$f$ continuous, $a_nneq2,lim_{n to infty}a_n=2, b_n=frac{f(a_n)-f(2)}{a_n-2}, b_n$ converges $Rightarrow f$...












1












$begingroup$


So I've been struggling with this prove/disprove question:




Let $f:mathbb Rrightarrow mathbb R$ be a continuous function and let $a_nneq2, b_n $ be two sequences such that $lim_{n to infty}a_n=2$ and $b_n=frac{f(a_n)-f(2)}{a_n-2}.$ Prove or disprove that if $b_n$ converges, then $f$ is differentiable at $x=2$.




Since f is continuous, I realized that $lim_{n to infty} f(a_n)=f(2)$, but that is essentially it. I can't seem to figure out how to deal with the "$frac{0}{0}$" limit. It did occur to me, though, that this limit looks like a derivative, however I have no idea how to deal with it when it comes to sequences (Heine doesn't seem to help me much here).



Thank you very much and have a beautiful day.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$








  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Hint: $f$ does not have to be differentiable, look for a counterexample.
    $endgroup$
    – Wojowu
    Jan 2 at 14:33










  • $begingroup$
    @Wojowu Oh well that wasn't hard. I was so concentrated on proving the statement that I forgot that it might be wrong. Thanks!
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:36










  • $begingroup$
    @Wojowu If $f$ is differentiable for every $xneq 2$, can I say that $b_n$ is bounded?
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:37












  • $begingroup$
    No, it needn't be bounded. Unless you are still assuming $b_n$ is convergent, then of course it is bounded.
    $endgroup$
    – Wojowu
    Jan 2 at 14:41










  • $begingroup$
    @Wojowu Hmm, I see. It seems that I have an example for that, but the problem is that the $f$ that I chose would be differentiable for every real $x$. I can't find an example where $f$ is differentiable for every real $x$ apart from $2$. Could you help me with this one too? Much appriciated.
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:46


















1












$begingroup$


So I've been struggling with this prove/disprove question:




Let $f:mathbb Rrightarrow mathbb R$ be a continuous function and let $a_nneq2, b_n $ be two sequences such that $lim_{n to infty}a_n=2$ and $b_n=frac{f(a_n)-f(2)}{a_n-2}.$ Prove or disprove that if $b_n$ converges, then $f$ is differentiable at $x=2$.




Since f is continuous, I realized that $lim_{n to infty} f(a_n)=f(2)$, but that is essentially it. I can't seem to figure out how to deal with the "$frac{0}{0}$" limit. It did occur to me, though, that this limit looks like a derivative, however I have no idea how to deal with it when it comes to sequences (Heine doesn't seem to help me much here).



Thank you very much and have a beautiful day.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$








  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Hint: $f$ does not have to be differentiable, look for a counterexample.
    $endgroup$
    – Wojowu
    Jan 2 at 14:33










  • $begingroup$
    @Wojowu Oh well that wasn't hard. I was so concentrated on proving the statement that I forgot that it might be wrong. Thanks!
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:36










  • $begingroup$
    @Wojowu If $f$ is differentiable for every $xneq 2$, can I say that $b_n$ is bounded?
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:37












  • $begingroup$
    No, it needn't be bounded. Unless you are still assuming $b_n$ is convergent, then of course it is bounded.
    $endgroup$
    – Wojowu
    Jan 2 at 14:41










  • $begingroup$
    @Wojowu Hmm, I see. It seems that I have an example for that, but the problem is that the $f$ that I chose would be differentiable for every real $x$. I can't find an example where $f$ is differentiable for every real $x$ apart from $2$. Could you help me with this one too? Much appriciated.
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:46
















1












1








1





$begingroup$


So I've been struggling with this prove/disprove question:




Let $f:mathbb Rrightarrow mathbb R$ be a continuous function and let $a_nneq2, b_n $ be two sequences such that $lim_{n to infty}a_n=2$ and $b_n=frac{f(a_n)-f(2)}{a_n-2}.$ Prove or disprove that if $b_n$ converges, then $f$ is differentiable at $x=2$.




Since f is continuous, I realized that $lim_{n to infty} f(a_n)=f(2)$, but that is essentially it. I can't seem to figure out how to deal with the "$frac{0}{0}$" limit. It did occur to me, though, that this limit looks like a derivative, however I have no idea how to deal with it when it comes to sequences (Heine doesn't seem to help me much here).



Thank you very much and have a beautiful day.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$




So I've been struggling with this prove/disprove question:




Let $f:mathbb Rrightarrow mathbb R$ be a continuous function and let $a_nneq2, b_n $ be two sequences such that $lim_{n to infty}a_n=2$ and $b_n=frac{f(a_n)-f(2)}{a_n-2}.$ Prove or disprove that if $b_n$ converges, then $f$ is differentiable at $x=2$.




