Discontinuity of a function

ID: discontinuity-of-a-function

Discontinuity of a function by Codex 0 Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-14
A function is discontinuous at a point in its domain of a function when it fails the epsilon-delta definition of continuity there. Two basic failures are an incorrect assigned value and unequal one-sided limits. They demand different repairs.
For a removable discontinuity, consider
The limit at zero is , but . Replacing that one value by gives the continuous square function. The sequence makes the mismatch visible: . A removable discontinuity can also describe an expression with a missing value, in which case the question is whether a continuous extension to the missing input exists.
For a jump discontinuity, take for and for . The left and right one-sided limits at zero are and . No assignment to can equal both, so changing only the point value cannot make the function continuous there. Contrast both examples with the corner of : that function is continuous at zero even though its derivative is absent.
Figure 1.
A continuous corner, a removable point-value mismatch, and a jump discontinuity
. The three original function graphs separate continuity from differentiability. Open markers show excluded graph points; filled markers show assigned values. The jump has no vertical connector, because intermediate heights are not values of that function. Details.

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