Jump Discontinuity

Pronunciation: /dʒʌmp ˌdɪs kɒn tnˈu ɪ ti/ ?

Figure 1: A function with a jump discontinuity at 1.

A jump discontinuity is a discontinuity where the value of a function 'jumps'. In more exact terms, a jump discontinuity occurs at a value of the independent variable where the right hand limit and left hand limit both exist, but these limits are not equal to each other.

References

1. jump discontinuity. merriam-webster.com. Encyclopedia Britannica. (Accessed: 2010-03-04). http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jump discontinuity.
2. Continuity and Discontinuity, (article has since been deleted), pg 2. ocw.mit.edu. MIT OpenCourseWare Single Variable Calculus. MIT, Fall 2006. (Accessed: 2010-03-04). http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/4D85F17F-45B7-4636-8250-2367BE0C0DD8/0/c_cntnt_dscntnt.pdf.

Cite this article as:

Jump Discontinuity. 2010-03-04. All Math Words Encyclopedia. Life is a Story Problem.org. http://www.allmathwords.org/en/j/jumpdiscontinuity.html.

Translations

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Image Credits

• All images and manipulatives are by David McAdams unless otherwise stated. All images by David McAdams are Copyright © Life is a Story Problem.org and are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Revision History

2010-03-04: Added "References" and figure 1 (McAdams, David.)
2007-07-12: Initial Version (McAdams, David.)