Since f is continuous, I realized that $lim_{n to infty} f(a_n)=f(2)$, but that is essentially it. I can't seem to figure out how to deal with the "$frac{0}{0}$" limit. It did occur to me, though, that this limit looks like a derivative, however I have no idea how to deal with it when it comes to sequences (Heine doesn't seem to help me much here).



Thank you very much and have a beautiful day.







calculus limits functions derivatives






share|cite|improve this question















share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question








edited Jan 2 at 14:58







Amit Zach

















asked Jan 2 at 14:30









Amit ZachAmit Zach

1106




1106








  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Hint: $f$ does not have to be differentiable, look for a counterexample.
    $endgroup$
    – Wojowu
    Jan 2 at 14:33










  • $begingroup$
    @Wojowu Oh well that wasn't hard. I was so concentrated on proving the statement that I forgot that it might be wrong. Thanks!
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:36










  • $begingroup$
    @Wojowu If $f$ is differentiable for every $xneq 2$, can I say that $b_n$ is bounded?
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:37












  • $begingroup$
    No, it needn't be bounded. Unless you are still assuming $b_n$ is convergent, then of course it is bounded.
    $endgroup$
    – Wojowu
    Jan 2 at 14:41










  • $begingroup$
    @Wojowu Hmm, I see. It seems that I have an example for that, but the problem is that the $f$ that I chose would be differentiable for every real $x$. I can't find an example where $f$ is differentiable for every real $x$ apart from $2$. Could you help me with this one too? Much appriciated.
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:46
















  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Hint: $f$ does not have to be differentiable, look for a counterexample.
    $endgroup$
    – Wojowu
    Jan 2 at 14:33










  • $begingroup$
    @Wojowu Oh well that wasn't hard. I was so concentrated on proving the statement that I forgot that it might be wrong. Thanks!
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:36










  • $begingroup$
    @Wojowu If $f$ is differentiable for every $xneq 2$, can I say that $b_n$ is bounded?
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:37












  • $begingroup$
    No, it needn't be bounded. Unless you are still assuming $b_n$ is convergent, then of course it is bounded.
    $endgroup$
    – Wojowu
    Jan 2 at 14:41










  • $begingroup$
    @Wojowu Hmm, I see. It seems that I have an example for that, but the problem is that the $f$ that I chose would be differentiable for every real $x$. I can't find an example where $f$ is differentiable for every real $x$ apart from $2$. Could you help me with this one too? Much appriciated.
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:46










2




2




$begingroup$
Hint: $f$ does not have to be differentiable, look for a counterexample.
$endgroup$
– Wojowu
Jan 2 at 14:33




$begingroup$
Hint: $f$ does not have to be differentiable, look for a counterexample.
$endgroup$
– Wojowu
Jan 2 at 14:33












$begingroup$
@Wojowu Oh well that wasn't hard. I was so concentrated on proving the statement that I forgot that it might be wrong. Thanks!
$endgroup$
– Amit Zach
Jan 2 at 14:36




$begingroup$
@Wojowu Oh well that wasn't hard. I was so concentrated on proving the statement that I forgot that it might be wrong. Thanks!
$endgroup$
– Amit Zach
Jan 2 at 14:36












$begingroup$
@Wojowu If $f$ is differentiable for every $xneq 2$, can I say that $b_n$ is bounded?
$endgroup$
– Amit Zach
Jan 2 at 14:37






$begingroup$
@Wojowu If $f$ is differentiable for every $xneq 2$, can I say that $b_n$ is bounded?
$endgroup$
– Amit Zach
Jan 2 at 14:37














$begingroup$
No, it needn't be bounded. Unless you are still assuming $b_n$ is convergent, then of course it is bounded.
$endgroup$
– Wojowu
Jan 2 at 14:41




$begingroup$
No, it needn't be bounded. Unless you are still assuming $b_n$ is convergent, then of course it is bounded.
$endgroup$
– Wojowu
Jan 2 at 14:41












$begingroup$
@Wojowu Hmm, I see. It seems that I have an example for that, but the problem is that the $f$ that I chose would be differentiable for every real $x$. I can't find an example where $f$ is differentiable for every real $x$ apart from $2$. Could you help me with this one too? Much appriciated.
$endgroup$
– Amit Zach
Jan 2 at 14:46






$begingroup$
@Wojowu Hmm, I see. It seems that I have an example for that, but the problem is that the $f$ that I chose would be differentiable for every real $x$. I can't find an example where $f$ is differentiable for every real $x$ apart from $2$. Could you help me with this one too? Much appriciated.
$endgroup$
– Amit Zach
Jan 2 at 14:46












1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















2












$begingroup$

The statement is false.



