Math 4603 Advanced Calculus I

Homework 7: Sections 3.3, 3.4

Due date: Friday, July 12
Short Answer
State the answer to each of the following questions. It is not necessary to write down
any justification (though of course one would want to be able to explain how each
solution was obtained).
1. Determine if each set S is open. If it is open, give the value of  such that a
neighborhood of the form (x , x + ) is contained in the set S for a general
element x S. If it is not open, give an element of the set for which such a
neighborhood cannot be found.
(a) S = (0, 1)
Solution:  = min{|x|/2, |x 1|/2}
(b) S = [0, 1]
Solution: not open because there is no such neighborhood for 0 or for 1
(c) S = (0, 1]
Solution: not open because there is no such neighborhood for 1
(d) S = Z
Solution: not open because there is no such neighborhood for any integer
(e) S = R
Solution:  = 1 or any other real number
(f) S =
Solution:  = any value; the definition of an open set is satisfied vacuously for
the set containing no points
(g) S = {1/n : n J}
Solution: not open because there is no such neighborhood for any point in the
set
2. Determine if each set from the previous problem is closed. If it is closed, list its
accumulation points. If it is not closed, give an accumulation point which is not
in the set S.
Solution:
(a) (0, 1) is not closed becasue 0 and 1 are accumulation points which are not
elements of the set
(b) [0, 1] is closed because its set of accumulation points is [0, 1]
(c) (0, 1] is not closed because 0 is an accumulation point which is not an
element of the set
(d) Z is closed because its set of accumulation points is
(e) R is closed because its set of accumulation points is R

(f) is closed because its set of accumulation points is

(g) {1/n : n J} is not closed because 0 is an accumulation point which is not
an element of the set
3. Show that each set is not compact by finding an open cover of each set which
has no finite subcover.
(a) [0, ) = {x R : x 0}
Solution: One possible solution is {(1, n)}
n=1 .
(b) (0, 1)
Solution: One possible solution is {(1/n, 1)}
n=1 .
4. Find an interval of length 1 that contains a root of each equation.
(a) xex = 1
Solution: (0, 1)
(b) x3 6x2 + 2.826 = 0
Solution: (0, 1)

Proofs
For the remaining problems, a proof is required. In particular, a complete solution
must be stated in sentence form with appropriate justification for each step.
1. Let E R. Prove that E is closed if, for every x0 such that there is a sequence
{xn }
n=1 of points of E converging to x0 , it is true that x0 E. In other words,
prove that E is closed if it contains all limits of sequences of members of E.
Solution: Let E R satisfy the property that if, for every x0 such that there is a
sequence {xn }
n=1 of points of E converging to x0 , it is true that x0 E. Let y be
an accumulation point of E. Then every neighborhood of y contains a point of
E.
Define a sequence {xn }
n=1 by choosing for each neighborhood
(x0 1/n, x0 + 1/n) a point of xn E which lies in that neighborhood. This
sequence converges to y because for each  > 0 we may choose N > 1/, in
which case whenever n N we will have |xn y| < 1/n < 1/N < . That is, any
accumulation of E is the limit of some sequence of elements of E. This shows
that E contains all of its accumulation points, so it is closed.
2. (a) Prove that every set of the form (a, b) = {x R : a < x < b} is open.
Solution: Let x (a, b), and let  = min{x a, b x}. Now observe that
(x , x + ) (a, b): Let y (x , x + ). Since  x a, we have a x ;
also, since  b x, we have x +  b. This gives
a x  < y < x +  b,
so y (a, b). This shows that x (a, b) has neighborhood (x , x + ) contained
in (a, b).
(b) Prove that every set of the form [a, b] = {x R : a x b} is closed.
Solution: We must show that every accumulation point of [a, b] is contained in
[a, b]. Suppose there is an accumulation point x of [a, b] which is not an element
of [a, b]. Since x is an accumulation point of [a, b], every neighborhood of x ust
contain elements of [a, b].
Let  = min{|x a|/2, |x b|/2}. That is, if x < a, then  = (x a)/2 and if x > b,
then  = (x b)/2. Consider the neighborhood (x , x + ). No elements of
[a, b] lie in this neighborhood, contradicting the assumption that x is an
accumulation point of [a, b].
3. Let D R, and let D0 be the set of accumulation points of D. Prove that
D = D D0 is closed and that if F is an closed set that contains D, then D F .
(D is called the closure of D.)
Solution: First I will show that D is closed. Let x be an accumulation point of
D. That is, every neighborhood of x contains infinitely many points in the set D.
Suppose there is some neighborhood P of x for which P does not contain
infinitely many points of D. Then, since x is an accumulation point of
D = D D0 , the neighborhood P must contain a point y D0 . However, then P
is a neighborhood of y, which is an accumulation point of D, so P must contain

infinitely many points of D. This gives a contradiction; therefore P must

contain infinitely many points of D. This shows that x is an accumulation point
of D, so x D0 and therefore x D. This proves that D contains its
accumulation points, so it is closed.
Next I will show that any closed set F which contains D must also contain D.
Let F be closed such that D F . Let x D, so x D or x D0 . If x D, then
x F since D F . If x D0 , then x is an accumulation point of D. That is,
every neighborhood of x contains a point y D with y 6= x. But then y F
since D F , so x is an accumulation point of F . Since F is closed, x F . This
shows that D F .
4. If D R, then x D is said to be an interior point of D iff there is a
neighborhood Q of x such that Q D. Define D to be the set of interior points
of D. Prove that D is open, and that if S is any open set contained in D, then
S D . (D is called the interior of D.)
Solution: To see that D is open, let x D . Then there exists a neighborhood Q
of x such that Q D. That is, there exists  > 0 such that (x , x + ) D. By
Proof #2a, an open interval is an open set, so for every y (x , x + ), there
exists a neighborhood P of y for which P (x , x + ) D. This shows that y
has a neighborhood contained in D, so y D . This gives (x , x + ) D , so
x has a neighborhood contained in D . This means that D is open.
To see that any open set S D is contained in D , let x S. Since S is open,
there exists a neighborhood Q of x for which Q S. Because S D, we have
Q D, so x D . This shows that S D .
5. Suppose f : [a, b] R is continuous and f (b) y f (a). Prove that there is
c [a, b] such that f (c) = y. (Note that this is a slightly different statement than
the Intermediate Value Theorem. You may reference the IVT in your solution.)
Solution: First observe that if f (b) = y, then b [a, b] gives the desired value of
c. Similarly, if f (a) = y, then a [a, b] gives the desired value of c.
Instead, assume that f (b) < y < f (a). Then we may apply the Intermediate
Value Theorem to conclude that there exists c (a, b) [a, b] such that f (c) = y.
6. Suppose that f : [a, b] [a, b] is continuous. Prove that there is at least one fixed
point in [a, b]; that is, there exists x [a, b] such that f (x) = x.
Solution: Define a function h : [a, b] R by h(x) = f (x) x. Note that if
h(a) = 0 or h(b) = 0, then either f (a) = a or f (b) = b, so the theorem is proven.
Suppose that h(a) 6= 0 6= h(b). I will apply Bolzanos Theorem to the function h.
The function h is continuous because it is the sum of continuous functions.
Since a < f (a), f (b) < b, we know that h(a) = f (a) a is positive and
h(b) = f (b) b is negative. By Bolzanos Theorem, there exists z (a, b) such
that h(z) = 0, which means that f (z) z = 0 and so f (z) = z.