A QUICK REVIEW OF LHOSPITALS RULE

Indeterminate Forms The following expressions when encountered as limits are called indeterminate forms.
1.) 0 , , 0

2.) 0 (), 3.) , 4.) 00 , 0 , 1 .

As an example consider the following two limits: x x2 and lim . x0 x2 x0 x Evaluating the limits of the numerator and the denominator for both of these two functions gives us simply an indeterminate form lim x 0 x2 = lim ; lim x 0 x 2 0 x 0 x however, we all know that if we simplify the functions we get that x 1 = lim = x0 x2 x 0 x lim whereas x2 = lim x = 0. x 0 x x0 0 These two very simply examples show that 0 in the limit is an ambiguous expression and can equal to 0 or . lim

Date : November 2013.

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A QUICK REVIEW OF LHOSPITALS RULE

In fact, some limits of the form f (x) xa g (x) 0 or . This means that, in such limits, might yield an indeterminate form of type 0 theres a competition between f (x) and g (x) as x approaches a. Depending on the strength of the functions f and g , the limit can be determined as 0 or by the behavior of either of the function, or there can be a compromise between the two and the limit may be a nite non-zero number 0 < L < . lim The precise way of determining these limits is via lHospitals Rule. LHospitals Rule If we have an indeterminate form of type
x 0 0 0 or , in other words, if

lim f (x) = 0

and

x0

lim g (x) = 0

or if
x0

lim f (x) = lim

and

x0

lim g (x) =

then

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

ln x 0 = x1 x 1 0 since limx1 ln x = 0 and limx1 x 1 = 0. So, applying lHospitals rule lim ln x lim = lim x1 x 1 x1
d (ln x) dx d (x 1) dx

ln x . x 1 x 1 Solution. Note that Example: Find lim

= lim

1/x

x 1

= 1.

NOTE: You can use lHospitals rule repeatedly more than once. The next example illustrates this fact. x2 + 3 x 5 . Example: Find lim x 2x2 + x + 1 Solution. At a rst glance x2 + 3 x 5 lim = x 2x2 + x + 1

A QUICK REVIEW OF LHOSPITALS RULE

which is an indeterminate form. But by taking the derivative of the numerator and the denominator independently and using lHospitals rule we get that x2 + 3 x 5 2x + 3 = lim = . 2 x 2x + x + 1 x 4x + 1 This limit is still undetermined. So, applying lHospitals rule one more time, we get that 2x + 3 2 1 lim = lim = . x 4x + 1 x 4 2 2 +3x5 Therefore the answer to the initially undetermined limit limx x is 1/2. 2x2 +x+1 lim

Important Remark LHospitals rule is applicable only for indeterminate forms of type 0 and . 0 For all the other types of indeterminate forms, before applying lHospitals rule rst you need to convert it into an indeterminate form of the rst type.

Indeterminate Products (Type 2): If limxa f (x) g (x) = 0 () then re-write the limit using g f or f g = 1 . f g = 1 /g /f This way the indeterminate form 0 ( will be transformed into either 0 or . Then 0 you can apply lHospitals rule. Example: As we have seen in class limx0+ x ln x gives an indeterminate form 0 . However, ln x x ln x = lim = . lim + + x0 x0 1/x So, now you can apply lHospitals rule to conclude that the limit is 0. Indeterminate Dierences (Type 3): Unfortunately, this case does not have a xed recipe that would help us to transform the type 3 indeterminate form into a type 1. However, you can try re-writing the expression using the common denominator, rationalizing it if it involves dierences of square-roots or factoring out a common factor, etc.

A QUICK REVIEW OF LHOSPITALS RULE

Indeterminate Powers (Type 4): This type of indeterminate forms can be transformed into type 1 by taking the logarithm of both sides. You can refer to the Section 4.4 of your textbook for examples to see how one treats these indeterminate forms.