Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 21 views

    Basic Limits: Thomas, 13e

    Uploaded by

    Sage Norrie
    1. This document discusses various limit laws and techniques for finding limits algebraically, including: the constant law, identity law, sum law, difference law, product law, quotient law, and more. 2. It provides examples of finding limits of basic functions directly through substitution or using limit laws. Piecewise functions and limits of indeterminate forms like 0/0 are also addressed. 3. The key techniques presented are rewriting expressions before taking limits, factoring, simplifying complex fractions, and rationalizing denominators to find limits, including one-sided limits, of polynomials, rational functions, and other common functions.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Basic Limits: Thomas, 13e

    Uploaded by

    Sage Norrie
    21 views5 pages
    1. This document discusses various limit laws and techniques for finding limits algebraically, including: the constant law, identity law, sum law, difference law, product law, quotient law, and more. 2. It provides examples of finding limits of basic functions directly through substitution or using limit laws. Piecewise functions and limits of indeterminate forms like 0/0 are also addressed. 3. The key techniques presented are rewriting expressions before taking limits, factoring, simplifying complex fractions, and rationalizing denominators to find limits, including one-sided limits, of polynomials, rational functions, and other common functions.

    Original Description:

    Calculus Section 2.2_2.4b

    Original Title

    2.2_2.4b

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    1. This document discusses various limit laws and techniques for finding limits algebraically, including: the constant law, identity law, sum law, difference law, product law, quotient law, and more. 2. It provides examples of finding limits of basic functions directly through substitution or using limit laws. Piecewise functions and limits of indeterminate forms like 0/0 are also addressed. 3. The key techniques presented are rewriting expressions before taking limits, factoring, simplifying complex fractions, and rationalizing denominators to find limits, including one-sided limits, of polynomials, rational functions, and other common functions.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    21 views5 pages

    Basic Limits: Thomas, 13e

    Uploaded by

    Sage Norrie
    1. This document discusses various limit laws and techniques for finding limits algebraically, including: the constant law, identity law, sum law, difference law, product law, quotient law, and more. 2. It provides examples of finding limits of basic functions directly through substitution or using limit laws. Piecewise functions and limits of indeterminate forms like 0/0 are also addressed. 3. The key techniques presented are rewriting expressions before taking limits, factoring, simplifying complex fractions, and rationalizing denominators to find limits, including one-sided limits, of polynomials, rational functions, and other common functions.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 5

    Thomas, 13e

    MAC 2311: Calculus


    Section 2.2/2.4: Finding Limits Algebraically
    Basic Limits and Limit Laws

    Let a, c .

    Basic Limits:

    1. Constant Law: The limit of a constant is the constant:


    lim c = c
    xa

    Example 1: Find the limits.

    a. lim 5 b. lim
    x 2 x 1 2

    2. Identity Law: The limit of f ( x ) = x as x approaches a is a.


    lim x = a (Direct substitution).
    xa

    Example 2: Find the limits.

    a. lim x b. lim t
    x 3 t 1 4

    More Limit Laws

    =
    Suppose you know lim f ( x ) L=
    and lim g ( x ) M . Then we establish the following limit laws:
    x a x a

    1. Sum Law: The limit of a sum is the sum of the limits:


    lim f ( x ) + g ( x ) = lim f ( x ) + lim g ( x )
    xa xa xa

    2. Difference Law: The limit of a difference is the difference of the limits:


    lim f ( x ) g ( x ) = lim f ( x ) lim g ( x )
    xa xa xa

    3. Product Law: The limit of a product is the product of the limits:


    lim f ( x ) g ( x ) = lim f ( x ) lim g ( x )
    xa xa xa

    4. Quotient Law: The limit of a quotient is the quotient of the limits, provided:
    f ( x ) lim f ( x)
    lim
    xa
    ; provided the lim g ( x ) 0
    xa g ( x ) g ( x) xa
    lim
    xa

    Unit 1 p. 8
    Thomas, 13e
    5. Constant Multiple Law: The limit of a constant times f ( x ) is the constant times the limit of f ( x ) :
    c lim f ( x )
    lim c f ( x ) =
    xa xa

    6. Power Law: The limit of a power of a function is the power of the limit of the function:
    n
    lim f ( x ) = lim f ( x )
    n

    xa xa

    This leads to another basic limit: lim x n = a n (Direct substitution)


    xa

    Example: lim x=
    3
    2=
    3
    8
    x 2

    7. Root Law: The limit of a root is the root of the limit, provided the limit is greater than 0 if the root is
    even:
    lim n f ( x ) n lim f ( x ) ; provided lim f ( x ) > 0 for n even.
    xa xa xa

    Example 3: Find the following limits algebraically.

    3a. lim 2 x 2 + 3x 7
    x 1

    3x + 1
    3b. lim
    x 1 2 x4 x + 5

    Theorem: Limits of Polynomial Functions


    If p ( x ) is a polynomial function, then lim p ( x ) = p ( a ) .
    x a

    Theorem: Limits of Rational Functions


    p ( x) p ( x) p (a)
    If =
    is a rational function, then lim ; provided q ( a ) 0 .
    q ( x) x a q ( x) q (a)

    Unit 1 p. 9
    Thomas, 13e
    Limits with Indeterminate Forms: 0/0 and other Algebraic Techniques
    If you get 0/0, try to simplify the expression and re-take the limit.
    Common techniques:
    Factor/cancel
    Simplify complex fraction
    Rationalize numerator or denominator

    Example 4: Find the limits algebraically.

    x2 + 2 x 3
    4a. lim
    x 3 x+3

    1 1

    4b. lim 3 x 3
    x 0 x

    16 + h 4
    4c. lim
    h 0 h

    Unit 1 p. 10
    Thomas, 13e
    All the limits laws and theorems also hold for one-sided limits:

    Example 5: Find the limits algebraically.

    x2 + 3
    5a. lim
    x4 x5

    5b. lim+ x6 lim x6 lim x6


    x 6 x 6 x 6

    Finding Limits by Direct Substitution: lim f ( x ) = f ( a )


    x a

    In Section 2.5 we will show that the limits of many common functions we know can be found by direct
    substitution, provided you dont run into domain issues and the function is continuous at a.
    These functions will include:

    Polynomial Rational Radical Absolute value

    Exponential Logarithmic Trigonometric functions Inverse Trig Functions

    Limits with Piecewise Functions


    If asked to find lim f ( x ) , where a is the breaking point of the conditions, you will need to check the
    xa

    limit on each side of x = a to see if they are equal.


    Find the LHL using the piece of the function that has the condition x < a
    Find the RHL using the piece of the function that has the condition x > a
    The piece of the function that has the condition x = a matters only if you need to find the
    functions value at a: f ( a ) .

    Unit 1 p. 11
    Thomas, 13e
    Example 6: Find the limit algebraically, if it exists. If the limit DNE, explain why.

    3 x ; x 0
    6a. f ( x ) = f (0) = ? lim f ( x) = ?
    x 0
    e ; x < 0

    x

    When asked to find lim of an absolute value function, re-write it as a piecewise function:
    xa

    x a if x a
    xa =
    then find the one-sided limit on each side of a.
    ( x a ) if x < a

    x
    6b. lim x lim
    x 0 x 0 x

    x 3
    6c. lim
    x 3 x 3

    Unit 1 p. 12

    You might also like