Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / ia / Paper 1 / 9D (Analysis I)

The intermediate value theorem states that if $f:[a,b]\to \mathbb{R}$ is continuous and $y$ lies between $f(a)$ and $f(b)$, then there exists $c\in [a,b]$ such that $f(c)=y$.

A function is differentiable at $a$ when the finite limitexists. A derivative need not be continuous. For example,is differentiable everywhere and $f^{\prime }(0)=0$, but for $x\ne 0$,which has no limit at zero.

The mean value theorem states that if $f$ is continuous on $[a,b]$ and differentiable on $(a,b)$, then some $c\in (a,b)$ satisfies

Set $h(x)=f(x)-yx$. ThenThe extreme value theorem gives a minimum of $h$ on $[a,b]$. If it occurs in $(a,b)$, the two-sided difference quotient gives $h^{\prime }(c)=0$. If it occurs at $a$, either $h^{\prime }(a)=0$ or a negative right derivative contradicts minimality; the endpoint $b$ is analogous. Hence some $c\in [a,b]$ satisfiesThis proves the Darboux theorem for derivatives in the stated case without assuming that $f^{\prime }$ is continuous.

Because a differentiable function is continuous, defineThe fundamental theorem of calculus gives $F^{\prime }(x)=f^{\prime }(x)+f(x)$. At the endpoints,whileApplying the result just proved to $F$ yields $d\in [a,b]$ with