Calculus I, Section 2.

6, #46
Limits at Infinity; Horizontal Asymptotes

(a) Use a graph of

! !
f (x) = 3x2 + 8x + 6 − 3x2 + 3x + 1

to estimate the value of limx→∞ f (x) to one decimal place.1

1.8 y √ √
1.6 y= 3x2 + 8x + 6 − 3x2 + 3x + 1
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2 x
-0.2 20 40 60 80 100
-0.4

√ √
From the graph, it seems limx→∞ 3x2 + 8x + 6 − 3x2 + 3x + 1 ≈ 1.4.
(b) Use a table of values of f (x) to estimate the limit to four decimal places.
√ √
x 3x2 + 8x + 6 − 3x2 + 3x + 1
1 1.47735432
10 1.45347731
100 1.44455675
1000 1.44349573
10,000 1.44338770
100,000 1.44337688
√ √
From the table, it seems limx→∞ 3x2 + 8x + 6 − 3x2 + 3x + 1 ≈ 1.4433.
(c) Find the exact value of the limit.
We want
! !
lim 3x2 + 8x + 6 − 3x2 + 3x + 1
x→∞

Direct substitution is not possible because ∞ is not a real number. Because there is a difference of
roots, let’s try multiplying numerator and denominator by the conjugate.
! !
lim 3x2 + 8x + 6 − 3x2 + 3x + 1
x→∞
"√ √ # "√ √ #
3x2 + 8x + 6 − 3x2 + 3x + 1 3x2 + 8x + 6 + 3x2 + 3x + 1
= lim √ √
x→∞ 3x2 + 8x + 6 + 3x2 + 3x + 1
" 2 # " 2 #
3x + 8x + 6 − 3x + 3x + 1
= lim √ √
x→∞ 3x2 + 8x + 6 + 3x2 + 3x + 1
5x + 5
= lim √ √
x→∞ 3x2 + 8x + 6 + 3x2 + 3x + 1
(5x + 5) x1
" #
= lim "√ √
3x2 + 8x + 6 + 3x2 + 3x + 1 x1
#" #
x→∞

1 Stewart, Calculus, Early Transcendentals, p. 138, #46.

Calculus I
Limits at Infinity; Horizontal Asymptotes

5
5+
= lim $ x
$
x→∞ 3x2 8x 6 3x2 3x 1
x2 + x2 + x2 + x2 + x2 + x2
5
5+
= lim $ x
$
x→∞ 8 6 3 1
3+ x + x2 + 3+ x + x2
5
= √ √
3+ 3
5
= √
2 3