All AP Calculus AB Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 :Geometric Understanding Of Graphs Of Continuous Functions
是differentiable for which of the following values of?
是not differentiable atandbecause the values are discontinuities.是not differentiable atbecause that point is a corner, indicating that the one-side limits atare different.是differentiable:the one side limits are the same and the point is continuous.
Example Question #2 :Geometric Understanding Of Graphs Of Continuous Functions
Consider the graph ofabove. What can we say aboutwhen?
有一个水平切吗.
Two or more of these are correct.
None of these are correct.
has a removable discontinuity at.
是discontinuous atbecause there is a sharp turn at.
有一个水平切吗.
Note that, indicating that there is a horizontal tangent onat. More specifically, the derivative is the slope of the tangent line. If the slope of the tangent line is 0, then the tangent is horizontal.
The other two are incorrect because sharp turns only apply when we want to take the derivative of something. The derivative of a function at a sharp turn is undefined, meaning the graph of the derivative will be discontinuous at the sharp turn. (To see why, ask yourself if the slope at是positive 1 or negative 1?) On the other hand, integration is less picky than differentiation: We do not need a smooth function to take an integral.
In this case, to get fromto, we took an integral, so it didn't matter that there was a sharp turn at the specified point. Thus, neither function had any discontinuities.
Example Question #1 :Continunity As A Property Of Functions
Is the following piecewise function continuous for all? If not, state where it is discontinuous.
No. The function is not continuous at.
Yes. The function is continuous at all.
No. The function is not continuous at bothand.
No. There are sharp turns atand.
No. The function is not continuous at.
Yes. The function is continuous at all.
To check if the piecewise function is continuous, all we need to do is check that the values at 3 and 5 line up.
At, this means checking thatandhave the same value. More formally, we are checking to see that, as to be continuous at a point, a function's left and right limits must both equal the function value at that point.
Plugging 3 into both, we see that both of them are 12 at. Thus, they meet up smoothly.
Next, for, we haveand. Plugging in 5, we get 22 for both equations.
As all three equations are polynomials, we know they will be continuous everywhere else, and they meet up smoothly at the piecewise bounds, thus ensuring that the function is continuous everywhere.
Note, therearesharp turns atand, but this only means the function isn't differentiable at these points -- we're only concerned with continuity, which is if the equations meet up. Thus, the function is continuous.
Example Question #2 :Continunity As A Property Of Functions
whenand
when
Atthe funciton described above is:
both continuous and diffentiable
undefined
continuous but not differentiable
neither differentiable or continuous
differentiable but not continuous
both continuous and diffentiable
The answer is both.
If graphed the student will see that the two graphs are continuous at. There is no gap in the graph or no uneven transitions. If the graph is continuous then it is differentiable so it must be both.
Example Question #1 :An Intuitive Understanding Of Continuity
Which of the following functions contains a removeable discontinuity?
A removeable discontinuity occurs whenever there is a hole in a graph that could be fixed (or "removed") by filling in a single point. Put another way, if there is a removeable discontinuity at, then the limit asapproachesexists, but the value ofdoes not.
For example, the functioncontains a removeable discontinuity at. Notice that we could simplifyas follows:
, where.
Thus, we could say that.
As we can see, the limit ofexists at, even though是undefined.
What this means is thatwill look just like the parabola with the equationEXCEPT when, where there will be a hole in the graph. However, if we were to just define, then we could essentially "remove" this discontinuity. Therefore, we can say that there is a removeable discontinuty at.
The functions
, and
have discontinuities, but these discontinuities occur as vertical asymptotes, not holes, and thus are not considered removeable.
The functions
andare continuous over all the real values of; they have no discontinuities of any kind.
The answer is
.
Example Question #4 :Continunity As A Property Of Functions
Ifexists,
must be continuous at allvalues.
must be continuous at.
exists and
exists.
We cannot conclude any of the other answers.
We cannot conclude any of the other answers.
Unless we are explicitly told so, via graph, information, or otherwise, we cannot assume是continuous atunless, which is required forto be continuous at.
We cannot assume anything about the existence of, because we do not know what是, or its end behavior.
Example Question #5 :Continunity As A Property Of Functions
Which of the following is equal to?
does not exist.
does not exist.
The limit of a function asapproaches a valueexists if and only if the limit from the left is equal to the limit from the right; the actual value of是无关紧要的。piecewise-def自函数ined, we can determine whether these limits are equal by finding the limits of the individual expressions. These are both polynomials, so the limits can be calculated using straightforward substitution:
不存在,是什么cause.
Example Question #6 :Continunity As A Property Of Functions
Determine any points of discontinuity for the function:
For a function to be continuous the following criteria must be met:
- The function must exist at the point (no division by zero, asymptotic behavior, negative logs, or negative radicals).
- The limit must exist.
- The point must equal the limit. (Symbolically,).
这是最容易首先找到任何地方function is undefined. Since our function involves a fraction and a natural log, we must find all points in the domain such that the natural log is less than or equal to zero, or points where the denominator is equal to zero.
To find the values that cause the natural log to be negative we set
Therefore, those x values will yield our points of discontinuity. Normally, we would find values where the natural log is negative; however, for allthe function is positive.
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