How do you find the interval notation to prove f(x)= x/(sqrt(1-x^2)) is continuous?

1 Answer
Aug 30, 2015

f(x) is continuous on (-1, 1).

Explanation:

First, identify the domain of the function.

Since you're dealing with the square root of an expression, you need that expression to be positive for any value of x in the function's domain.

Moreover, you need that expression to be positive and different from zero, since taking the square root of zero would produce a division by zero.

So, you need

1 - x^2 > 0

x^2 < 1

sqrt(x^2) < sqrt(1) implies |x| < 1

This means that you have

x < 1" " and " "-x < 1 implies x > -1

The domain of the function will be (-1, 1). In order for the function to be continuous on its domain, you need it to be continuous at each point c in (-1,1).

That means that you need

color(blue)(lim_(x -> c) f(x) = f(c)," "(AA) c in (-1,1))

So, for any c in (-1,1) you know that you have

f(c) = c/sqrt(1-c^2)

Now focus on the numerator and denominator if this fraction. You can write

c = lim_(x ->c) x" " and " "sqrt(1-c^2) = sqrt(1 - lim_(x ->c)x^2)

Since those limits exist for c in (-1,1), you can say that

f(c) = c/sqrt(1-c^2) = (lim_(x ->c)x)/sqrt(1 - lim_(x->c)x^2)

You know that the limit of a constant is equal to that constant, so you can write

(lim_(x->c)x)/sqrt(lim_(x->c)1 - lim_(x->c)x^2) = (lim_(x->c)x)/sqrt(lim_(x->c)(1-x^2))

The denominatoris equivalent to

sqrt(lim_(x->c)(1-x^2)) = lim_(x->c)sqrt(1-x^2)

which means that you get, using the fact that the quotient of the limits is equal to the limit of the quotient

(lim_(x->c)x)/(lim_(x->c)sqrt(1-x^2)) = lim_(x->c)(x/sqrt(1-x^2)) = lim_(x->c)f(x)

Since f(c) = lim_(x->c)f(x) for any c in (-1,1), the function will indeed be continuous on its domain, (-1,1).