SOLUTIONS TO LIMITS OF FUNCTIONS USING THE PRECISE

DEFINITION OF LIMIT

SOLUTION 1 :

Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find so that if

, then , i.e., , i.e., . But this trivial

inequality is always true, no matter what value is chosen for . For example,
will work. Thus, if , then it follows that . This
completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 2 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find

(which depends on ) so that if , then . Begin
with and ``solve for" |x-10| . Then,

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff .

Now choose . Thus, if , it follows that . This

completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 3 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find

(which depends on ) so that if , then .

Begin with and ``solve for" . Then,

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff .

Now choose . Thus, if , it follows that

. This completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 4 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find

(which depends on ) so that if , then . Begin
with and ``solve for" |x-1| . Then,

iff

iff

iff

iff .

We will now ``replace" the term |x+1| with an appropriate constant and keep the term
|x-1| , since this is the term we wish to ``solve for". To do this, we will arbitrarily
assume that (This is a valid assumption to make since, in general, once we find
a that works, all smaller values of also work.) . Then implies that -
1 < x-1 < 1 and 0 < x < 2 so that 1 < |x+1| < 3 (Make sure that you understand this step
before proceeding.). It follows that (Always make this ``replacement" between your
last expression on the left and . This guarantees the logic of the proof.)

iff

iff .

Now choose (This guarantees that both assumptions made about in

the course of this proof are taken into account simultaneously.). Thus, if
, it follows that . This completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 5 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find

(which depends on ) so that if , then .
Begin with and ``solve for" | x - (-1) | = | x + 1 | . Then,

iff

iff

iff

iff .

We will now ``replace" the term |x-1| with an appropriate constant and keep the term
|x+1| , since this is the term we wish to ``solve for". To do this, we will arbitrarily
assume that (This is a valid assumption to make since, in general, once we find
a that works, all smaller values of also work.). Then implies that -1
< x+1 < 1 and -2 < x < 0 so that 1 < |x-1| < 3 (Make sure that you understand this step
before proceeding.). It follows that (Always make this ``replacement" between your
last expression on the left and . This guarantees the logic of the proof.)
 iff

iff .

Now choose (This guarantees that both assumptions made about in

the course of this proof are taken into account simultaneously.). Thus, if
, it follows that . This completes the
proof.

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SOLUTION 6 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given.

Find (which depends on ) so that if , then .
Begin with and ``solve for" | x - 2 | . Then,

iff

iff

iff .

We will now ``replace" the term |3x+5| with an appropriate constant and keep the term
|x-2| , since this is the term we wish to ``solve for". To do this, we will arbitrarily
assume that (This is a valid assumption to make since, in general, once we find
a that works, all smaller values of also work.) . Then implies that -
1 < x-2 < 1 and 1 < x < 3 so that 8 < |3x+5| < 14 (Make sure that you understand this
step before proceeding.). It follows that (Always make this ``replacement" between
your last expression on the left and . This guarantees the logic of the proof.)

iff

iff .
Now choose (This guarantees that both assumptions made about in
the course of this proof are taken into account simultaneously.). Thus, if
, it follows that . This completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 7 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find

(which depends on ) so that if , then . Begin

with and ``solve for" | x - 3 | . Then,

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff .

We will now ``replace" the term |x+3| with an appropriate constant and keep the term
|x-3| , since this is the term we wish to ``solve for". To do this, we will arbitrarily
assume that (This is a valid assumption to make since, in general, once we find
a that works, all smaller values of also work.) . Then implies that -

1 < x-3 < 1 and 2 < x < 4 so that 5 < |x+3| < 7 and (Make sure that
you understand this step before proceeding.). It follows that (Always make this
``replacement" between your last expression on the left and . This guarantees the
logic of the proof.)

iff

iff

iff .

Now choose (This guarantees that both assumptions made about in

the course of this proof are taken into account simultaneously.). Thus, if

, it follows that . This completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 8 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find

(which depends on ) so that if , then .

