Scribd
Upload
91 views5 pages

Limit Examples

The document provides 7 examples of evaluating limits as x approaches various values. In the examples: - Limits requiring checking left- and right-hand limits to determine if the limit exists are shown. - The squeeze theorem is used to evaluate a limit of a rational function as x approaches infinity. - Various techniques are demonstrated, such as replacing terms with equivalent expressions and dividing rational functions by the highest power of x. - Limits of exponential functions are evaluated by noting behaviors as the variable approaches particular values.

Uploaded by

Manjunath TC
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
91 views5 pages

Limit Examples

The document provides 7 examples of evaluating limits as x approaches various values. In the examples: - Limits requiring checking left- and right-hand limits to determine if the limit exists are shown. - The squeeze theorem is used to evaluate a limit of a rational function as x approaches infinity. - Various techniques are demonstrated, such as replacing terms with equivalent expressions and dividing rational functions by the highest power of x. - Limits of exponential functions are evaluated by noting behaviors as the variable approaches particular values.

Uploaded by

Manjunath TC
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

Limit examples

Example 1
Evaluate
lim
x4
x
2
x
2
4
If we try direct substitution, we end up with
16
0
(i.e., a non-zero constant over zero), so
well get either + or as we approach 4. We then need to check left- and right-hand
limits to see which one it is, and to make sure the limits are equal from both sides.
Left-hand limit:
lim
x4

x
2
(x 4)(x + 4)
As x 4

, the function is negative since


(+)
2
()(+)
= (), so the left-hand limit is .
Right-hand limit:
lim
x4
+
x
2
(x 4)(x + 4)
As x 4
+
, the function is positive since
(+)
2
(+)(+)
= (+), so the right-hand limit is +.
Since the left- and right-hand limits are not equal,
lim
x4
x
2
x
2
4
DNE
Example 2
Evaluate
lim
x3
x
2
2x 3
x
2
+ 6x + 9
If we try direct substitution, we end up with
12
0
, so well get either + or as we
approach -3. As in the last example, we need to check left- and right-hand limits to see
which one it is, and to make sure the limits are equal from both sides.
1
Left-hand limit:
lim
x3

(x 3)(x + 1)
(x + 3)
2
As x 3

, the function is positive since


()()
()
2
=
(+)
(+)
= (+), so the left-hand limit
is +.
Right-hand limit:
lim
x3
+
(x 3)(x + 1)
(x + 3)
2
As x 3
+
, the function is positive since
()()
(+)
2
=
(+)
(+)
= (+), so the right-hand limit
is also +.
Since the left- and right-hand limits are the same,
lim
x4
x
2
2x 3
x
2
+ 6x + 9
=
Example 3
Evaluate
lim
x0
+
2
sin(x)
First of all, we note that direct substitution fails (we get
2
0
). There are a couple of dierent
ways we can look at this problem. For either one, we observe that as x 0
+
, sin(x) also
goes to zero from values greater than zero (i.e., sin(x) 0
+
): So, lim
x0
+
2
sin(x)
is either +
or . From what we observed above, we know the function will be
(+)
(+)
= (+), so the limit
is +.
The other way we can approach this is to replace sin(x) with another variable that goes
to the same value as sin(x) when we take the limit. Since sin(x) 0
+
as x 0
+
, then
lim
x0
+
2
sin(x)
= lim
t0
+
2
t
( which still = ).
2
Example 4
Evaluate
lim
x
x cos(x)
x
We are eventually going to use the Squeeze Theorem on this example. There are a couple of
ways to approach this; the part of the function being squeezed will be dierent in each case,
but the end result is the same.
1. We rst rewrite the function by dividing the numerator through by x, and then use
limit laws to split into two separate limits:
lim
x
x cos(x)
x
= lim
x
(
1
cos(x)
x
)
= lim
x
1 lim
x
cos(x)
x
= 1 lim
x
cos(x)
x
We now use the Squeeze Theorem on the remaining limit:
We know that
1 cos(x) 1
Since x +, x is positive, dividing this inequality through by x wont change the
inequalities:

1
x

cos(x)
x

1
x
So,
lim
x

1
x
lim
x
cos(x)
x
lim
x
1
x
The outer limits are both 0, so by the Squeeze Theorem,
lim
x
cos(x)
x
= 0,
and thus
lim
x
x cos(x)
x
= 1 0 = 1
2. In this second approach, we start into the Squeeze Theorem right away:
1 cos(x) 1
So
1 cos(x) 1,
which is the same as
1 cos(x) 1.
Adding x to all sides gives us
x 1 x cos(x) x + 1,
3
and then dividing through by x gives us
x 1
x

x cos(x)
x

x + 1
x
(since x +, x is positive, so dividing through by x wont change the inequalities).
Now we can use the Squeeze Theorem to say that
lim
x
x 1
x
lim
x
x cos(x)
x
lim
x
x + 1
x
Both outside limits involve rational functions with the same degree in both numerator
and denominator, so the limit as x is simply the ratio of the leading coecients,
which in both of these is
1
1
= 1. Since the outside limits go to the same value, then,
by the Squeeze Theorem,
lim
x
x cos(x)
x
= 1
Example 5
Evaluate
lim
x
5x
2
x + 3
Note: In this case we cant use the theorem we talked about in class for the limit of a rational
function since that theorem only applied in cases where x +, not when x .
However, we can still use the method of dividing through by a power of x. Now, we dont
always want to divide through by the highest power from either numerator or denominator
(in this case, if we divided the numerator and denominator through by x
2
, wed end up with
a numerator going to 0); here, well instead divide everything through be the highest power
in the denominator:
lim
x
5x
2
x + 3
= lim
x
5x
2
x
x + 3
x
= lim
x
5x
1 +
3
x
Now
3
x
0 as x , so the denominator is going to 1 (which is positive). The numerator
is going to since we have a positive constant times x, so the entire function is going to
be negative:
(+)()
(+)
= (). Thus,
lim
x
5x
2
x + 3
=
Example 6
Evaluate
lim
x
e
3x
2
4
To show this one formally, we rst note that as x , then
x
2

as well, so
x
2

and
3 x
2

also. So, we can replace the 3x


2
in the exponent with another variable (say, t) that goes
to without changing the limit, i.e.,
lim
x
e
3x
2
= lim
t
e
t
(= 0 by properties mentioned in class).
Example 7
Evaluate
lim
x
1
e
x
In this example, we rst rewrite the limit as
lim
x
e
x
,
which is + from properties mentioned in class.
5

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy