Continuous Function: Is There an Open Interval Where f is Monotone?

sbashrawi
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Homework Statement



Let f be continuous on R. Is there an open interval on which f is monotone?

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The Attempt at a Solution



I think there is such interval for non constant function but I am really not sure.
 
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You might want to check out the "Weierstrasse function" which is continuous for all x but differentiable nowhere.
 
In general, no.

Continuity doesn't tell you how the fuction approach it's points. If you knew that f '(x) was either negative or postive around some neighbour of your point then you can say if it is monotone or not.
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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