Value of Compactly Supported Function outside its Support

Theorem
Let $f : \R \to \R$ be a continuous real function.

Let $K \subseteq \R$ be a compact subset.

Let $K$ be the support of $f$:


 * $\map \supp f = K$.

Then:


 * $\forall x \notin K : \map f x = 0$

Proof
We have that:


 * $\R = K \cup \paren {\R \setminus K}$.

By definition of the support:


 * $x \in \map \supp f \iff \map f x \ne 0$

By Biconditional Equivalent to Biconditional of Negations:


 * $\neg \paren {x \in \map \supp f} \iff \neg \paren {\map f x \ne 0}$

That is:


 * $x \notin K \iff \map f x = 0$

or


 * $x \in \R \setminus K \iff \map f x = 0$

Hence:


 * $\forall x \notin K : \map f x = 0$