MTH 252

Section 4.5
Exercise 61
Justin Drawbert
June 30, 2010

In James Stewart’s Calculus: Concepts and Contexts, 4th Edition, Section 4.5, Exercise 61, one
is asked to evaluate the limit
x
lim √
x→∞ x2 + 1
At first glance it appears as if the equation
√ is going to ∞/∞, since the numerator is approaching
∞ as the denominator is approaching ∞2 + 1. Thus, one might be inclined to evaluate this limit
by first using l’Hospital’s Rule. However, first applying l’Hospital’s yields the following:
√
x H 1 1 x2 + 1
lim √ = lim 1 − 1 = lim x = lim
x→∞ x2 + 1 x→∞ · (x2 + 1) 2 · 2
x x→∞ √x2 +1 x→∞ x
2

If one were to then apply l’Hospital’s rule a second time:

√
· (x2 + 1)− 2 ·
2x
1 1
x2 + 1 H x
lim = lim 2 =√
x→∞ x x→∞ 1 2
x +1
One could go applying l’Hospital’s rule indefinitely and never get anywhere.
√ One should instead
see that is is possible to first factor x2 out of the radical expression x2 + 1 and then evaluate the
limit as usual. The use of l’Hospital’s rule is not required.
x x x 1 1
lim √ = lim q = lim q
=√ = =1
x→∞ x2 +1 x→∞
x2 (1 + 1 x→∞ 1 1+0 1
x2 ) x

1+ x2

One can see that by evaluating the limit without the use of l’Hospital’s rule, the limit is 1.

It is interesting to note, however, that the use of l’Hospital’s rule for the given limit does not
actually lead to an incorrect answer. One could factor x2 out of the radical even after applying
l’Hospital’s rule and still get 1.
q q
√ 2 (1 + 1 ) 1 r
2
x +1 x x 2 x

1 + x2 1 √
lim = lim = lim = lim 1 + 2 = 1 + 0 = 1
x→∞ x x→∞ x x→∞ x

x→∞ x
This is in fact true of any limit in the form
ax
lim √
x→∞ bx2 + c
where a, b, and c be constants and b > 0.

One can test this by first factoring x2 out of the radical and then evaluating the limit
√
ax ax ax

c a a b
lim √ = lim p = lim p c
=√ =√ =
x→∞ bx2 + c x→∞ x2 (b + xc2 ) x→∞ x
b + x2 b+0 b b

1
If one were to attempt to first apply l’Hospital’s rule, one would get:
√
ax H a a a bx2 + c
lim √ = lim = lim = lim
· (bx2 + c)− 2 · 2
bx
1
x→∞ bx2 + c x→∞ 1 x→∞ √ bx x→∞ bx
2 bx2 +c

At this point, there are two choices. Either to apply l’Hospital’s rule again or to factor attempt
to evaluate the limit by a different means. For the sake of argument, suppose one chose to apply
l’Hospital’s rule a second time
√
a · 1 · (bx2 + c)− 2 ·
2bx
1
a bx2 + c H 2 a
bx 1 ax
lim = lim =√ · =√
x→∞ bx x→∞ b bx + c
b
2 bx2 + c
One would see, having been left with the original function, that, as before, l’Hospital’s rule could be
applied indefinitely and no progress be made. So, suppose instead that after applying l’Hospital’s
rule the first time (or any odd number of times, for that matter), that one were to then try to
evaluate the limit by a different means.
√ p p √ √
a bx2 + c ax

b + xc2 a b + xc2 a b+0 a b
lim = lim = lim = =
x→∞ bx x→∞ bx
x→∞ b b b
It can now be seen, that for limits in this form, it actually doesn’t matter whether l’Hospital’s
rule is applied or not. The end result is the same. However, l’Hospital’s rule is still unnecessary, not
to mention it is also a fair amount of additional work. And even though the results are the same,
it should not be applied in order to avoid forming a habit of applying L’Hospital’s rule willy-nilly.
sin x
For there are indeed functions, such as lim− , in which the use of l’Hospital’s rule will
x→π 1 − cos x
actually yield a wrong answer.