Classifying the discontinuity at x = 3
Consider the piecewise function
Determine whether is continuous at . If it is not continuous, classify the discontinuity as removable, jump, or infinite, and briefly justify your classification using the relevant one-sided limits and the value .
Hint
Compute the left-hand limit using and the right-hand limit using as , then compare these to each other and to . Recall that a jump discontinuity occurs when both one-sided limits exist but are unequal.
Step-by-step solution
First find the one-sided limits at . From the left, using : . From the right, using : .
Since the left-hand limit is and the right-hand limit is , these two values are unequal, so does not exist even though both one-sided limits exist and are finite. Because both one-sided limits are finite but different, this is a jump discontinuity at (the value is irrelevant to this classification, since the limit itself fails to exist).
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