Math 231E, Lecture 7.

Limits using Taylor Series

1 Computing limits using Taylor series

Example 1. Let us now consider the limit
sin(x)
lim .
x→0 x
We cannot use the Limit Law, since the denominator goes to zero. We know that one way to do this is
l’Hôpital’s Rule, but if we have Taylor series there is a better way to go.
Recall the Taylor series for sin(x):

x3 x5
sin(x) = x − + + O(x7 ),
6 120
so
sin(x) x2 x4
=1− + + O(x6 ).
x 6 120
It is easy to see if we take the limit as x → 0, the right-hand side goes to one, so

sin(x)
lim = 1.
x→0 x

In fact, we can use Taylor series to derive l’Hôpital’s Rule, as follows: let us say that
limx→a f (a) = limx→a g(x) = 0. Then we compute

f (x) f (a) + f 0 (a)(x − a) + O(x − a)2

lim = lim .
x→a g(x) x→a g(a) + g 0 (a)(x − a) + O(x − a)2

We know that f (a) = g(a) = 0, so

f (x) f 0 (a)(x − a) + O(x − a)2 f 0 (a) + O(x − a)

lim = lim 0 2
= lim 0 ,
x→a g(x) x→a g (a)(x − a) + O(x − a) x→a g (a) + O(x − a)

where we got the last equality by dividing by (x − a). But we can then use the Limit Law (as
long as g 0 (a) 6= 0) and obtain
f (x) f 0 (a)
lim = 0 .
x→a g(x) g (a)

Example 2. We can do much more complicated examples using Taylor series. For example, say that we
want to compute
4
cos(x2 ) − ex
lim .
x→0 sin(x4 )

1
Let us use Taylor series. We have

x2 x4
cos(x) = 1 − + + O(x6 ),
2 24
x4 x8
cos(x2 ) = 1 − + + O(x12 ),
2 24
x2 x3
ex = 1 + x + + + O(x4 ),
2 6
4 x8 x12
ex = 1 + x4 + + + O(x16 ),
2 6
x3 x5
sin(x) = x − + + O(x7 ),
6 120
x12 x20
sin(x4 ) = x4 − + + O(x28 ).
6 120
So we have
x4 x8 x8 x12
   
12 4 16
4 1− + + O(x ) − 1 + x + + + O(x )
cos(x2 ) − ex 2 24 2 6
= .
sin(x4 ) 4
x12 x20 28
x − + + O(x )
6 120
Adding like terms in the numerator gives

3 11
cos(x2 ) − ex
4
− x4 − x8 + O(x12 )
= 2 24 .
12
sin(x4 ) 4
x x20 28
x − + + O(x )
6 120
We see that every term in the expression is divisible by x4 , so divide this out to obtain

3 11
cos(x2 ) − ex
4
− − x4 + O(x8 )
= 2 24 ,
sin(x4 ) x8 x16
1− + + O(x24 )
6 120
and taking limits as x → 0 on both sides gives
4
cos(x2 ) − ex 3
lim 4
=− .
x→0 sin(x ) 2

2
2 Using Taylor Series for vertical asymptotes
Recall the calculation from last time:
x4 x8 x8 x12
   
12 4 16
4 1 − + + O(x ) − 1 + x + + + O(x )
cos(x2 ) − ex 2 24 2 6
= 12 20
sin(x4 ) x x
x4 − + + O(x28 )
6 120
3 11
− x4 − x8 + O(x12 )
= 2 24
4
x12 x20
x − + + O(x28 )
6 120
3 11
− − x4 + O(x8 )
= 2 24 ,
x8 x16
1− + + O(x24 )
6 120
and so 4
cos(x2 ) − ex 3
lim =− .
x→0 sin(x4 ) 2
What worked out here was that the numerator and the denominator had the same leading order, so we
were able to cancel terms and get a nice finite number.

What if this doesn’t happen? Let us consider the case

x2
cos(x) 1+ + O(x4 ) 1 1
lim = lim 2 = 2 + + O(x2 ).
x→0 x2 x→0 x 2 x 2
Now, we know
1
lim = ∞,
x→0 x2

so limx→0 cos(x)
x2 = ∞ as well.
Moreover, this tells us more information that just that the limit is ∞, it also tells us how quickly we
approach ∞; let us formalize this with a definition:
Definition 1. • If limx→a f (x) = ∞ and limx→a xp f (x) = ∞, then we say that f (x) goes to ∞ faster
p
than 1/x .
• If limx→a f (x) = ∞ and limx→a xp f (x) = 0, then we say that f (x) goes to ∞ slower than 1/xp .
• If limx→a f (x) = ∞ and limx→a xp f (x) = L, with 0 < L < ∞, then we say that f (x) goes to ∞ as fast
as 1/xp , or, goes like 1/xp .
We can see this from the Taylor expansions in a way that is difficult to see from other techniques. For
example, let us consider the function
1
f (x) = x4 .
e −1
It is clear that this function should have some sort of singularity at x = 0, since the numerator is one and
the denominator is zero. To be more precise:
1 1 1 1 1
= 8 = 4 = 4· .
ex4 − 1 8 /2 + O(x12 ) 4 /2 + O(x8 )

4
x 12
x + x x 1 + x
1+x + + O(x ) − 1
2

3
Now, it is clear that
1 1
lim = = 1,
x→0 1+ x4 /2 8
+ O(x ) 1
so
1
lim x4 · = 1.
x→0 ex4 − 1
Therefore, according to our definition, we say that f (x) goes to ∞ like x−4 .