Begin with and ``solve for" | x - (-6) | = | x + 6 | .

Then,

iff

iff
 iff

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff .

We will now ``replace" the term |2-x| with an appropriate constant and keep the term
|x+6| , since this is the term we wish to ``solve for". To do this, we will arbitrarily
assume that (This is a valid assumption to make since, in general, once we find
a that works, all smaller values of also work.) . Then implies that -

1 < x+6 < 1 and -7 < x < -5 so that 7 < |2-x| < 9 and (Make sure that
you understand this step before proceeding.). It follows that (Always make this
``replacement" between your last expression on the left and . This guarantees the
logic of the proof.)

iff .

iff

iff .

Now choose (This guarantees that both assumptions made about in

the course of this proof are taken into account simultaneously.). Thus, if
 , it follows that . This
completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 9 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find

(which depends on ) so that if , then . Begin
with and ``solve for" | x - 3 | . Then,

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff .

We will now ``replace" the term | 4x-9 | with an appropriate constant and keep the
term |x-3| , since this is the term we wish to ``solve for". To do this, we will arbitrarily
assume that (This is a valid assumption to make since, in general, once we find
a that works, all smaller values of also work.) . Then implies that -
1 < x-3 < 1 and 2 < x < 4 . HOWEVER, THIS RANGE OF X-VALUES IS NOT

APPROPRIATE SINCE THE FUNCTION IS NOT DEFINED AT

! Fortunately, this problem can be easily resolved. We simply pick small

enough to avoid . For example, assume that . Then

implies that and so that 2 < | 4x-9 | < 4 and

(Make sure that you understand this step before proceeding.). It

follows that (Always make this ``replacement" between your last expression on the
left and . This guarantees the logic of the proof.)

iff

iff

iff .

Now choose (This guarantees that both assumptions made about

in the course of this proof are taken into account simultaneously.). Thus, if
, it follows that . This completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 10 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find

(which depends on ) so that if , then . Begin
with and ``solve for" | x - 9 | . Then,

iff

iff

(At this point, we need to figure out a way to make | x-9 | ``appear'' in our
computations. Appropriate use of the conjugate will suffice.)
 iff

(Recall that .)

iff

iff .

iff .

We will now ``replace" the term with an appropriate constant and keep the
term |x-9| , since this is the term we wish to ``solve for". To do this, we will arbitrarily
assume that (This is a valid assumption to make since, in general, once we find
a that works, all smaller values of also work.) . Then implies that -

1 < x-9 < 1 and 8 < x < 10 so that and

(Make sure that you understand this step before

proceeding.). It follows that (Always make this ``replacement" between your last
expression on the left and . This guarantees the logic of the proof.)

iff

iff .

Now choose (This guarantees that both assumptions made

about in the course of this proof are taken into account simultaneously.). Thus, if
, it follows that . This completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 11 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find
(which depends on ) so that if , then . Begin
with and ``solve for" | x - 4 | . Then,

iff

(At this point, we need to figure out a way to make | x-4 | ``appear'' in our
computations. Appropriate use of the conjugate will suffice.)

iff

(Recall that .)

iff

iff

iff

iff .

We will now ``replace" the term with an appropriate constant and keep
the term |x-4| , since this is the term we wish to ``solve for". To do this, we will
arbitrarily assume that (This is a valid assumption to make since, in general,
once we find a that works, all smaller values of also work.) . Then

implies that -1 < x-4 < 1 and 3 < x < 5 so that and

(Make sure that you understand this step before

proceeding.). It follows that (Always make this ``replacement" between your last
expression on the left and . This guarantees the logic of the proof.)
 iff

iff .

