Let ϵ>0 be given. We wish to find δ>0 such that when ∣x−2∣<δ, ∣f(x)−7∣<ϵ.
Consider ∣f(x)−7∣<ϵ, keeping in mind we want to make a statement about ∣x−2∣:
∣f(x)−7∣<ϵ∣x3−1−7∣<ϵ∣x3−8∣<ϵ∣x−2∣⋅∣x2+2x+4∣<ϵ∣x−3∣<ϵ/∣x2+2x+4∣
Since x is near 2, we can safely assume that, for instance, 1<x<3. Thus
12+2⋅1+4<x2+2x+4<32+2⋅3+47<x2+2x+4<19191<x2+2x+41<7119ϵ<x2+2x+4ϵ<7ϵ
Let δ=19ϵ. Then:
∣x−2∣<δ∣x−2∣<19ϵ∣x−2∣<x2+2x+4ϵ∣x−2∣⋅∣x2+2x+4∣<x2+2x+4ϵ⋅∣x2+2x+4∣
Assuming x is near 2, x2+2x+4 is positive and we can drop the absolute value signs on the right.
∣x−2∣⋅∣x2+2x+4∣<x2+2x+4ϵ⋅(x2+2x+4)∣x3−8∣<ϵ∣(x3−1)−7∣<ϵ,
which is what we wanted to prove.