Thomas' Calculus 13th Edition

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-32187-896-5
ISBN 13: 978-0-32187-896-0

Chapter 2: Limits and Continuity - Section 2.5 - Continuity - Exercises 2.5 - Page 86: 65

Answer

True. (See the step-by-step explanation for proof.)

Work Step by Step

Let us assume the opposite. If we arrive at a contradiction, we have to abandon our assumption and accept that the given statement is true. Given: f is continuous, never zero. Assumption: f changes sign at least once on the interval. Then, there are numbers a and b on the interval such that f(a) and f(b) have opposite signs. $y_{0}=0$ is a value between f(a) and f(b). The Intermediate Value theorem guarantees that there exists a $c\in(a,b)$ for which $f(c)=0$. This is a contradiction with "f is never zero." Thus, our assumption was wrong -- f NEVER changes sign on the interval.
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