Now choose (This guarantees that both assumptions made

about in the course of this proof are taken into account simultaneously.). Thus, if
, it follows that . This completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 12 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find

(which depends on ) so that if , then . Begin
with and ``solve for" | x - 1 | . Then,

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff

(At this point, we need to figure out a way to make | x-1 | ``appear'' in our
computations. A simple use of constants will get us started.)

iff
 iff

iff

(We need to be able to factor (x-1) from the numerator. Apply the conjugate to the
term .)

iff

iff

iff

iff

(Now get a common denominator.)

iff

iff

iff

iff

iff .

We will now ``replace" the terms and with appropriate constants

and keep the term |x-1| , since this is the term we wish to ``solve for". To do this, we
will arbitrarily assume that (This is a valid assumption to make since, in
general, once we find a that works, all smaller values of also work.). Then
implies that -1 < x-1 < 1 and 0 < x < 2 so that . In

addition, so that and

(Make sure that you understand these steps before

proceeding.). It follows that (Always make this ``replacement" between your last
expression on the left and . This guarantees the logic of the proof.)

iff

iff .

Now choose (This guarantees that both assumptions made about in

the course of this proof are taken into account simultaneously.). Thus, if
, it follows that . This completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 13 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find

(which depends on ) so that if , then . Begin
with and ``solve for" | x - a | . Then,

iff .

At this point, we need to figure out a way to introduce the term | x-a | into our
computations. The answer lies with the Mean Value Theorem. Consider the function
on the interval [A, B] . Since f is continuous on the closed interval [A, B]
and differentiable ( ) on the open interval (A, B) , according to the Mean
Value Theorem there is at least one number C , A < C < B , satisfying

i.e.,
 .

Then

so that

This is true for any two real numbers, A and B . It follows that (Always make this
``replacement" between your last expression on the left and . This guarantees the
logic of the proof.)

Now choose . Thus, if , it follows that . This

completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 14 : Prove that . Begin by letting be given. Find

(which depends on ) so that if , then . Begin
with and ``solve for" | x - a | . Then,

iff .

At this point, we need to figure out a way to introduce the term | x-a | into our
computations. The answer lies with the Mean Value Theorem. Consider the function
on the interval [A, B] , where A and B are both positive. Since f is

continuous on the closed interval [A, B] and differentiable ( ) on the open

interval (A, B) , according to the Mean Value Theorem there is at least one number C ,
A < C < B , satisfying

i.e.,
 .

Then, since 0 < A < C < B , it follows that , so that

Thus,

(*) .

This is true for any two positive real numbers A and B , where B > A . At this point,
we need to consider two cases.

If x > a , it follows from inequality (*) that (Always make this ``replacement"
between your last expression on the left and . This guarantees the logic of the proof.)

iff

iff .

Now choose . Thus, if , it follows that .

If x < a , then it is reasonable to assume that since we are considering the limit

as x approaches a . Thus, and it follows from inequality (*) that

so that
 iff

iff .

Now choose . Thus, if , it follows that . This

completes the proof.

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SOLUTION 15 : Let . Prove that does not exist .

ASSUME THAT THE LIMIT DOES EXIST. That is, assume that ,
where L is some real number. It follows that for EACH real number , there
exists another real number so that

if , then .

We will proceed to find ONE for which NO works. THIS WILL BE A

CONTRADICTION OF OUR ASSUMPTION, making our assumption false, proving
that the limit does not exist. (This method is called proof by contradiction.)
By looking at the graph of f , which is given above, we see that x-values chosen
``near'' to x=1 but on opposite sides of x=1 have corresponding y-values which are
``about'' one unit apart. Intuitively, this tells us that the limit does not exist and leads
us to choose an appropriate leading to the above contradiction.

Consider . Under our assumption that the limit does exist, it follows that there is

some number so that if , then . But for

ANY choice of

iff (and x not equal to 1)

iff (and x not equal to 1) .

Thus, both and satisfy , which implies that

and .

In addition,
 = | -1 |

=1.

Now, by the triangle inequality

=1.

We have just concluded that

an obvious contradiction. It must be that the original limit does not exist.

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 About this document ...

Duane Kouba
Tue May 6 10:38:27 PDT 1997