Examine the continuity of the function
f(x) = x3 + 2x – 1 at x = 1
A function f(x) is said to be continuous at x = c if,
Left hand limit (LHL at x = c) = Right hand limit(RHL at x = c) = f(c).
Mathematically we can represent it as-
Where h is a very small number very close to 0 (h→0)
Now according to above theory-
f(x) = x3 + 2x – 1 is continuous at x = 1 if -
Clearly,
LHL =
∴ LHL = (1-0)3 + 2(1-0) – 1 = 2 …(1)
Similarly, we proceed for RHL-
RHL =
∴ RHL = (1+0)3 + 2(1+0) – 1 = 2 …(2)
And,
f(1) = (1+0)3 + 2(1+0) – 1 = 2 …(3)
Clearly from equation 1 , 2 and 3 we can say that
∴ f(x) is continuous at x = 1