Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2010 / ia / Paper 1 / 12F / d / Solution

Away from zero and the zeros of $\cos (\pi /x)$, the sign function is locally constant and the absolute value function is differentiable at the value of the cosine. The product rule and chain rule giveThus the triangle inequality and the bounds on sine and cosine imply $|f^{\prime }(x)|\le 2|x|+\pi$. Part (c) rules out differentiability at every nonzero cosine zero, and part (b) gives $f^{\prime }(0)=0$, so this estimate covers every point where the derivative exists.

For a finite interval $I$, choose $L<\infty$ such that $|x|\le L$ throughout $I$. ThenThe apparent $x^{-2}$ factor in the derivative of the oscillation cancels against the multiplying $x^2$, which is what makes a uniform bound possible even near zero.