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LimitsEvaluating
Limits(Evaluating)
Youshouldread Limits(AnIntroduction) first
Example:
(x21)
(x1)
Let'sworkitoutforx=1:
(121)
(11)
(11)
(11)
0
0
Now0/0isadifficulty!Wedon'treallyknowthevalueof0/0(itis"indeterminate"),sowe
needanotherwayofansweringthis.
Soinsteadoftryingtoworkitoutforx=1let'stryapproachingitcloserandcloser:
ExampleContinued:
x
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(x21)
(x1)
0.5
1.50000
0.9
1.90000
0.99
1.99000
0.999
1.99900
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0.9999
1.99990
0.99999
1.99999
...
Nowweseethatasxgetscloseto1,then
...
(x21)
(x1)
getscloseto2
Wearenowfacedwithaninterestingsituation:
Whenx=1wedon'tknowtheanswer(itisindeterminate)
Butwecanseethatitisgoingtobe2
Wewanttogivetheanswer"2"butcan't,soinsteadmathematicianssayexactlywhatis
goingonbyusingthespecialword"limit"
2
Thelimitof (x 1) asxapproaches1is2
(x1)
Anditiswritteninsymbolsas:
Soitisaspecialwayofsaying,"ignoringwhathappenswhenwegetthere,butasweget
closerandclosertheanswergetscloserandcloserto2"
Asagraphitlookslikethis:
So,intruth,wecannotsaywhatthevalueatx=1is.
Butwecansaythatasweapproach1,thelimitis2.
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Evaluating Limits
"Evaluating"meanstofindthevalueof(thinke"value"ating)
Intheexampleabovewesaidthelimitwas2becauseitlookedlikeitwasgoingtobe.
Butthatisnotreallygoodenough!
Infacttherearemanywaystogetanaccurateanswer.Let'slookatsome:
1.JustPutTheValueIn
Thefirstthingtotryisjustputtingthevalueofthelimitin,andseeifitworks(inother
words substitution ).
Let'strysomeexamples:
Example
SubstituteValue
Works?
(11)/(11)=0/0
10/2=5
Itdidn'tworkwiththefirstone(weknewthat!),butthesecondexamplegaveusaquick
andeasyanswer.
2.Factors
Wecantry factoring .
Example:
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Byfactoring(x21)into(x1)(x+1)weget:
Nowwecanjustsubstitiutex=1togetthelimit:
3.Conjugate
Whenit'safraction,multiplyingtopandbottombya conjugate mighthelp.
Theconjugateiswherewechange
thesigninthemiddleof2termslikethis:
Hereisanexamplewhereitwillhelpusfindalimit:
Evaluatingthisatx=4gives0/0,whichisnotagoodanswer!
So,let'strysomerearranging:
Multiplytopandbottombytheconjugateofthetop:
Simplifytopusing
Simplifytopfurther:
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Cancel(4x)fromtopandbottom:
So,nowwehave:
Done!
4.InfiniteLimitsandRationalFunctions
ARationalFunctionisonethatistheratiooftwopolynomials:
Forexample,hereP(x)=x3+2x1,andQ(x)=6x2:
Byfindingtheoverall DegreeoftheFunction wecanfindoutwhetherthefunction'slimit
is0,Infinity,Infinity,oreasilycalculatedfromthecoefficients.
Readmoreat LimitsToInfinity .
5.FormalMethod
Theformalmethodsetsaboutprovingthatwecangetascloseaswewanttothe
answerbymaking"x"closeto"a".
Readmoreat Limits(FormalDefinition)
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