Show that a cubic function is continuous, differentiable and has image $(-\infty, \infty)$

algebra-precalculuscalculuscontinuitylimits

Suppose we have $f(x) = x^3 – 3x + 2$. How do I show that $f(x) = 5$ has a solution in a formal way?

I know that $f$ is continuous, $\displaystyle \lim_{x \to \infty} f(x) = \infty$ and $\displaystyle \lim_{x \to -\infty} f(x) = – \infty$ which implies, by IVT that $f(x) = 5$ has a solution.

But the use of limits that way and saying it continuous directly seems like a notation I haven't seen being used by authors as such.

Best Answer

As noted by @geetha290krm, you can observe that $f(3)>5$ and $f(0)<5$. But notice that you don't have to explicitly find those specific points. Since you know that $\lim\limits_{x\to+\infty}f(x)=+\infty$, which means that $\forall M\in\mathbb{R}\ \exists k\in\mathbb{R}\ \forall x\geq k:f(x) > M$, you have that $\exists k\in\mathbb{R}\ \forall x\geq k:f(x)>5$ by taking $M=5$. Similarly, since you know $\lim\limits_{x\to-\infty}f(x)=-\infty$, you can find $\exists k'\in\mathbb{R}\ \forall x\leq k':f(x)<5$. Hence, since $f(k')<5$ and $f(k)>5$, you know by continuity that $\exists x\in(k',k):f(x)=5$. This is the formal reason why you can indeed apply the IVT on the limiting case (it is actually rigorous).