MCV 4U pg 1

Section 1.1 – Rational Expressions

What is a Rational Number?

• A rational number is a number that can be expressed as a fraction Properties of

Radicals
containing integers

Why are Rational Numbers important?

• They make calculations easier

What is a Radical Number?

• Any number contain a radical or “root symbol”

What does the term Rationalizing mean?

• The process of changing either the NUMERATOR or DENOMINATOR containing an expression with a
radical into a rational number

• Two Types: A) One Term Rationalizing B) Two Term Rationalizing

Eg 1: Simplify the Following Radicals.

!
a) 5× 5 b) 27!

!
Eg 2: Simplify by rationalizing the denominator.
! !

• When the denominator of a radical fraction is a two-term expression, you must multiply by the Conjugate.
• The Conjugate contains the same radicals, but the opposite signs in-between the terms.
• Why is this important?
• It creates a difference of squares and eliminates the radicals from the expression.

Expression à 𝑎+ 𝑏 Conjugate à 𝑎− 𝑏
 MCV 4U pg 2

!
Eg 3: Simplify by rationalizing the denominator.
!! !

Eg 4: Simplify the following expressions using a strategy of your choice.

!
a)
! !! !

!! !
b)
!

Recall: The following are Algebraic Identities you may find useful in the course.

a 3 − b 3 = (a − b)(a 2 + ab + b 2 )
a 3 + b 3 = (a + b)(a 2 − ab + b 2 )
a 4 − b 4 = (a 2 + b 2 )(a 2 − b 2 ) = (a 2 + b 2 )(a + b)(a − b)
 MCV 4U pg 3

Section 1.4 – The Limit of a Function

• Limits describe what is happening to a function when the x values approach a specific value, but does not
equal the particular value.
• It is written as lim!→! 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝐿 and is read as “the limit of 𝑓 𝑥 as x approaches a equals L”
• Limits can be taken from either side of the specific x value and WILL ONLY EXIST if “the left side limit
equals the limit of the right”.

Limit of f(x) as x approaches from the left side: Limit of f(x) as x approaches from the right side:

lim!→!! 𝑓 𝑥 =𝐿 lim!→!! 𝑓 𝑥 =𝐿

• For the limit to exist, lim!→!! 𝑓 𝑥 = lim!→!! 𝑓 𝑥

• For any polynomial function, lim!→! 𝑓 𝑥 =𝑓 𝑎

Eg 1: Consider the function, 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 ! − 1. What is the value of f(x) when x à 3 from either side?
a) Graphically b) Table of Values

From the Left From the Right

x y x y

Eg 2: Determine the following limit. lim!→! 𝑥 ! + 3𝑥 − 2 (Check each side!)

 MCV 4U pg 4

Left Side Right Side

Eg 3: Using the function y = f(x) graphed below, determine the following limits.

a) lim!→!! 𝑓 𝑥

b) lim!→!!! 𝑓 𝑥

c) lim!→!!! 𝑓 𝑥

d) lim!→! 𝑓 𝑥

• Functions can also take the form of what is known as a “piecewise function”.
• These are functions which are broken up into intervals that take the form of different functions
in that specific interval.
• The limit can be taken of these functions.
o Example 3 was an example of a piecewise function.

𝑥 − 1, 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 < 1
Eg 4: For the following function, 𝑓 𝑥 = 1, 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 = 1
2 + 𝑥 − 1, 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 > 1

a) Sketch the graph of f(x)

b) Determine lim!→!! 𝑓 𝑥

c) Determine lim!→!! 𝑓 𝑥

d) Does the limit of lim!→! 𝑓 𝑥 exist?

