NCERT Solutions · Class 12 · Chapter 5: Continuity and Differentiability
NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Maths Chapter 5 Exercise 5.2
Exercise 5.2: Chain rule; where derivatives fail. Chain rule: \(\dfrac{d}{dx}f(g(x)) = f'(g(x))\,g'(x)\), working from the outside in. A function is differentiable at c only if the left and right derivatives agree there; a corner (like \(|x - 1|\) at 1) or a jump (like \([x]\) at an integer) spoils this.
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Prove \(f(x) = [x]\), \(0 < x < 3\), is not differentiable at \(x = 1\) and \(x = 2\).
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At 1: for small \(h < 0\), \[\begin{aligned}\dfrac{[1 + h] - [1]}{h} &= \dfrac{0 - 1}{h} \\ &= -\dfrac1h \to +\infty\end{aligned}\], so the left derivative does not exist. (The right derivative is \(\dfrac{1 - 1}{h} = 0\).)
At 2 the same happens: \(\dfrac{[2 + h] - 2}{h} = -\dfrac1h\) for small \(h < 0\).
(Also, f is not even continuous at 1 and 2, and a differentiable function must be continuous.)
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