2 − 5x + 2) is continuous.
Note that, h(x) = f (g(x)), where f (x) = cos(x) and g(x) = x 2 − 5x + 2
Since both f and g are continuous for all x, then h is continuous for all x.

Continuous extension : When we can remove a discontinuity by redefining the function at

that point, we call the discontinuity removable. (Not all discontinuities are removable, however.)

If lim f (x) = `, but f (x 0 ) is not defined, we define a new function

x→x 0
(
f (x) for x 6= x 0
f˜(x) =
` for x = x 0

which is continuous at x 0 . It is called the continuous extension of f (x) to x 0 .

Example :
Show that the following function have continuous extension, and find the extension :

x2 − 1
f (x) = , for x 6= −1
x3 + 1

Here f (−1) has not been defined.

x2 − 1 (x + 1)(x − 1)
lim = lim
x→−1 x 3 + 1 x→−1 (x + 1)(x 2 − x + 1)
x −1
= lim 2
x→−1 x − x + 1
−2
=
3

8
Limit, Continuity & Derivability 2 CONTINUITY

Thus, lim f (x) exists, therefore f has a removable discontinuity at x 0 = −1.

x→−1
Hence, The continuous extension is
 2
x −1
 for x 6= −1
x3 + 1

f˜(x) =
 −2

for x = −1
3

# As one consequence of previous results, the image of interval under a continuous function is
an interval :

Theorem 2 Let f : I → R be a continuous function on an interval I, then f (I) is an anterval.

f (I)
I
f is strictly increasing f is strictly decreasing

[a, b] [ f (a), f (b)] [ f (b), f (a)]

[a, b[ [ f (a), lim− f (x)[ ] lim− f (x), f (a)]

x→b x→b

]a, b] ] lim+ f (x), f (b)] [ f (b), lim+ f (x)[

x→a x→a

]a, b[ ] lim+ f (x), lim+ f (x)[ ] lim+ f (x), lim+ f (x)[

x→a x→a x→a x→a

Theorem 3 Let f : I → R is the function defined on I ⊆ R. Assume that f is continuous and strictly
monotonic on the closed interval I, then

1. f establishes a bijection of the interval I into the image interval f (I).

2. f −1 : f (I) → I is continuous and strictly monotonic on f (I)

2.3 Intermediate Value Theorem (IVT)

The intermediate value theorem describes a key property of continuous functions. It states that a
continuous function on an interval takes on all values between any two of its values.

Theorem 4 Let f : [a, b] −→ R such that

Geometric interpretation
• f is continuous on the closed interval [a, b]

• k be any number between f (a) and f (b).

Then, there exists at least c ∈]a, b[ such that

f (c) = k.

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Limit, Continuity & Derivability 3 DERIVABILITY

The most used version of the intermediate value theorem given as :

Theorem 5 Let f : [a, b] −→ R such that

Geometric interpretation
• f is continuous on the closed interval [a, b],

• f (a). f (b) < 0

Then, there exists at least c ∈]a, b[ such that

f (c) = 0.

Example :

Show that the equation 4x 3 − 6x 2 + 3x − 2 = 0 has a solution in the interval [1, 2].
Consider the function f (x) = 4x 3 − 6x 2 + 3x − 2 over the closed interval [1, 2]
The function f is a polynomial, therefore it is continuous over [1, 2].
We have f (1) = −1 and f (2) = 12, hence f (1) f (2) < 0
by the Mean-Value-Theorem there exists a value c in the interval ]1, 2[ such that f (c) = 0, i.e.
there is a solution for the equation f (x) = 0 in the interval ]1, 2[.

3 Derivability

3.1 Derivability at a Point

Below, we note I a non-empty interval of R.

Definition 3.1

Let f : I → R be a function, and let x 0 ∈ I. we say that f is differentiable at x 0 if the limit

f (x 0 + h) − f (x 0 )
lim
h→0 h

exists, and finite. This limit is called the derivative of f at x 0 , we note f 0 (x 0 ).

Remark 2
Alternative formula for the derivative :

f (x) − f (x 0 )
lim
x→x 0 x − x0

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Limit, Continuity & Derivability 3 DERIVABILITY

Geometric interpretation of the derivative :

If f is differentiable at x 0 , then the curve representing the function f have a tangent to the point
(x 0 , f (x 0 )), with the slope f 0 (x 0 ).

One-sided derivatives :
In analogy to one-sided limits, we define one-sided derivatives
• The left-hand derivative of a function f at x 0

f (x) − f (x 0 )
lim−
x→x 0 x − x0

• The right- hand derivative of a function f at x 0

f (x) − f (x 0 )
lim+
x→x 0 x − x0

f is differentiable at x 0 if and only if these two limits exist and are equal.
Example :
Show that f (x) = |x − 1| is not differentiable at x = 0
• The right-hand derivative at x = 0 :

|x − 1| − 0 x −1
lim lim+ =1
x→1+ x −1 x→1 x −1

• The left-hand derivative at x = 0 :

|x − 1| − 0 −(x − 1)
lim− lim+ = −1
x→1 x − 1 x→1 x − 1

So the right-hand and left-hand derivatives differ.

