Introductory Calculus II

MTH023
Week 3, lecture 2

Sergey Bocharov
Department of Foundational Mathematics, XJTLU
Sergey.Bocharov@xjtlu.edu.cn

September 20, 2022

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Limit rules

Theorem (Limit Rules)

Let n be a positive integer, k a real number, f and g functions
such that limx→c f (x) and limx→c g(x) both exist. Then
1. limx→c k = k
2. limx→c x = c
3. limx→c kf (x) = k limx→c f (x)
 
4. limx→c f (x) + g(x) = limx→c f (x) + limx→c g(x)
    
5. limx→c f (x)g(x) = limx→c f (x) limx→c g(x)
f (x)
6. limx→c = lim
g(x)
x→c f (x)
limx→c g(x) , provided limx→c g(x) 6= 0
 1  1
7. limx→c f (x) n = limx→c f (x) n , provided
limx→c f (x) > 0 when n is even.

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Limit rules

Proof of 4.

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Limit rules

Example
√ √

Find limx→2 x+2− x+1 .

Example
Supposepthat limx→c f (x) = 1 and limx→c g(x) = −2. Find
limx→c f (x)2 + g(x)2 .

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Limit rules

Example
Let p and q be polynomials and c ∈ R. Show that
limx→c p(x) = p(c).
Show that if q(c) 6= 0 then limx→c p(x) p(c)
q(x) = q(c) .

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Limit rules
Theorem
Suppose that f (x) = g(x) for all x in some open interval
containing c, but possibly excluding c. If limx→c g(x) exists then
limx→c f (x) exists and

lim f (x) = lim g(x).

x→c x→c

Example
Find
x2 − 2x − 3
lim .
x→3 x2 − x − 6

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Limit rules

Example
Find
x2 − 1
lim √
x→1 x+3−2

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Limit rules
Theorem (Squeeze Theorem)
Let f , g and h be functions such that f (x) ≤ g(x) ≤ h(x) for all x
near c, except possibly at c. If limx→c f (x) = limx→c h(x) = l
then limx→c g(x) = l.
y

y = h(x)

y = f (x)
x
c

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Limit rules

Example
Find  1

lim x sin .
x→0 x

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Limits at ∞

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Limits at ∞
Definition
Let f be defined on some interval [a, ∞). We say that
limx→∞ f (x) = l if for all  > 0 there exists a number M such that

x > M ⇒ |f (x) − l| < 

y = f (x)

l+
l
l−

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Limits at ∞
Definition
Let f be defined on some interval (−∞, a]. We say that
limx→−∞ f (x) = l if for all  > 0 there exists a number M such
that
x < M ⇒ |f (x) − l| < 

y = f (x)

l+
l
l−

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Limits at ∞

Example
Show that
1
lim = 0.
x→∞ x

Exercise
Show that
1
lim = 0.
x→−∞ x

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Limits at ∞

All the results for limits at a finite number c which we have

discussed earlier (limit rules, “Squeeze Theorem”, etc.) apply to
limits at ±∞.

Example
Find
x2 + 3x − 1
lim
x→∞ 2x2 − 1

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Limits at ∞

Example
Find √ √

lim x+2− x+1
x→∞

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Sequences

A sequence of real numbers is a function of the form

f :N→R
n 7→ f (n)

Usually we write an (or we can use any other letter in place of a)

instead of f (n) to denote the nth element of the sequence. The
entire sequence may be denoted as (an )n≥1 or an , n ≥ 1.

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Sequences
Definition
Let an , n ≥ 1 be a sequence. We say that limn→∞ an = l if for
each  > 0 there exists N ∈ N such that

n > N ⇒ |an − l| < 

Example
Let k be a positive integer. Show from the definition that
1
lim = 0.
n→∞ nk

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Sequences
Example
Find
n3 + 2n + 1
lim
n→∞ 3n3 + 2

Example
Find
cos n
lim
n→∞ n

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Infinite limits

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Infinite limits
Definition
We say that limx→c+ f (x) = ∞ if for all M (> 0) there exists a
δ > 0 such that

0 < x − c < δ ⇒ f (x) > M

y = f (x)

x
c

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Infinite limits

Example
1
Prove that limx→0+ x = ∞.

Exercise
Write the definition for limx→c+ f (x) = −∞,
limx→c− f (x) = ∞/ − ∞, limx→c f (x) = ∞/ − ∞,
limx→∞/−∞ f (x) = ∞/ − ∞

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Infinite limits
Example
I
1
lim =
x→0− x
I
lim x2 =
x→∞
I
lim x2 =
x→−∞
I
1
lim =
x→0 x2
I
1
lim =
x→0 x3

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Infinite limits

Warning:
There are various limit rules for infinite limits which we can derive
from the definition although we have to be a little bit careful. For
example,
I If lim f (x) = ∞ and lim g(x) = ∞ then


lim f (x) + g(x) = ∞. However, we cannot say anything
about the limiting behaviour of f (x) − g(x) in general.


I If lim f (x) = ∞ and lim g(x) = ∞ then lim f (x)g(x) = ∞.
However, we cannot say anything about the limiting behaviour
of fg(x)
(x)
in general.
1
I If lim f (x) = ∞ then lim f (x) = 0. However, if lim f (x) = 0,
1
we cannot say anything about the limiting behaviour of f (x)
in general.

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Infinite limits

We say that the line x = c is a vertical asymptote of the graph of

y = f (x) if any of the following is true:

lim f (x) = ∞, lim f (x) = −∞, lim f (x) = ∞, lim f (x) = −∞

x→c+ x→c+ x→c− x→c−

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Infinite limits

We say that the line y = b is a horizontal asymptote of the graph

of y = f (x) if

lim f (x) = b or lim f (x) = b

x→∞ x→−∞

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Infinite limits

Example
1
Identify all asymptotes of the graph of f (x) = x+2 .

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