Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune

MT 1113 (Calculus I) – Practice Problems

Note: The ∗-marked questions are supposed to be somewhat difficult.

1. Find sup A (supremum of A) and inf A (infimum of A), where

1 1
A = {x : x2 < 1}, A = {x : 3x2 + 8x − 3 < 0}, A={ + : m, n ∈ N}
m n
2. Let S be a bounded subset of R, i.e., there exist real numbers m and M such that m ≤
s ≤ M for every s ∈ S. Let T be a non-empty subset of S. Prove that

inf S ≤ inf T ≤ sup T ≤ sup S.

3. Let S be a non-empty bounded below subset of R, i.e., there exists real number m such
that m ≤ s for every s ∈ S. Show that if T = {−x : x ∈ S}, then T is bounded above and
sup T = − inf S.
4. Let A and B be non-empty bounded subsets of R. Prove that

sup(A ∪ B) = max{sup A, sup B} and inf(A ∪ B) = min{inf A, inf B}.

5. Show that given any rational number x, there exists a sequence {yn } of irrational numbers
such that yn → x as n → ∞.
6. Show that given any irrational number y, there exists a sequence {xn } of rational numbers
such that xn → y as n → ∞.
7. Let S be a bounded non-empty subset of R. Show that there exists a sequence {sn } of
elements in S such that sn converges to sup S as n → ∞. Show that the sequence {sn }
can be chosen to be monotonically increasing, i.e., s1 ≤ s2 ≤ · · · ≤ sn ≤ sn+1 ≤ . . . . What
happens if S is not bounded above?
8. Let S be a bounded non-empty subset of R. Show that there exists a sequence {tn } of
elements in S such that tn converges to inf S as n → ∞. Show that the sequence {tn } can
be chosen to be monotonically decreasing, i.e., t1 ≥ t2 ≥ · · · ≥ tn ≥ tn+1 ≥ . . . . What
happens if S is not bounded below?
9. Let {xn } be a bounded sequence, i.e., there exists a real number M such that |xn | ≤ M
for every n ∈ N. Consider the sequences {yr } and {zr } defined by

yr = sup{xr , xr+1 , xr+2 , . . . } and zr = inf{xr , xr+1 , xr+2 , . . . }.

Show that both the sequences {yr } and {zr } converge.

10. Let A, B and C be non-empty sets, f : A → B and g : B → C are functions. Define the
composition function g ◦ f : A → C by g ◦ f (x) := g(f (x)) for every x ∈ A . Then prove
or disprove the following assertions
(a) If g ◦ f : A → C is surjective, then so is g .
(b) If g ◦ f : A → C is injective, then so is f .
11. Find the limits of {xn } if they converge and justify your answer :
n
(a) xn = n+1
(b) xn = 21n
(c) xn = √−1
n+1
√
n
(d)xn = √n+1
(e)xn = a1n for a ≥ 1
12. State TRUE or FALSE, giving proper justification for each of the following statements.
(a) If both {xn } and {yn } are unbounded sequences in R, then the sequence {xn yn }
cannot be convergent.
(b) If both {xn } and {yn } are increasing sequences in R, then the sequence {xn yn } must
be increasing.
(c) If {xn }, {yn } are sequences in R such that {xn } is convergent and {yn } is not conver-
gent, then the sequence {xn + yn } cannot be convergent.
(d) A monotonic sequence {xn } in R is convergent iff the sequence {x2n } is convergent.
(e) If {xn } is an unbounded sequence of nonzero real numbers, then the sequence { x1n }
must converge to 0.
13∗ Examine whether the sequences {xn } defined as below are convergent. Also, find their
limits if they are convergent.
(a) xn = √ 1 + √ 1 + ··· + √ 1
for all n ∈ N.
n2 +1 n2 +2 n2 +n+1
 
(b) xn = √1 √ 1√ + √ 1√ + · · · + √2n−1+1 √2n+1 for all n ∈ N.
n 1+ 3 3+ 5
sin n+cos n n


(c) xn = 3
for all n ∈ N.
√
(d) xn = 4n2 + n − 2n for all n ∈ N.
√ √
(e) xn = n2 + n − n2 + 1 for all n ∈ N.
√
(f) x1 = 1 and xn+1 = 1 + xn for all n ∈ N.
(g) x1 = 4 and xn+1 = 3 − x2n for all n ∈ N.
√
(h) x1 = 0 and xn+1 = 6 + xn for all n ∈ N.
√
(i) x1 > 1 and xn+1 = xn for all n ∈ N.
14. Let {xn }, {yn } be sequences in R such that xn → x ∈ R and yn → y ∈ R. Show that

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 limn→∞ max {xn , yn } = max{x, y}.
√
If a sequence {xn } of positive real numbers converges to ℓ ∈ R, then show that limn→∞
15. √ xn =
ℓ.
16. Let {xn } be a convergent sequence in R with limn→∞ xn = ℓ ̸= 0. Show that there exists
n0 ∈ N such that xn ̸= 0 for all n ≥ n0 .
1 1 1
17. If xn = n+1
+ n+2 +· · ·+ n+n for all n ∈ N, then show that the sequence {xn } is convergent.
18. If {xn } is a sequence in R then prove that limn→∞ xn = 0 iff limn→∞ |xn | = 0.Is this also
true ”If {xn } is a sequence in R then limn→∞ xn = ℓ ̸= 0 iff limn→∞ |xn | = ℓ ̸= 0”?Justify
your answer.
19. Assume that if limn→∞ xn = 0 and {yn } is a bounded sequence .Show that limn→∞ xn yn = 0
xn+1
20∗ Suppose that limn→∞ = q. Show that
xn
(a) if q < 1,then limn→∞ xn = 0,
(b) if q > 1,then limn→∞ xn = ∞.
√
21 Prove that the function f (x) = 3 x is a continuous function on real numbers using ϵ − δ
definition .
   
