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    MIT18 01SCF10 Ex04sol PDF

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    Asprilla Mangombe
    This document discusses finding values of constants a and b that make a function continuous but not differentiable. The function is defined as ax + b for x > 0 and sin 2x for x ≤ 0. For the function to be continuous at x = 0, the limit as x approaches 0 from both sides must be equal, requiring b = 0. The function will be continuous but not differentiable for b = 0 and any a ≤ 0, as the slopes of the linear and sinusoidal parts will not match at x = 0. Graphing for different a values while b = 0 verifies the analysis.

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    MIT18 01SCF10 Ex04sol PDF

    Uploaded by

    Asprilla Mangombe
    39 views2 pages
    This document discusses finding values of constants a and b that make a function continuous but not differentiable. The function is defined as ax + b for x > 0 and sin 2x for x ≤ 0. For the function to be continuous at x = 0, the limit as x approaches 0 from both sides must be equal, requiring b = 0. The function will be continuous but not differentiable for b = 0 and any a ≤ 0, as the slopes of the linear and sinusoidal parts will not match at x = 0. Graphing for different a values while b = 0 verifies the analysis.

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    This document discusses finding values of constants a and b that make a function continuous but not differentiable. The function is defined as ax + b for x > 0 and sin 2x for x ≤ 0. For the function to be continuous at x = 0, the limit as x approaches 0 from both sides must be equal, requiring b = 0. The function will be continuous but not differentiable for b = 0 and any a ≤ 0, as the slopes of the linear and sinusoidal parts will not match at x = 0. Graphing for different a values while b = 0 verifies the analysis.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    39 views2 pages

    MIT18 01SCF10 Ex04sol PDF

    Uploaded by

    Asprilla Mangombe
    This document discusses finding values of constants a and b that make a function continuous but not differentiable. The function is defined as ax + b for x > 0 and sin 2x for x ≤ 0. For the function to be continuous at x = 0, the limit as x approaches 0 from both sides must be equal, requiring b = 0. The function will be continuous but not differentiable for b = 0 and any a ≤ 0, as the slopes of the linear and sinusoidal parts will not match at x = 0. Graphing for different a values while b = 0 verifies the analysis.

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    You are on page 1of 2

    Continuous but not Smooth

    Find values of the constants a and b for which the following function is contin
    uous but not dierentiable.
    ax + b, x > 0;
    f (x) =
    sin 2x, x 0.
    In other words, the graph of the function should have a sharp corner at the pont
    (0, f (0)).

    Solution
    Because g(x) = ax+b and h(x) = sin 2x are continuous functions, the only place
    where f (x) might be discontinuous is where x = 0. To make f (x) continuous,
    we need to nd values of a and b for which:
    lim f (x) = lim f (x).
    x0+ x0

    We start with limx0+ f (x) because we nd linear functions easier to work


    with than trigonometric ones:
    lim f (x) = lim ax + b
    x0+ x0+
    = a 0 + b

    = b.

    Next we nd limx0 f (x):

    lim f (x) = lim sin 2x

    x0 x0
    = sin 0

    = 0.

    In order for f (x) to be continuous at 0, it must be true that b = 0.

    Next we need to determine when f (x) is not dierentiable. To the right of


    x = 0, the graph of f (x) is a straight line. To the left, the graph is a smooth
    curve. As long as x = 0, the graph of f (x) has a well dened tangent line at
    the point (x, f (x)).
    Therefore, if f (x) is dierentiable at x = 0 then it is dierentiable overall.
    The function is dierentiable if it has a well dened tangent line at x = 0. This
    will be true when the slope of the line y = ax + b = ax + 0 equals the slope of
    the curve y = sin 2x at the point (0, 0). Well learn later that the slope of the
    curve y = sin 2x equals 2 cos 2x; for now its enough to know that the slope of
    y = sin 2x is positive when x = 0.
    We conclude that f (x) is continuous but not dierentiable for b = 0 and any
    a 0. In fact, for any value of a other than 2 the function will be continuous
    but not dierentiable.
    We can check our work by graphing f (x) for a few dierent values of a
    (while b = 0). This increases our familiarity with graphs of continuous but
    non-dierentiable functions.

    1
    MIT OpenCourseWare
    http://ocw.mit.edu

    18.01SC Single Variable Calculus


    Fall 2010

    For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.

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