[Math] prove the continuity of $f(x)=\log x$ using a $\epsilon-\delta$ proof

calculuscontinuitylimitsreal-analysis

I need to prove the continuity of $f(x)=\log x$ using a $\epsilon-\delta$ proof

These is what I have so far but am not sure how to continue

$|\log x-\log a| < \epsilon$

$\log a- \epsilon < \log x < \log a+ \epsilon$

$\frac{a}{e^\epsilon} < x < {a}e^\epsilon$

Any help is appreciated

Best Answer

By your inequality, the absolute value of the difference is $\lt \epsilon$ if $$\frac{a}{e^{\epsilon}}-a \lt x-a\lt ae^\epsilon -a$$ (we subtracted $a$ from each side of each of your two inequalities). Let $\delta=a\min\left(1-\frac{1}{e^{\epsilon}}, e^\epsilon -1\right)$.

Remark: Actually, $1-\frac{1}{e^{\epsilon}}$ is the smaller of the two, so in effect we are letting that be $\delta$. But we really don't need to bother finding that out: all we need to do is to show there is a $\delta$ that works.

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