Math 132 Limit Laws Stewart §1.

Operations on limits. Some general combination rules make most limit

computations routine. Suppose we know that limx→a f (x) and limx→a g(x)
exist. Then we have the Limit Laws:

• Sum: limx→a (f (x) + g(x)) = limx→a f (x) + limx→a g(x).

• Difference: limx→a (f (x) − g(x)) = limx→a f (x) − limx→a g(x).

• Constant Multiple: limx→a (c f (x)) = c limx→a f (x), for a constant c.

• Product: limx→a f (x)g(x) = limx→a f (x) · limx→a g(x).

f (x) limx→a f (x)
• Quotient: limx→a g(x) = limx→a g(x) , provided limx→a g(x) 6= 0.

• Power: limx→a f (x)n = (limx→a f (x))n , for a whole number n.

limx→a n f (x) = n limx→a f (x), for a whole number∗ n.

p p
• Root:

These all have the form: “The limit of an operation equals the operation
applied to the limits.” These Laws are also valid for one-sided limits.

Limits by plugging in. Assuming the Limit Laws and the Basic Limits
limx→a x = a and limx→a c = c, we can prove that most functions are
continuous, meaning the limx→a f (x) is obtained by substituting x = a to
get f (a). For example, we can formally compute the limit:
√ √
1− x lim 1− x
lim = x→2 by the Quotient Law†
x→2 1 + x lim 1 + x
x→2
√
lim 1 − lim x
x→2 x→2
= by the Sum and Difference Laws
lim 1 + lim x
x→2 x→2
q
lim 1 − lim x
x→2 x→2
= by the Root Law
lim 1 + lim x
x→2 x→2
√ √
1− 2 1− 2
= = by the Basic Limits.
1+2 3

That is, the correct limit would be obtained just by substituting x = 2. In

general, substituting x = a gives
√ the correct limit unless it leads to a mean-
ingless expression like 00 or −1 (we do not consider imaginary numbers
∗
If n is even, we assume limx→a f (x) > 0.
†
The Quotient Law requires that the denominator have a non-zero limit. We tentatively
proceed with the computation and find the denominator to be 3, which retrospectively
justifies the quotient step.
in this course). In Notes §2.4, we will show that trigonometric functions
like sin(x) and tan(x) are also continuous, so this principle also works for
formulas involving these functions.

Limits by cases. Consider the function sgn(x) = |x| x for x 6= 0, which

equals 1 for x > 0 and −1 for x < 0. Compute the limit:
p
lim 1 + sgn(x)2 .
x→0

We cannot just plug in x = 0 because sgn(x) is not defined there, jumping

from −1 to 1. Instead, we apply the Laws to the right limit only:
p q p √
lim 1 + sgn(x)2 = 1 + ( lim sgn(x))2 = 1 + 12 = 2.
x→0+ x→0+

since we know limx→0+ sgn(x) = 1. Similarly, the left limit is:

p p √
lim 1 + sgn(x)2 = 1 + (−1)2 = 2.
x→0−

The one-sided limits coincide, so we have the two-sided limit:

p √
lim 1 + sgn(x)2 = 2.
x→0

Limits by canceling zeroes. As we have seen, the most important limits

are those for which substitution gives the meaningless expression 00 . To
compute these, we must cancel vanishing factors from the top and bottom,
until we get an expression which can be evaluated by the Laws. This often
requires factoring, for example:

x2 − 4x + 4 (x − 2)2 x−2
lim 2
= lim = lim ,
x→2 x − x − 2 x→2 (x − 2)(x + 1) x→2 x + 1

0
which can be evaluated by substituting x = 2. Another trick to avoid 0 is
to multiply by a conjugate radical:
√ √
x−9 x−9 x+3 (x−9)( x+3)
lim √ = lim √ ·√ = lim √ 2
x→9 x−3 x→9 x−3 x+3 x→9 ( x) − 32

√
(x−9)( x+3) √
= lim = lim x + 3 = 6.
x→9 x−9 x→9

Oscillating functions. Some limits are difficult to evaluate because the

functions oscillate wildly. Consider:
π 
lim sin .
x→0 x
If we try this at the sample points x = 12 , 31 , 14 , . . . , we get sin( 1/n
π
) =
sin(πn) = 0, so it seems the limit is 0. But this is deceptive, since the
graph looks like this:

All the oscillations of sin(x) on the real line are here crammed into the in-
terval −1 ≤ x ≤ 1, and our function sin( πx ) cannot be forced close to any
given value, no matter how close x is to 0. That is, this limit does not exist.
However, consider the limit:
π 
lim x sin .
x→0 x
The Product Law would give limx→0 x · limx→0 sin( πx ), but the second limit
does not exist, so the Law does not apply. The graph looks like:

The function is bounded between the graphs y = |x| and y = −|x|, so its
limit is squeezed to zero. This reasoning is formalized by the:
Squeeze Theorem: Suppose f (x) ≤ g(x) ≤ h(x) for all x near a
(except possibly x = a), and limx→a f (x) = limx→a h(x) = L.
Then limx→a g(x) = L.
To evaluate our limit, we note that −1 ≤ sin( πx ) ≤ 1, so −x ≤ x sin( πx ) ≤ x
for x > 0, and similarly for x < 0. Hence:
π 
−|x| ≤ x sin ≤ |x| for all x 6= 0,
x
and we know by considering cases that limx→0 −|x| = limx→0 |x| = 0, so the
Theorem applies to give:
π 
lim x sin = 0.
x→0 x