CONTINUOUS MOTION is motion that continues without a

break. Its prototype is a straight line. There is no limit

to the smallness of the distances traversed.
Calculus wants to describe that motion
mathematically, both the distance traveled and the speed
at any given time, particularly when the speed is not
constant. Solving that mathematical problem is one of the
first applications of calculus.
In any real problem of continuous motion, the distance
traveled will be represented by a "continuous function" of
the time traveled because we always treat time
as continuous.  Therefore, we must investigate what we
mean by a continuous function.
A continuous function
In the previous Lesson, we saw that the limit of a
polynomial as xapproaches any value c, is simply the value
of the polynomial at x = c.
If P(x) is a polynomial, then

Compare Example 1 and Problem 2 of Lesson 2.

We are about to see that that is the definition of a
function being "continuous at the value c."  But why?
 A graph is an aid to seeing a relationship between
numbers. Therefore, consider the graph of a function f(x)
on the left.  That graph is a continuous, unbroken line.
Therefore we want to say that  f(x) is a
continuous function.  But a function is a relationship
between numbers. (Topic 3 of Precalculus.)  Any definition
of a continuous function therefore must be expressed in
terms of numbers only.  To do that, we must see what it is
that makes a graph -- a line -- continuous, and try to find
that same property in the numbers.
(To avoid scrolling, the figure above is repeated .)

If we think of each graph, f(x) and g(x), as having two

branches, two parts -- one to the left of x = c, and the other
to the right -- then the graph of f(x)
stays connected at x = c.  The graph of g(x) on the right
does not. 
In the graph of f(x), there is no gap between the two parts.
Those parts share a common boundary, the point (c,  f(c)).
We saw in Lesson 1 that 
that is what characterizes any continuous quantity.  That is
why the graph
of f(x) is continuous at x = c.
How can we mathematically define the sentence,
"The function f(x) is continuous at x = c."?
Let us think of the values of x being in two parts: one
less than x = c, and one greater. Then as x approaches c,
both from the left and from the right, if the corresponding
values of f(x) -- those numbers -- approach f(c), those values
will share a common boundary, namely the one
number, f(c). Upon borrowing the word "continuous" from
geometry then (Definition 1), we will say that the function is
continuous at x = c.
For example, if y = x2, and c = 4, then

(Lesson 2.)
The limit of x2 as x approaches 4 is equal to 42.
y = x2 is continuous at x = 4.
 In the function g(x), however, the limit of g(x)
as x approaches c does not exist.  If the left-hand limit were
the value g(c), the right-hand limit would not be g(c).  That
function is discontinuous at x = c.
Here is the definition:
 

DEFINITION 3.  A function continuous at a value of x.

We say that a function f(x) that is defined
at x = c is continuousat x = c
if the limit of f(x) as x approaches c
is equal to the value of f(x) at x = c.

In symbols, if

then f(x) is continuous at x = c.
 

And so for a function to be continuous at x = c, the

limit must exist as x approaches c, that is, the left- and
right-hand limits -- those numbers -- must be equal.
(Definition 2.2)
If a function is continuous at every value in an interval,
then we say that the function is continuous in that interval.
And if a function is continuous in any interval, then we
simply call it a continuous function.
 By "every" value, we mean every one we might name; any
meaning more than that is unnecessary. SeeAppendix 2.

Calculus is essentially about functions that are

continuous at every value in their domains.  Prime
examples of continuous functions are polynomials (Lesson
2).
Problem 1.
a)  Prove that this polynomial,
f(x) = 2x2 − 3x + 5,
a)  is continuous at x = 1.
To see the answer, pass your mouse over the
colored area. 
To cover the answer again, click "Refresh"
("Reload").
Do the problem yourself first!
We must apply the definition of "continuous at a
value of x."
Definition 3.
That is, we must show that when x approaches 1 as
a limit, f(x) approaches f(1), which is 4.
(According to the theorems on limits, that is true.)
f(x) therefore is continuous at x = 1.
b)  Can you think of any value of x where that polynomial --
or any 
b)  polynomial -- would not be continuous?
You should not be able to.  Polynomials are
continuous everywhere.  As x approaches any limit c,
any polynomial 
P(x) approaches P(c).
(Lesson 2)
 Problems 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Lesson 2 are examples of
functions -- polynomials -- that are continuous at each
given value.
In addition to polynomials, the following functions also
are continuous at every value in their domains.
Rational functions
Root functions
Trigonometric functions
Inverse trigonometric functions
Logarithmic functions
Exponential functions
These are the functions that one encounters
throughout calculus.