Indeterminate form

The term was originally introduced by Cauchy's student Moigno in the middle of the 19th
century. The most common example of an indeterminate form occurs when determining the limit
of the ratio of two functions, in which both of these functions tend to zero in the limit.
L’Hopital’s Rule : Let (𝑎, 𝑏) be an interval that contains 𝑐.Let 𝑓(𝑥) and 𝑔(𝑥) be differentiable in
(𝑎, 𝑏) except possibility of 𝑐 . If the limit of 𝑓(𝑥)⁄ as 𝑥 approaches 𝑐 produces the
𝑔(𝑥)
𝑓(𝑥) 𝑓′ (𝑥)
indeterminate form 0⁄0 or ∞⁄∞ then lim 𝑔(𝑥) = lim 𝑔′ (𝑥)
𝑥→𝑐 𝑥→𝑐

𝑒 3𝑥 −1
➢ Using L’Hopital’s rule find the limit of lim
𝑥→0 𝑥
Solution:

𝑑
𝑒 3𝑥 −1 (𝑒 3𝑥 −1)
𝑑𝑥
lim = lim 𝑑
𝑥→0 𝑥 𝑥→0 𝑥
𝑑𝑥
3𝑒 3𝑥
= lim
𝑥→0 1
=3
𝑠𝑖𝑛4𝑥
➢ Using L’Hopital’s rule find the limit of lim 𝑥
𝑥→0
Solution:

𝑠𝑖𝑛4𝑥 4𝑐𝑜𝑠4𝑥
Lim = lim
𝑥→0 𝑥 𝑥→0 1
=4
𝑒𝑥
➢ Using L’Hopital’s rule find the limit of lim 𝑒 2𝑥 +1
𝑥→∞
∞
Solution: Because direct substitution produces the indeterminate form ∞
Using L’Hopital’s rule

𝑒𝑥 𝑒𝑥
lim = lim
𝑥→∞ 𝑒 2𝑥 +1 𝑥→∞ 2𝑒 2𝑥
1
= lim
𝑥→∞ 2𝑒 𝑥
=0

➢ lim𝜋(sin 𝑥)tan 𝑥
𝑥→
2
Let 𝑦 = 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝜋(𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑥)𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑥 [1∞ ]
𝑥→
2
log 𝑦 = lim𝜋 tan 𝑥 log(sin 𝑥) [∞ × 0]
𝑥→
2
𝑙𝑜𝑔(𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑥) 0
= lim𝜋 [ ]
𝑥→ cot 𝑥 0
2
 cos 𝑥
sin 𝑥
= 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝜋 2
𝑥→ −𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝑥
2
cos 𝑥
sin 𝑥
= 𝑙𝑖𝑚 𝜋 − 1
𝑥→ 2
2 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑥

= 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝜋 − (𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥)

𝑥→
2

=0
log 𝑦 = 0
𝑦=1

➢ lim𝜋(𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑥)𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥
𝑥→
2

Let 𝑦 = 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝜋(𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑥)𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥
𝑥→
2

log 𝑦 = lim𝜋 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥 log(𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑥) [0 × ∞]

𝑥→
2

log(𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑥) ∞
= 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝜋 [ ]
𝑥→ 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑥 ∞
2

𝑠𝑒𝑐2 𝑥
tan 𝑥
= 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝜋
𝑥→ 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑥 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑥
2

𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥
= 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝜋 2
𝑥→ 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑥
2

0
=
1

=0
𝑦=1