[Math] What’s the difference between continuous and piecewise continuous functions

calculuscontinuitydefinitionpiecewise-continuity

A continuous function is a function where the limit exists everywhere, and the function at those points is defined to be the same as the limit.

I was looking at the image of a piecewise continuous function on the following page: http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/DE/LaplaceDefinition.aspx
But the image of the function they've presented isn't continuous. As such, I'm confused by what a piecewise continuous function is and the difference between it and a normal continuous function.

I'd appreciate it if someone could explain the difference between a continuous function and a piecewise continuous function. Also, please reference the image of the piecewise continuous function presented on this page http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/DE/LaplaceDefinition.aspx .

Thank you.

Best Answer

A piecewise continuous function doesn't have to be continuous at finitely many points in a finite interval, so long as you can split the function into subintervals such that each interval is continuous.

A nice piecewise continuous function is the floor function:

enter image description here

The function itself is not continuous, but each little segment is in itself continuous.

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