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Raising a new Generation of Leaders

MAT 121
LIMITS OF FUNCTIONS CONTINUED

IMAGA O. F.
Limits at infinity
Let f(x) be a function defined on some interval (a, ) . Then
lim f ( x )  L
x 
if the values of f(x) can be made arbitrarily close to L by
taking x sufficiently large
Let f(x) be a function defined on some interval ( , a) . Then
lim f ( x )  L
x 
if the values of f(x) can be made arbitrarily close to L by
taking x sufficiently large and negative
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 Arithmetic of infinite Limits
Some rules for computing limits involving infinity.
1 1
a. 
 b.   
0 0
1
c. 0 d.  x    e.    


f. is indeterminate g.    is indeterminate


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 n
Limits of x as x  
n
a. lim x  , n  1,2,3,
x 

 , n is odd
n
b. lim x  
x 
, n is even
Ex.
a. 5 5
lim 2 x  2 lim x  2    
x  x 
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5 5
b. lim 2 x  2 lim x  2     c. lim  7 x
x  x  x 

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 Limits of Polynomials as x  

The end behavior of a polynomial matches the end behavior of its

highest degree term i.e
lim  c0  c1 x   c n x n   lim c n x n
x  x 

Ex.
a. lim 7
x 
x 
5
 4 x 3
 2 x  9  
lim 7 x 3

x 
7 lim x 3
 7    
x 

b. lim
x 
 4 x 8
 17 x 3
 5 x  1

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Limits of Rational Functions as x  
For a rational function, to the limit is to divide each term in the
numerator and denominator by the highest power of x that
occurs in the denominator, after which the limiting behavior
can be found.

Ex. 2
3x  5 2 x  15 x  9 3 2
5 x  2 x 1
a. lim b. lim 3 c. lim
x  6 x  8 x  5 x 14 x  1 3x
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Limits involving Radicals as x  

Ex.
2 2
a. x 2 b. x 2 c. lim x 6  5  x 3
lim lim x 
x  3 x  6 x  3 x  6

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 Infinite Limits
Let f be a function defined on some open interval that
contains a, except possible at a itself. Then if the values of
f(x) increases without bound as the values of x (where x  a )
approach the number a, then the limit as x approaches a is
positive infinity

lim f ( x )  
x a

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Similarly, if the values of f(x) decrease without bound as the
values of x (where x  a ) approach the number a, then the
limit as x approaches a is negative infinity

lim f ( x )  
x a

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 1 1 1
Evaluate lim , lim , lim .
x 0 x x 0 x x 0 x

1 1 1
lim 2 , lim 2 , lim 2 ,
x 0 x x 0 x x 0 x

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lim
x 0 | x |

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Ex.
5x 5x
a. lim b. lim
x 3  x  3 x 3  x  3

 1 
c. lim  1 2 
x 0  x 

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