sin (x) x
22 Let f (x) = and g (x) = be two functions.Then
x sin (x)
(a) limx→0+ f (x) =?,
(b) limx→0+ g(x) =?,
Where [·] is greatest integer function i.e. [4.5]=4,[4.9999]=4,[-0.1]=-1,[5]=5
x cos πx
 2
if x ̸= 0,
23* Let f : R → R be defined by f (x) = Examine whether f is
0 if x = 0.
differentiable (i) at 0 (ii) on (0, 1).
24* Show that the equation |x10 − 60x9 − 290| = ex has at least one real root.
25* Find the number of (distinct) real roots of the following equations.
(a) x2 = cos x.
(b) e2x + cos x + x = 0.
26* Show that between any two (distinct) real roots of the equation ex sin x = 1, there exists
at least one real root of the equation ex cos x + 1 = 0. Let f (x) = 3x5 − 2x3 + 12x − 8 for
all x ∈ R. Show that f : R → R is one-one and onto.
27 Consider the function h(x) = x3 − 6x2 + 9x on the interval [0, 3]. Investigate whether
Rolle’s theorem can be applied to this function on this interval. If applicable, find the
value of c in (0, 3) such that h′ (c) = 0.
28 Let p(x) = ex on the interval [−1, 1]. Check if Rolle’s theorem is applicable to this function

3
 on the given interval. If it is, find the value of c in (−1, 1) where p′ (c) = 0.
29 Consider the function q(x) = x3 − 3x2 − 4x + 12 on the interval [1, 4]. Determine if Rolle’s
theorem can be applied to this function on the given interval. If so, find the value of c in
(1, 4) where q ′ (c) = 0.
30 Let f (x) = x2 |x| for all x ∈ R. Examine the existence of f ′ (x), f ′′ (x) and f ′′′ (x), where
x ∈ R.
31 Let f (x) = x2 − 4x + 3 on the interval [1, 3]. Verify if the conditions of Rolle’s theorem
are met on this interval. If they are, find the value of c in the open interval (1, 3) where
f ′ (c) = 0.
32 Let f : R →
 R be differentiable at 0 and f (0) = f ′ (0) = 0. Show that g : R → R, defined
1
f (x) sin x if x ̸= 0,
by g(x) = is differentiable at 0.
0 if x = 0,
33 Let g(x) = sin(x) on the interval [0, π]. Determine if Rolle’s theorem can be applied to
this function on the given interval. If yes, find the value of c in (0, π) where g ′ (c) = 0.
34 Does there exist a continuous function f : [0, 1] → (0, ∞) which is onto or surjective?
Justify your answer
35 Let α represent the last digit of your
( roll number. Does there exist a differentiable function
α if x ∈ [0, 0.5],
f : [0, 1] → R such that f ′ (x) = ?
0.5 otherwise.
Justify your answer.
36 Let α represent the last digit of your roll number and k = max{α, α + 1}. If a differen-
′

tiable function f : R → R such that limx→∞ f (x) = 14 then limx→∞ kf (x) + f (x) =?
(Hint:Use L’Hospital rule)
37 Let α represent the last digit of your roll number. Can you find a non-constant continuous
function f : [0, α + 1] → [0, 1] ∪ {100} such that f (1) = 100?
(
1 if x ∈ Q,
38 Is the function f : R → R, defined by f (x) = continuous at the point
0 if x ∈ R \ Q.
x = 0? Justify your answer.
1. Give an example of a function f : R → R which is discontinuous at every point of R but
|f | : R → R is continuous. Justify your answer.
2. Let α > 1 and let f : R → R satisfy |f (x)| ≤ |x|α for all x ∈ R. Show that f is differentiable
at 0.
3. Let f : R → R be twice differentiable such that f (0) = 0, f ′ (0) > 0 and f ′′ (x) > 0 for all
x ∈ R. Show that the equation f (x) = 0 has no positive real root.
4. Examine whether f : R → R, defined as below, is differentiable at 0.

4
 1
if x = 21n for some n ∈ N,

(a) f (x) = 2n+1

 10 otherwise.
4n
if x = 21n for some n ∈ N,
(b) f (x) =
0 otherwise.
5. Let α represent the last digit of your
( roll number. Does there exist a differentiable function
α if x ∈ [0, 0.5],
f : [0, 1] → R such that f ′ (x) = ?
−1 otherwise.
Justify your answer.(Hint:Define g(x) = kx − f (x), −1 < k < α)
6. Let α represent the last digit of your roll number and k = max{α, α + 1}. If a differen-
′

tiable function f : R → R such that limx→∞ f (x) = k then limx→∞ kf (x) + f (x) =?
(Hint:Use L’Hospital rule)
7. When is a sequence {xn } said to be bounded? When is a sequence {xn } said to be
monotonically decreasing? (Write precise definition, no marks will be given for incorrect
definition). Let xn = n12 . Is {xn } monotonically decreasing and bounded? What can you
say about the convergence of {xn }?