Remark 3
We say that a function f is differentiable on an interval I when f is differentiable in any point of I .

Theorem 6 If f has a derivative at x = a, then f is continuous at x = a.

3.2 Operations on derivative

Let f , g : I → R two functions. We assume that f and g are differentiable of x. Therefore,

1) f + g is differentiable , and

( f + g)0 (x) = f 0 (x) + g 0 (x)

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Limit, Continuity & Derivability 3 DERIVABILITY

2) f g is differentiable , and

( f g)0 (x) = f 0 (x) g (x) + f (x) g 0 (x)

f
3) If g (x 0 ) 6= 0, then is differentiable , and
g
 ‹0
f f 0 (x) g (x) − f (x) g 0 (x)
(x) =
g (g (x))2

Theorem 7 (Derivatives of composite functions) Let f : I → R and g : J → R two functions

such that f (I) ⊆ J. If f is differentiable of x, and g is differentiable of f (x), then g◦ f is differentiable
of x and
(g ◦ f )0 (x) = g 0 ( f (x)) f 0 (x)

Common Derivatives

f (x) f 0 (x)

c, c ∈ R 0

c x, c ∈ R c

x n, n ¾ 1 nx n−1
1 −1
x x2
1 −n
, n¾1
xn x n+1
p 1
x p
2 x
1
ln(x), x > 0
x
ex ex

sin(x) cos(x)

cos(x) − sin(x)

sin(c x), c ∈ R c cos(c x)

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Limit, Continuity & Derivability 3 DERIVABILITY

Applications of Derivatives

Derivatives have various applications in Mathematics, We’ll learn about these two applications of
derivatives :

1. Monotonicity of functions

Derivatives can be used to determine whether a function is increasing, decreasing or constant on

an interval.

Theorem 8 Let f be a differentiable function on an intervalle I :

1. f is increasing on I ⇐⇒ ∀x ∈ I, f 0 (x) ¾ 0

2. f is decreasing on I ⇐⇒ ∀x ∈ I, f 0 (x) ¶ 0

3. f is constant on I ⇐⇒ ∀x ∈ I, f 0 (x) = 0

2. Extremum of Functions

An extremum of a function is the point where we get the maximum or minimum value of the
function in some interval.
• Let f : I → R be a function, and let c ∈ I. We say that c is a critical point of f if f 0 (c) = 0 or
f 0 (c) is undefined.
Let f : I → R is differentiable, and c ∈ I be a critical point of f . Then

1. If f 0 (x) > 0 for all x < c and f 0 (x) < 0 for all x > c, then f (c) is the maximum value of f .

2. If f 0 (x) < 0 for all x < c and f 0 (x) > 0 for all x > c, then f (c) is the minimum value of f .

Example :
Find the extremum of f (x) = 3x 2 − 18x + 5 on [0, 7].
First, we find all possible critical points :

f 0 (x) = 0
6x − 18 = 0
x =3

for x ∈ [0, 3[, we have f 0 (x) < 0 and for x ∈]3, 7], we have f 0 (x) > 0 Then f (3) = −22 is the
muximun value of f on [0, 7].

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Limit, Continuity & Derivability 3 DERIVABILITY

3.3 Rolle’s Theorem

In analysis, special case of the mean-value theorem of differential calculus is Rolle’s theorem.

Theorem 9 Let f : [a, b] −→ R such that

Geometric interpretation
• f is continuous on the closed interval [a, b],

• f is differentiable on the open interval

]a, b[,

• f (a) = f (b).

Then, there exists c ∈]a, b[ such that f 0 (c) = 0. There exists at least one point of graph
of f where the tangent is horizontal.
Example : Let g(x) = (1 − x) f (x)

with f is a continuous function on [0, 1], differentiable on ]0, 1[ and verify f (0) = 0
Show that
f (c)
∃c ∈]0, 1[, f 0 (c) =
1−c
Apply Rolle’s theorem :
1) g is continuous [0, 1] because it is the product of two continuous functions on [0, 1] ( f is
a continuous function on [0, 1] and x 7−→ 1 − x continuous polynômial on R hence on [0, 1]).
2) g is differentiable on ]0, 1[ since it is the product of two differentiable functions on ]0, 1[.
3) g(0) = f (0) = 0, g(1) = 0 × f (1) = 0. Hence g(0) = g(1)
According to Rolle’s theorem: ∃c ∈]0, 1[, g 0 (c) = 0.
Where
g 0 (c) = − f (c) + (1 − c) f 0 (c)

It follows,
f (c)
f 0 (c) = .
1−c

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