Calculus: Early Transcendentals 9th Edition

Published by Cengage Learning
ISBN 10: 1337613924
ISBN 13: 978-1-33761-392-7

Chapter 2 - Section 2.4 - The Precise Definition of a Limit - 2.4 Exercises - Page 114: 38

Answer

$\lim\limits_{t \to 0} H(t)$ does not exist.

Work Step by Step

$H(t) = 0$, if $t \lt 0$ $H(t) = 1$, if $t \geq 0$ Assume $\lim\limits_{t \to 0} H(t) = c$ Let $\epsilon = \frac{1}{2}$ Choose any value for $\delta \gt 0$ Choose a number $a$ such that $-\delta \lt a \lt 0$ Choose a number $b$ such that $0 \lt b \lt \delta$ $\vert a - 0 \vert \lt \delta$ and $\vert b - 0 \vert \lt \delta$ Then $\vert H(a) - c \vert \lt \epsilon = \frac{1}{2}$ and $\vert H(b) - c \vert \lt \epsilon = \frac{1}{2}$ Since $H(a) = 0$, then $-\frac{1}{2} \lt c \lt \frac{1}{2}$ Since $H(b) = 1$, then $\frac{1}{2} \lt c \lt \frac{3}{2}$ Clearly this is a contradiction since $c$ can not be in both of these intervals. Therefore, our assumption that $\lim\limits_{t \to 0} H(t) = c$ is false. Thus $\lim\limits_{t \to 0} H(t)$ does not exist.
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