INDETERMINATE

FORMS

September 2021 Basic Calculus

 𝟐
𝒙 −𝟒
𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒙→𝟐 𝒙 − 𝟐
Indeterminate forms

An indeterminate form is an expression

involving two functions whose limit
cannot be determined solely from the
limits of the individual functions.
Example:
𝟐
𝒙 −𝟒
𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒙→𝟐 𝒙 − 𝟐
Example:
𝟐
𝒙 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏𝟓
𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝟐
𝒙→−𝟑 𝒙 + 𝟕𝒙 + 𝟏𝟐

(−𝟑)𝟐 −𝟐(−𝟑) − 𝟏𝟓 𝟗 + 𝟔 − 𝟏𝟓 𝟎
𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆
(−𝟑)𝟐 +𝟕(−𝟑) + 𝟏𝟐 𝟗 − 𝟐𝟏 + 𝟏𝟐 𝟎
Example:
𝟐
𝒙 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏𝟓
𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝟐
𝒙→−𝟑 𝒙 + 𝟕𝒙 + 𝟏𝟐

𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏𝟓 (𝒙 + 𝟑)(𝒙 − 𝟓)
𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝟐 (𝒙 + 𝟑)(𝒙 + 𝟒)
𝒙→−𝟑 𝒙 + 𝟕𝒙 + 𝟏𝟐

𝒙−𝟓 −𝟑 − 𝟓 −𝟖
𝐥𝐢𝐦 −𝟖
𝒙→−𝟑 𝒙 + 𝟒 −𝟑 + 𝟒 𝟏
Example:
Evaluate:
𝟐
𝒙 + 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟖
𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒙→𝟐 𝟑𝒙 − 𝟔
Example:
Evaluate:
𝟐
𝒙 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟑𝟓
𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝟐
𝒙→−𝟓 𝒙 + 𝟒𝒙 − 𝟓
Example:
Evaluate:
𝟑
𝒙 − 𝟔𝟒
𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝟐
𝒙→𝟒 𝒙 − 𝟏𝟔
RATIONALIZATION

The process of eliminating radicals

by multiplying conjugate up and
down a fractional expression
LIMIT OF A RATIONAL FUNCTION
INDETERMINATE FORM:
𝒙−𝟐
𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒙→𝟒 𝒙 − 𝟒
𝟒−𝟐 𝟐−𝟐 𝟎 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆
𝟒−𝟒 𝟒−𝟒 𝟎
𝒙−𝟐
𝒇 𝒙 = 𝒙 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝟒
𝒙−𝟒
𝒙 𝟑. 𝟗𝟕 𝟑. 𝟗𝟖 𝟑. 𝟗𝟗 4 𝟒. 𝟎𝟏 𝟒. 𝟎𝟐 𝟒. 𝟎𝟑
𝒇 𝒙 𝟎. 𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟒 𝟎. 𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟑 𝟎. 𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟐 𝟎. 𝟐𝟒𝟗𝟖 𝟎. 𝟐𝟒𝟗𝟕 𝟎. 𝟐𝟒𝟗𝟓
0.25
LIMIT OF A RATIONAL FUNCTION
INDETERMINATE FORM:
𝒙−𝟐 𝒙−𝟐 𝒙+𝟐
𝐥𝐢𝐦 ∙
𝒙→𝟒 𝒙 − 𝟒 𝒙−𝟒 𝒙+𝟐
𝒙−𝟒
𝒙 − 𝟒( 𝒙 + 𝟐)
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
𝐥𝐢𝐦 = =
𝒙→𝟒 𝒙+𝟐 𝟒+𝟐 𝟐+𝟐 𝟒
LIMIT OF A RATIONAL FUNCTION
INDETERMINATE FORM:
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
𝐥𝐢𝐦 =
𝒙→𝟒 𝒙+𝟐 𝟒+𝟐 𝟐+𝟐
𝟏
= 𝟎. 𝟐𝟓
𝟒
𝒙 𝟑. 𝟗𝟕 𝟑. 𝟗𝟖 𝟑. 𝟗𝟗 4 𝟒. 𝟎𝟏 𝟒. 𝟎𝟐 𝟒. 𝟎𝟑
𝒇 𝒙 𝟎. 𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟒 𝟎. 𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟑 𝟎. 𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟐 𝟎. 𝟐𝟒𝟗𝟖 𝟎. 𝟐𝟒𝟗𝟕 𝟎. 𝟐𝟒𝟗𝟓
0.25
LIMIT OF A RATIONAL FUNCTION
ANOTHER EXAMPLE
𝟐
𝒙 − 𝟏𝟔
𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒙→𝟒 𝒙−𝟐
𝟐
(𝟒) −𝟏𝟔 𝟏𝟔 − 𝟏𝟔 𝟎
𝟒−𝟐 𝟐−𝟐 𝟎
𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆
 LIMIT OF A RATIONAL FUNCTION
𝟐
𝒙 − 𝟏𝟔
𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝟐
𝒙 − 𝟏𝟔 𝒙 + 𝟐
𝒙→𝟒 𝒙−𝟐 ∙
𝒙−𝟐 𝒙+𝟐
𝟐
𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒙 + 𝟒 ( 𝒙 + 𝟐)
𝒙→𝟒
𝒙 − 𝟏𝟔 ( 𝒙 + 𝟐)
𝒙−𝟒
𝟒 + 𝟒 ( 𝟒 + 𝟐)
(𝒙 + 𝟒)(𝒙 − 𝟒)( 𝒙 + 𝟐)
(𝟖)(𝟒)
𝒙−𝟒
𝟑𝟐
Example:
Evaluate:
𝒙 − 𝟐𝟓
𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒙→𝟐𝟓 𝒙 − 𝟓
Example:
Evaluate:
𝒙 + 𝟐𝟓 − 𝟓
𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒙→𝟎 𝟎