Faculty of Business and Economics Department of Economics:

Quantitative Methods in Economics I

Chapter Two: Limit and Continuity
 The Concept of Limit
Limits describe what happens to a function f(x) as its variable x approaches a particular
number c.
Definition: The limit of f(x) as x approaches c is L, written lim f ( x)  L , if the y coordinate
x c

of a point (x, f(x) ) on the graph of f approaches the single number L as x approaches c from
each side of c.
Example 2: Given a function f(x)=x2, find lim f(x) as x approaches 2.
Solution:
The following table illustrates the behavior of the function, as x becomes closer and closer to
2 from both the left and right side of 2.

From the right From the left

lim f ( x) lim f ( x)
x 2  x 2 

x f(x) x f(x)
2.5 6.25 1.5 2.25
2.3 5.29 1.7 2.89
2.1 4.41 1.9 3.61
2.01 4.0401 1.99 3.9601
2.001 4.004001 1.999 3.9960001
2.0001 4.00040001 1.9999 3.99960001
Therefore, the values of f(x) = x2 are near 4 whenever x is close to 2 from both the left and
right sides.
Since lim f ( x) = lim f ( x) =4, lim f ( x) =4
x 2 x 2 x2

1. The limit of f(x) as x approaches c from the left is L if the y coordinate of a point (x,
f(x)) on the graph of f approaches L as x approaches c from the left of c.
lim f ( x) =L
x c 
2. The limit of f(x) as x approaches c from the right is L if the y coordinate of a point (x,
f(x)) on the graph of y approaches L as x approaches c from the right of c.
lim f ( x) =L
x c 

Therefore, the expression lim  L means that f(x) approaches L as x approaches c form each
x c

side of c.
Note
1. If lim f ( x) =L, then lim f ( x) = lim f ( x) =L
xc x c x c

2. If lim f ( x) = lim f ( x) =L, then lim f ( x) =L

x c x c xc

3. If lim f ( x)  lim f ( x) , then lim f ( x) does not exist. f(x) does not approach a
x c x c xc

single number L as x approaches c.

Example 3. f(x) = x-3, find the limit of f(x) as x approaches 2
Solution:
lim f ( x) =-1, lim f ( x) =-1, therefore lim f ( x) = -1
x 2  x 2  x2

 x  1, x  1 
Example 4 : f ( x)    as x approaches 1.
3  x, x  1
Solution:
Evaluate the limit as x approaches 1
lim f ( x) =2 lim f ( x) =2 , then lim f ( x) =2
x 1 x 1 x1

/ x/
Example 5: f ( x )  find lim f(x) as x approaches 0.
x
x
Solution: lim f ( x) = lim = lim  1 = -1
x 0 x 0 x x 0

x
lim f ( x) = lim = lim 1 = 1
x 0 x 0 x x0
/ x/
Since lim f ( x)  lim f ( x) , the lim f ( x) = lim does not exist.
x 0 x 0 x0 x 0 x
 The Limit Theorem
If lim f(x) = L and lim g(x) = M, then
xc xc
 i) lim (a(f(x)) = a lim f(x) = aL for any constant a.
xc xc

ii) lim (f(x)  g(x)) = lim f(x)  lim g(x) =L  M

xc xc xc

iii) lim (f(x).g(x)) = lim f(x). lim g(x) = L.M

xc xc xc

f ( x) lim f ( x) L
iv) lim  x c  , forM  0
x c g ( x) lim g ( x) M
x c

v) lim a = a for any constant a

x c

x c
r
x c

vi) lim f ( x)  lim f ( x) = Lr, r is any real number.
r

vii) lim x  c
x c

 Continuity of a function
In this section we will use the limit concept to learn an important property of functions called
continuity. A continuous function can be defined as one whose graph can be drawn without
lifting or removing a pen from the paper. A function whose graph is broken (disconnected) at
x = c is said to be discontinuous at x = c.
Let's have a formal definition of continuity
Definition: A function f is continuous at c if
a) f(c) is defined
b) lim f(x) exists c) lim f(x) = f(c)
xc xc

Example 1: Show that the polynomial function p(x) = 3x3 – x + 5 is continuous at x = 1.

Solution: Check whether the above three conditions are satisfied or not
i) P(1) is defined
ii) lim p( x) exists
x1

iii) lim p( x) = p(1)

x1

7 = 7
Therefore the function p(x) = 3x3 – x + 5 is continuous at x =1
x 2 1
Example 2: Show that f ( x)  is not continuous (discontinuous) at x =1
x 1
Solution:
 i) f(1) is not defined
ii) lim f ( x) exists
x1

Even if the limit of the function exists, since it is not defined at x = 1, the function f(x) is
discontinuous at x = 1.
 Continuity on an Interval
We have the following definitions of continuity for functions that are continuous in an
interval.
- A function is continuous on an open interval (a, b), or simply continuous on (a, b), if it is
continuous at every point in (a, b)
- A function is continuous on a closed interval a, b , or simply continuous on a, b , if it is
continuous at every point in (a, b) and is also continuous from the right at a and
continuous from the left at b.
Example 3:
x5
Show that the function f ( x)  is continuous on the open interval (-3, 2).
x2
Solution: The three conditions for continuity are satisfied for any value of x between –3 and
2 (-3 < x < 2). Therefore, the function is continuous in the open interval (-3, 2). However,
the function is not continuous for the closed interval  3,2 , since f(x) is discontinuous at x =
2, ( f(x) is not defined at x = 2 ).
Note that:
- The limit at c of a function that is continuous at c is the value of the function at c.
lim f ( x) =f(c) if f is continuous.
xc

- The function f is continuous from the left at c if lim f ( x) =f(c).

x c

- The function f is continuous from the right at c if lim f ( x) =f(c).

x c

- A function f is continuous at c if and only if it is continuous from both the left and right at
c, so lim f(x) = f(c).
xc

 Properties of continuous function

The continuity property of some specific functions enables us to determine intervals of
continuity without looking at the behavior of the graphs or the three conditions for continuity.
1. A constant function f(x) = k, where k is any constant, is continuous for all x.
Example 1: f(x) = 3 is continuous for all x.
2. Polynomials are continuous at each point.
Example 2: f(x) = 3x3 + 2x2 + 1 is continuous for all x.
3. If p and q are polynomials, then the rational function p/q is continuous at each point
where it is defined.
x2 1
Example 3: f(x) = is continuous for all x except at x = 3 that makes the
x3
denominator zero.
4. If f(x) and g(x) are both continuous functions, then
a) f ( x)  g ( x) is continuous
Example 4 If f ( x)  2 x 2  1 and g ( x)  x  1 then
f ( x)  g ( x) or (2 x 2  1)  ( x  1) or 2 x 2  x and 2 x 2  x  2 are continuous functions
b) f(x) . g(x) is continuous
Example 5: Taking the above example in 4(a), (2x2 + 1) (x –1) is continuous
f ( x)
c) is continuous, if and only if g(x)  0
g ( x)

f ( x) 2 x 2  1
Example 6:  is continuous except at x = 1
g ( x) x 1

5. If f(x) is continuous at x = c then f (x) is continuous at x = c.

6. -If n is an odd positive integer greater than 1, n f ( x) is continuous wherever f(x) is

continuous.
-If n is an even positive integer, n f ( x) is continuous wherever f(x) is continuous and non
negative.
7. If g(x) is continuous at x = c and the function f(x) is continuous at g(c) then the composite
function fog is continuous at x = c.
Note: the composite function f g (x) is the function formed from the two functions f(u) and
g(x) by substituting g(x) for u in the formula for f(u).