! ! !!
Eg 5: Determine lim!→! !!!
 MCV 4U pg 5

Eg 6: Sketch the function which satisfies the following conditions:

1) f(1) = 6

2) lim!→!!! 𝑓 𝑥 = −∞
3) lim!→!!! 𝑓 𝑥 = +∞
4) lim!→! 𝑓 𝑥 = 0

Eg 7: Let 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝐴𝑥 + 𝐵 where A and B are constants. If lim!→! 𝑓 𝑥 = 6 and lim!→!! 𝑓 𝑥 = −9 ,

determine f(x).
 MCV 4U pg 6

Section 1.5 – Properties of Limits

• The statement lim!→! 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝐿 states that the values of f(x) become closer and closer to “L” as “x” gets
closer and closer to “a” (from both sides and x ≠ a).
• The limit tells us what f(x) is approaching when it is getting closer to “a” instead of what it equals at x = a.
o This means that we are not concerned with what f(a) will equal, in fact it may not exist. We are
only concerned with the behavior of f(x) near x = a.

Eg 1: Determine the following. lim!→! 3𝑥 ! + 4𝑥 − 1

Substitution

• Substitution is one of the simplest ways to evaluate a limit (as above), however it does come with some
potential issues.
o It will not work if the following occurs
!"#$% !
OR
! !
§ The above is called an intermediate form
§ When this happens, you must use other strategies to evaluate the limit.
!
EG: lim!→!
!

Strategies

1) Factoring/Simplifying
Determine the limit of the following.
! ! !!!!! ! ! !!! ! !!!!!
a) lim!→! !!!
b) lim!→!! !!!

2) Rationalizing (Use of Conjugates)

 MCV 4U pg 7

Determine the limit of the following.

!!!!! !!!
a) lim!→! !
b) lim!→! !!!

3) Change of Variables
Determine the limit of the following.
!
!!! ! !! !!!
a) lim!→! !
b) lim!→! !
! !!

4) Single Sided Evaluations

• When dealing with the Absolute function, we must re-write it as a piecewise function to consider each side
of the function.

Determine the limit of the following.

!!! ! ! !!!!!"
a) lim!→! !!!
b) lim!→! !!!
 MCV 4U pg 8

Eg 2: Determine the following using properties of limits. lim!→! 3𝑥 ! + 4𝑥 − 1

! ! !!!!!
Eg 3: Determine the following using properties of limits. lim!→!!
!! ! !!!!!
 MCV 4U pg 9

Section 1.6 – Continuity

What is Continuity?

• Continuity refers to graphs without any breaks, jumps or gaps”.

• You can think of it as a graph “you can draw without lifting your pencil”.
• When we talk about a function being continuous at a point, we mean that the graph passes through the point
without a break.
o A graph that is not continuous at a point (sometimes referred to as being discontinuous at a point)
has a break of some type at the point.

• What conditions must be satisfied for a function f to be continuous at a?

o First, f(a) must be defined. The curves in figure B and figure D above are not continuous at x = 1
because they are not defined at x = 1.
o A second condition for continuity at a point x = a is that the function makes no jumps there. This
means that, if “x is close to a,” then f(x) must be close to f(a). This condition is satisfied if
lim!→! 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑓(𝑎).
 MCV 4U pg 10

𝑥 ! − 3, 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 ≤ −1
Eg 1: a) Graph the following function, 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 − 1, 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 > −1

b) Determine lim!→!! 𝑓 𝑥 .

c) Determine f(-1).

d) Is f continuous at x = -1? Explain.

Eg 2: Test continuity at each of the following at x = 2. If it is not continuous at x = 2, explain.

a) b) c)
 MCV 4U pg 11

Section 1.2 – Slope of a Tangent

REVIEW

What is a Secant?
• A Secant is a line connecting two points on a function. It measures the slope
of a function over a given interval and takes the form of a linear function.
Therefore we can find the slope and y-intercept.

What is a Tangent?
• A Tangent is a line measuring the slope of a function at an instant. It is a
linear function, therefore we can find the slope and y-intercept.

• In calculus, we refer the Slope of the Tangent as “the limit of the slope of the secant as Q approaches P
along the curve.”
o Therefore we can take the limit of particular point in a function to determine the slope of function
at that particular point.

