[Math] Does continuity imply existence of one sided derivatives

calculusderivativesreal-analysis

From what I understand a derivative may not exist at a given point if the function is not continuous or the right and left side derivatives are not equal.
Does that imply that if a function is continuous, the one sided derivatives exist at it's every point?

Best Answer

For an elementary example, consider

$$f(x) = \begin{cases} \displaystyle x\sin\frac1x & \text{if } x \neq 0, \\ 0 & \text{if } x = 0.\end{cases}$$

This is obviously continuous, but can't be differentiable on either side of $0$, because the function has points on lines $y=x$ and $y=-x$ arbitrarily close to $0$.