Section 10.

1: Limits

Chapter 10: Limits and Continuity

Dr. Kareem Elgindy

Mathematics & Statistics Department, College of Sciences

KFUPM
kareem.elgindy@kfupm.edu.sa

17/01/2021

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 Section 10.1: Limits Limit Properties

Outline

Limit Properties
1 Section 10.1: Limits

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 Section 10.1: Limits Limit Properties

Limits
What is the value of the function
x2 − 1
f (x) = ,
x−1
as x gets very close to 1?
We estimate the function value numerically with input-output tables.

We see from the table that as x approaches 1 from either side, the value of
f (x) approaches 2.
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 Section 10.1: Limits Limit Properties

Limits
What is the value of the function
x2 − 1
f (x) = ,
x−1
as x gets very close to 1?
We can also estimate the limiting value of the function from the graph below.

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 Section 10.1: Limits Limit Properties

Limits
What is the value of the function
x2 − 1
f (x) = ,
x−1
as x gets very close to 1?
An arrow, →, is often used to stand for the words “approaches from either
side.” Thus, we can write

f (x) → 2, as x → 1.

We can abbreviate this statement symbolically as follows:

lim f (x) = 2.
x→1

 Such a limit is also called “a two-sided limit,” because we are indicating that
x is approaching 1 from both sides.
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 Section 10.1: Limits Limit Properties

Limits
In general, we use the following definition:

Definition 1 (Intuitive Definition of a Limit)

We write
lim f (x) = L,
x→a

if f (x) → L, as x → a; in other words, if all values of f (x) are close to L for

values of x that are sufficiently close, but not equal, to a.
 The limit L must be a unique real number.
 If there is no such unique number, we say that the limit of f as x approaches
a does not exist (DNE).

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 Section 10.1: Limits Limit Properties

Limits
Example 1
1
Find lim .
x→0 x2
Solution.
The table and graph below show that as x becomes close to 0, the corresponding function
values, 1/x2 , becomes very large and increase without bound toward positive infinity;
i.e., 1
lim = ∞.
x→0 x2

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