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Exercise 112Calculus › Single-variable calculus › Continuity › Continuous and discontinuous functionsL1Added 2 Nov 2026

The square root: uniformly continuous, not Lipschitz

#uniform continuity#Lipschitz#square root

Statement

  1. Prove that ∣x−y∣≤∣x−y∣|\sqrt x-\sqrt y|\le\sqrt{|x-y|} for all x,y≥0x,y\ge0.
  2. Deduce that x↦xx\mapsto\sqrt x is uniformly continuous on [0,+∞)[0,+\infty).
  3. Show that it is not Lipschitz on [0,1][0,1].
Hint

For part 1, assume x≥yx\ge y and square the inequality x≤y+x−y\sqrt x\le\sqrt y+\sqrt{x-y}.

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Solution

1. By symmetry assume x≥y≥0x\ge y\ge0. We want x≤y+x−y\sqrt x\le\sqrt y+\sqrt{x-y}. Both sides are non-negative, so it is equivalent to the inequality of squares:
x≤y+(x−y)+2y(x−y)=x+2y(x−y),x\le y+(x-y)+2\sqrt{y(x-y)}=x+2\sqrt{y(x-y)},
which is true. Hence x−y≤x−y\sqrt x-\sqrt y\le\sqrt{x-y}, and the left side is ≥0\ge0.

2. Let ε>0\varepsilon>0 and δ=ε2\delta=\varepsilon^2. If ∣x−y∣<δ|x-y|<\delta, then ∣x−y∣≤∣x−y∣<δ=ε|\sqrt x-\sqrt y|\le\sqrt{|x-y|}<\sqrt\delta=\varepsilon. The choice of δ\delta does not depend on the point.

3. If x\sqrt x were KK-Lipschitz on [0,1][0,1], then taking y=0y=0 gives x≤Kx\sqrt x\le Kx, i.e. 1x≤K\frac1{\sqrt x}\le K for all x∈(0,1]x\in(0,1]. But 1x→+∞\frac1{\sqrt x}\to+\infty as x→0+x\to0^+. Contradiction.

Remark. So Lipschitz is strictly stronger than uniformly continuous. The problem is the vertical tangent of the graph of x\sqrt x at 00: the slope is unbounded, but the function still moves slowly enough that δ=ε2\delta=\varepsilon^2 works.