James Stewart-Calculus_ Early Transcendentals-Cengage Learning (2015)

Section 2.8 The Derivative as a Function 157
Proof To prove that f is continuous at a, we have to show that lim x l a f sxd − f sad.
We do this by showing that the difference f sxd 2 f sad approaches 0.
The given information is that f is differentiable at a, that is,
f 9sad − lim
x l a
f sxd 2 f sad
x 2 a
PS An important aspect of problem
solving is trying to find a connection
between the given and the unknown.
See Step 2 (Think of a Plan) in Principles
of Problem Solving on page 71.
exists (see Equation 2.7.5). To connect the given and the unknown, we divide and
multiply f sxd 2 f sad by x 2 a (which we can do when x ± a):
f sxd 2 f sad −
f sxd 2 f sad
x 2 a
sx 2 ad
Thus, using the Product Law and (2.7.5), we can write
lim f f sxd 2 f sadg − lim
x l a x l a
f sxd 2 f sad
x 2 a
sx 2 ad
− lim
x l a
f sxd 2 f sad
x 2 a
? lim
x l a
sx 2 ad
− f 9sad ? 0 − 0
To use what we have just proved, we start with f sxd and add and subtract f sad:
lim f sxd − lim f f sad 1 s f sxd 2 f saddg
x l a x l a
− lim
x l a
f sad 1 lim
x l a
f f sxd 2 f sadg
− f sad 1 0 − f sad
Therefore f is continuous at a.
n
NOTE The converse of Theorem 4 is false; that is, there are functions that are continuous
but not differentiable. For instance, the function f sxd − | x | is continuous at 0
because
lim f sxd − lim | x | − 0 − f s0d
x l 0 x l 0
(See Example 2.3.7.) But in Example 5 we showed that f is not differentiable at 0.
How Can a Function Fail To Be Differentiable?
We saw that the function y − | x | in Example 5 is not differentiable at 0 and Figure 5(a)
shows that its graph changes direction abruptly when x − 0. In general, if the graph of a
function f has a “corner” or “kink” in it, then the graph of f has no tangent at this point
and f is not differentiable there. [In trying to compute f 9sad, we find that the left and
right limits are different.]
Theorem 4 gives another way for a function not to have a derivative. It says that if f is
not continuous at a, then f is not differentiable at a. So at any discontinuity (for instance,
a jump discontinuity) f fails to be differentiable.
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