How do we do this?
METHOD ONE:

• We are going to measure the slope between two points on the function (Secant)
• We will continue to do this until the points are so close together, it is as if it is at an instant (tangent)

METHOD TWO:

• We are going to add an arbitrary value, “h” to our x-value of the function and determine the limit of the
function as “h à 0”
𝒇 𝒙 + 𝒉 − 𝒇(𝒙)
𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒉→𝟎 𝒉

Eg 1: Determine the slope of the tangent at the point (2,4) for the following function, 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 !

Method 1

Point 1 Point 2 Slope of Secant/Tangent

 MCV 4U pg 12

! !!! !!(!)
Method 2 lim!→!
!

What did you notice between your answers for each above method?

In Method 2, what happened when h approached zero?

Eg 2: Determine the slope of the tangents for each of the following functions.

a) 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 ! − 3𝑥 at the point (1, -2)

b) 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 ! at the point (3, 9)

c) 𝑓 𝑥 = (𝑥 + 1)(𝑥 − 7) at the point (5, -12)

 MCV 4U pg 13

• We have established that the limit of a function near a particular point on our function measures the slope
of the tangent at that particular point. Therefore the following diagrams are true and give rise to what is
known as the “Difference Quotient”.

Eg 3: Determine the equation of the tangent for the following function at x = 3, 𝑓(𝑥) = −𝑥 ! + 4𝑥 + 1

!!!!
Eg 4: Determine the slope of the tangent for the rational function, 𝑓 𝑥 = !
, at (2, 6).
 MCV 4U pg 14

Eg 5: Determine the slope of the tangent for the following function at (6, 1), 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 − 5.

!
Challenge Question: Determine the equation of the tangent for the following function at (2, 1), 𝑓(𝑥) = !!!
 MCV 4U pg 15

Section 1.3 – Rates of Change

Dependent Variable: EG:

• Quantities that vary depending on another variable.

• y-values

Independent Variable: EG:

• Quantities that are dependent on any other variable

• x-values

Rates of Change

• We are often interested in how rapidly the dependent variable changes when there is a change in the
independent variable
o This is called a “RATE OF CHANGE”
• Measured with the following formula:
∆𝑦 𝑓 𝑥! − 𝑓 𝑥! 𝑓 𝑥 + ℎ − 𝑓(𝑥)
= =
∆𝑥 𝑥! − 𝑥! ℎ

Eg 1: Determine the Rate of Change over the interval -1 ≤ x ≤ 2, for the function, 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 + 1 ! .

Velocity as a Rate of Change

• An object moving in a straight line is an example of a rate-of-change model.

• It is customary to use either a horizontal or vertical line with a specified origin to represent the line of
motion.
o On such a line, movement to the right or upward is considered to be in the positive direction, and
movement to the left (or down) is considered to be in the negative direction.
§ An example of an object moving along a line would be a vehicle entering a highway and
travelling north 340 km in 4 h.
!"#
• = 85𝑘𝑚/ℎ
!

!!!"#$ !" !"#$%$"&

Average Velocity =
!!!"#$ !" !"#$
 MCV 4U pg 16

Eg 2: A pebble is dropped from a cliff, 80 m high. After t seconds, the pebble is s meters above the ground,
where 𝑠 𝑡 = 80 − 5𝑡 ! , 0 ≤ x ≤ 4.
a) Calculate the average velocity of the pebble between the times t = 1 and t = 3

b) Calculate the average velocity of the pebble between the times t = 1 and t = 1.5

c) Why are the values to parts a and b different?

Instantaneous Velocity

Eg 3: A toy rocket is launched straight up so that its height s, in meters, at time t, in seconds, is given by
𝑠 𝑡 = −5𝑡 ! + 30𝑡 + 2. What is the velocity of the rocket at t = 4?
 MCV 4U pg 17

Average versus Instantaneous Rates of Change

The average rate of change equals

the slope of the secant PQ of the
graph of y = f(x).
The instantaneous rate of change
is the limit of the function at x = a
as h à 0.

Eg 4: The total cost, in dollars, of manufacturing x calculators is given by 𝐶 𝑥 = 10 𝑥 + 1000

a) What is the cost of manufacturing 100 calculators?

b) What is the rate of change in the total cost with respect to the number of calculators, x, being produced when
x = 100?

Final Note: