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    Lesson 4 - Limits at Infinity

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    Lewis Pharmaceuticals
    1. The document discusses limits at infinity, including the formal definitions of limits as x approaches positive or negative infinity. 2. It provides an example of evaluating the limit of f(x)=x/(x+2) as x approaches positive and negative infinity, showing the function values approach 1 in both cases. 3. Guidelines are given for finding limits at infinity of rational functions based on the degrees of the numerator and denominator.

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    Lesson 4 - Limits at Infinity

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    Lewis Pharmaceuticals
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    1. The document discusses limits at infinity, including the formal definitions of limits as x approaches positive or negative infinity. 2. It provides an example of evaluating the limit of f(x)=x/(x+2) as x approaches positive and negative infinity, showing the function values approach 1 in both cases. 3. Guidelines are given for finding limits at infinity of rational functions based on the degrees of the numerator and denominator.

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    1. The document discusses limits at infinity, including the formal definitions of limits as x approaches positive or negative infinity. 2. It provides an example of evaluating the limit of f(x)=x/(x+2) as x approaches positive and negative infinity, showing the function values approach 1 in both cases. 3. Guidelines are given for finding limits at infinity of rational functions based on the degrees of the numerator and denominator.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    25 views3 pages

    Lesson 4 - Limits at Infinity

    Uploaded by

    Lewis Pharmaceuticals
    1. The document discusses limits at infinity, including the formal definitions of limits as x approaches positive or negative infinity. 2. It provides an example of evaluating the limit of f(x)=x/(x+2) as x approaches positive and negative infinity, showing the function values approach 1 in both cases. 3. Guidelines are given for finding limits at infinity of rational functions based on the degrees of the numerator and denominator.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    Lesson 4: Limits at Infinity

    Learning Objectives:

    At the end of the lesson, learners will be able to:

    1. Illustrate and evaluate limits at infinity

    LIMITS AT INFINITY
    x
    f ( x )=
    x+ 2
    Consider a function defined by .
    Let us allow x to increase and decrease without bound. The corresponding function
    values appear in the table below:

    x decreases without bound x increases without bound


    −∞
    +∞

    X -10000 -1000 -100 -10 0 10 100 1000 10000


    f(x) 1.0002 1.0020 1.0204 1.25 0 0.8333 0.9804 0.9980 0.9998
    1
    1 f(x) approaches 1 f(x) approaches 1

    The table clearly suggests that the value of f(x) approaches 1 as x either increases or
    decreases without bound. These limits at infinity are denoted by
    x x
    lim =1 lim =1
    x →+∞ x+ 2 and x →−∞ x +2

    The illustration above allows us to introduce the formal definition of limits at infinity.

    DEFINITIONS OF LIMITS AT INFINITY:

    Let L be a real number.

    lim f (x )=L
    DEFINITION 1: The limit of f(x) as x increases without bound is L, written x → +∞ ,
    if for any ε > 0 , there exists a number M> 0 such that |f ( x )−L| < ∈ whenever x> M .
    lim f ( x )=L
    x → −∞

    DEFINITION 2: The limit of f(x) as x decreases without bound is L, written


    ε >0 N <0 |f ( x )−L| < ∈ x< N
    , if for any , there exists a number such that whenever .

    x → +∞
    REMARKS: The symbol is used to denote that x increases without bound while
    x → −∞
    the symbol is used to denote that x decreases without bound.

    Besides the basic theorems and corollaries on limits, as discussed in the previous
    lessons, the following theorem is likewise essential in evaluating limits at infinity:

    THEOREM: If r is a positive rational number and c is any real number, then

    c c
    lim =0 lim =0
    x → +∞ xr x → −∞ xr
    a) b)

    GUIDELINES FOR FINDING LIMITS AT ±∞ OF RATIONAL FUNCTIONS:

    1. If the degree of the numerator is less than the degree of the denominator, then the limit
    of the rational function is 0.

    2. If the degree of the numerator is equal to the degree of the denominator, then the limit of
    the rational function is the ratio of the leading coefficients.
    3. If the degree of the numerator is greater than the degree of the denominator, then the
    limit of the rational function does not exist.

    Definition: (HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTE)

    lim f ( x ) = L
    The line y = L is a horizontal asymptote of the graph of f if x → +∞ or
    lim f ( x ) = L
    x → −∞ .
    Note that from this definition, the graph of a function of x can have at most two horizontal
    asymptotes.

    Example A: Evaluate the limit of the function


    5 2 x+ 3
    1. lim 3 2. lim
    x→+∞ x x→+∞ 4−x

    2 4
    x +2 x +1 x +1
    3. lim 4. lim
    x→−∞ x 3+ 4 x→−∞ x 2+3 x

    x
    5. lim
    x→+∞ √ x 2−1

    Example B: Determine the horizontal asymptote(s) of the graph of the function.

    1.
    f ( x )=
    x +1
    x−4 2.
    ( )
    g ( x ) =4 1−
    1
    x2

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