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Intermediate Value Theorem

The document discusses the Intermediate Value Theorem in calculus. It states that the theorem motivates the intuition that a function is continuous if it can be graphed without lifting chalk from the board. It then presents Lemma 1, which is essential to proving the theorem. Lemma 1 states that if a function f is continuous on an interval (a,b) and f(c)>0 for some c in the interval, then there is a neighborhood around c where f(x) remains positive. The document concludes by using Lemma 1 to prove the Intermediate Value Theorem, which states that for a continuous function f on an interval [a,b] where f(a) and f(b) are known values, every

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Eric Rogers
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64 views

Intermediate Value Theorem

The document discusses the Intermediate Value Theorem in calculus. It states that the theorem motivates the intuition that a function is continuous if it can be graphed without lifting chalk from the board. It then presents Lemma 1, which is essential to proving the theorem. Lemma 1 states that if a function f is continuous on an interval (a,b) and f(c)>0 for some c in the interval, then there is a neighborhood around c where f(x) remains positive. The document concludes by using Lemma 1 to prove the Intermediate Value Theorem, which states that for a continuous function f on an interval [a,b] where f(a) and f(b) are known values, every

Uploaded by

Eric Rogers
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Intermediate Value Theorem

The intermediate value theorem is an important theorem in calculus. It is one of the results which motivates the intuition a function is continuous if I can graph it without lifting the chalk o the board. You are NOT responsible for its proof, but you should understand the following lemma, which is essential to the proof of the Intermediate Value Theorem. (You should draw a picture to understand why we c) in the proof of the lemma!) choose = f ( 2 Lemma 1. Suppose f is continuous on (a, b). Suppose there is a c (a, b) such that f (c) > 0. Then there is a > 0 such that f (x) > 0 for all x (c , c + ) (a, b). Proof. Since f is continuous at c, for all > 0, there is a > 0 such that |x c| < implies |f (x) f (c)| < . Since this is true for all > 0, it is true when we choose c) = f( > 0. Now we are assured there must be a > 0 such that 2 (1) (c , c + ) (a, b), and (2) if x (c , c + ), then |f (x) f (c)| < Note that the inequality |f (x) f (c)| < inequalities:
f (c) 2 f (c) . 2

is equivalent to the following pairs of

f (c) f (c) 3f (c) f (c) < (f (x) f (c)) < < f (x) < . 2 2 2 2

Hence (2) above is equivalent to (2) if x (c , c + ), then Since


f (c) 2 f (c) 2

< f (x) <

3f (c) . 2

> 0, we know f (x) > 0 for all x (c , c + ).

Remark 2. Lemma 1 is also true when we replace both >s above with <s. Using the lemma and the remark, we now prove the Intermediate Value Theorem Theorem 3 (Intermediate Value). Suppose f is continuous on [a, b] and f (a) = f (b). Then for every y between f (a) and f (b), there is a c (a, b) such that f (c) = y . Proof. It is enough to consider the case f (a) < f (b) and y = 0. (If f (a) > f (b), we replace f with f . If y = 0, we replace f with f y .) Let S = {x (a, b)|f (x) < 0}. Since f (b) > 0, b is an upper bound for S . By the completeness axiom of the real numbers, S has a unique least upper bound c. We claim that f (c) = 0. To show this, we will show (1) f (c) is not greater than 0, and (2) f (c) is not less than 0. 1

It will follow from these two facts that f (c) must equal zero. Proof of (1): We give a proof by contradiction. Suppose f (c) > 0. Then by Lemma 1, there is a > 0 such that f is strictly positive on (c , c + ) (a, b). Consider c = c 2 . Since f (x) > 0 for all x [c , c], and c is an upper bound for S , c is also and upper bound for S . But this is a contradiction to the fact that c is the least upper bound of S . Hence f (c) is not greater than zero. Proof of (2): Again, we give a proof by contradiction. Suppose f (c) < 0. Again by Lemma 1 and Remark 2, there is a > 0 such that f is strictly negative on . Then f (c ) < 0, so c S . But c > c, (c , c + ) (a, b). Consider c = c + 2 which is an upper bound for S , a contradiction. Hence f (c) is not less than zero.

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