For example if you let $f(x) = |x - 2|$ and $a_n = 2 + frac{1}{n}$ for each $nin mathbb{N}$, then $$lim_{ntoinfty} a_n = 2$$ and
$$lim_{ntoinfty} b_n = lim_{ntoinfty} frac{f(a_n) - f(2)}{a_n - 2} = lim_{ntoinfty} 1 = 1 $$
So $b_n$ converges, but $f$ is not differentiable at $2$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$









  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Thanks! This is exactly the counterexample I eventually used (although it was $|x-2|$ for me rather than $|x|-2$).
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:53










  • $begingroup$
    Oh yes, that is a typo. It should be $|x-2|$.
    $endgroup$
    – M47145
    Jan 2 at 15:00












Your Answer





StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
});
});
}, "mathjax-editing");

StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "69"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});

function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});


}
});














draft saved

draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3059528%2ff-continuous-a-n-neq2-lim-n-to-inftya-n-2-b-n-fracfa-n-f2a-n-2%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown

























1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









2












$begingroup$

The statement is false.



For example if you let $f(x) = |x - 2|$ and $a_n = 2 + frac{1}{n}$ for each $nin mathbb{N}$, then $$lim_{ntoinfty} a_n = 2$$ and
$$lim_{ntoinfty} b_n = lim_{ntoinfty} frac{f(a_n) - f(2)}{a_n - 2} = lim_{ntoinfty} 1 = 1 $$
So $b_n$ converges, but $f$ is not differentiable at $2$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$









  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Thanks! This is exactly the counterexample I eventually used (although it was $|x-2|$ for me rather than $|x|-2$).
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:53










  • $begingroup$
    Oh yes, that is a typo. It should be $|x-2|$.
    $endgroup$
    – M47145
    Jan 2 at 15:00
















2












$begingroup$

The statement is false.



For example if you let $f(x) = |x - 2|$ and $a_n = 2 + frac{1}{n}$ for each $nin mathbb{N}$, then $$lim_{ntoinfty} a_n = 2$$ and
$$lim_{ntoinfty} b_n = lim_{ntoinfty} frac{f(a_n) - f(2)}{a_n - 2} = lim_{ntoinfty} 1 = 1 $$
So $b_n$ converges, but $f$ is not differentiable at $2$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$









  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Thanks! This is exactly the counterexample I eventually used (although it was $|x-2|$ for me rather than $|x|-2$).
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:53










  • $begingroup$
    Oh yes, that is a typo. It should be $|x-2|$.
    $endgroup$
    – M47145
    Jan 2 at 15:00














2












2








2





$begingroup$

The statement is false.



For example if you let $f(x) = |x - 2|$ and $a_n = 2 + frac{1}{n}$ for each $nin mathbb{N}$, then $$lim_{ntoinfty} a_n = 2$$ and
$$lim_{ntoinfty} b_n = lim_{ntoinfty} frac{f(a_n) - f(2)}{a_n - 2} = lim_{ntoinfty} 1 = 1 $$
So $b_n$ converges, but $f$ is not differentiable at $2$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$



The statement is false.



For example if you let $f(x) = |x - 2|$ and $a_n = 2 + frac{1}{n}$ for each $nin mathbb{N}$, then $$lim_{ntoinfty} a_n = 2$$ and
$$lim_{ntoinfty} b_n = lim_{ntoinfty} frac{f(a_n) - f(2)}{a_n - 2} = lim_{ntoinfty} 1 = 1 $$
So $b_n$ converges, but $f$ is not differentiable at $2$.







share|cite|improve this answer














share|cite|improve this answer



share|cite|improve this answer








edited Jan 2 at 15:01

























answered Jan 2 at 14:50









M47145M47145

3,28831131




3,28831131








  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Thanks! This is exactly the counterexample I eventually used (although it was $|x-2|$ for me rather than $|x|-2$).
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:53










  • $begingroup$
    Oh yes, that is a typo. It should be $|x-2|$.
    $endgroup$
    – M47145
    Jan 2 at 15:00














  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Thanks! This is exactly the counterexample I eventually used (although it was $|x-2|$ for me rather than $|x|-2$).
    $endgroup$
    – Amit Zach
    Jan 2 at 14:53










  • $begingroup$
    Oh yes, that is a typo. It should be $|x-2|$.
    $endgroup$
    – M47145
    Jan 2 at 15:00








2




2




$begingroup$
Thanks! This is exactly the counterexample I eventually used (although it was $|x-2|$ for me rather than $|x|-2$).
$endgroup$
– Amit Zach
Jan 2 at 14:53




$begingroup$
Thanks! This is exactly the counterexample I eventually used (although it was $|x-2|$ for me rather than $|x|-2$).
$endgroup$
– Amit Zach
Jan 2 at 14:53












$begingroup$
Oh yes, that is a typo. It should be $|x-2|$.
$endgroup$
– M47145
Jan 2 at 15:00




$begingroup$
Oh yes, that is a typo. It should be $|x-2|$.
$endgroup$
– M47145
Jan 2 at 15:00


















draft saved

draft discarded




















































Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid



  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3059528%2ff-continuous-a-n-neq2-lim-n-to-inftya-n-2-b-n-fracfa-n-f2a-n-2%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown





















































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown

































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown







Popular posts from this blog

How do I know what Microsoft account the skydrive app is syncing to?

When does type information flow backwards in C++?

Grease: Live!