Continuity of function in $\mathbb{R}^2$

continuitymultivariable-calculus

Where should I start if I want to study the continuity of a function in $\mathbb{R}^2$?
Like this one:
$$f(x,y)=
\begin{cases}
\frac{x^2y}{x^2+\sqrt{y}} & \quad\text{if } y>0,\\
0 & \quad\text{otherwise.}\\
\end{cases}
$$

I think $f$ is continuous except at $(0,0)$, so I have to take the limit to see if it's continuous, right? But I'm confused about the piecewise function, which would be $0$ at that point… Could someone help me?

Best Answer

You can notice that for $y \gt 0$

$$\begin{aligned}\vert f(x,y) \vert &= \left\vert \frac{x^2y}{x^2+\sqrt{y}} \right\vert\\ &\le \left\vert \frac{x^2y}{x^2} \right\vert = \vert y \vert \end{aligned}$$ and that the exact same inequality is also satisfied for $y \le 0$ as in that case $f$ vanishes.

As for any $u \in \mathbb R$ $\lim\limits_{(x,y) \to (u,0)} \vert y \vert = 0$, you can conclude that $f$ is continuous at $(u,0)$ as $f(u,0) = 0$.

Also, $f$ is continuous at $(u,v)$ with $v \neq 0$ using continuity of composition of continuous maps.

Finally, $f$ is continuous everywhere.

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