Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2003/ib/paper-1/1f/iii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 ib Paper 1 1F iii Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Assume every continuous function is bounded. The Euclidean norm function is continuous, so its boundedness proves that is a bounded set.
If were not a closed set, there would be . Choose with . The function is continuous everywhere on , because its denominator is nonzero there. Yet , contradicting the hypothesis. Thus is closed. Together with the two previous implications this proves all three conditions are equivalent. The empty set satisfies all three conditions trivially. This is the Euclidean case of the bounded-continuous-function characterization of compact metric spaces.
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