Limits and Continuity 1

At the end of this session, students will be able to:

1. define a tangent line and secant line;
2. use the average rate of change formula;
3. understand limit; and
4. find the limit of a function.

Tangent Lines and Rates of Change

In this topic we are going to take a look at two important problems in the
study of calculus. These problems will lead us into the study of limits.
First, these problems will allow us to understand what a limit is and what it
can tell us about a function.
Secondly, the rate of change problem is one of the most important concepts
that we’ll encounter in Calculus.

Tangent Lines
The first problem that we’re going to take a look at is the tangent line
problem. Before getting into this problem it would probably be best to define
a tangent line.
A tangent line to the function f(x) at the point x = a is a line that just touches
the graph of the function at the point in question and is “parallel” (in some
way) to the graph at that point.

Figure 1. Graph of a tangent line and secant line.

In this graph the line is a tangent line at the indicated point because it just
touches the graph at that point and is also “parallel” to the graph at that
point. Likewise, at the second point shown, the line does just touch the graph
at that point, but it is not “parallel” to the graph at that point and so it’s not a
tangent line to the graph at that point.

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At the second point shown (the point where the line isn’t a tangent line) we
sometimes call the line a secant line.
As defined earlier, a tangent line is a line that touches a curve a one point.
Here are some of the examples.

tangent line

Figure 2. Examples of tangent lines.

Secant Line
A secant line is a line joining two points on a curve.
Here are examples of secant lines.
 Figure 3. Examples of secant lines.

Rate of Change of a Secant Line or the Slope of a Secant Line

Consider a secant line.

Figure 4. The slope of a secant line represents

Slope of a line:

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 ∆y
m=
∆x
y −y f( x2 ) −f( x1 )
m = x2 −x1 =
2 1 x2 −x1
f( x2 ) −f( x1 ) f( x2 ) −f( x1)
m= =
∆x h

As stated earlier, the slope of a secant line represents an average rate of

change between two points graphically represented by the shown figure with
the formula:
𝒇(𝒙𝟐 ) − 𝒇(𝒙𝟏 )
𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 = 𝒎 =
𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏

Example:
Find the average rate of change for the function and the interval.
f(x) = −2x 2 + 4 [1,4]
Solution:
𝒇(𝒙𝟐 ) − 𝒇(𝒙𝟏 )
𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 = 𝒎 =
𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏

f(4) − f(1) −28 − 2 −30

m= = = = −𝟏𝟎
4 −1 3 3

Example:
Find the average rate of change for the function and the interval.
𝜋 1
𝑓(𝑥 ) = sec 𝑥 [0, 3 ] 𝑓(𝑥 ) = cos 𝑥

Solution:
𝒇(𝒙𝟐 ) − 𝒇(𝒙𝟏 )
𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 = 𝒎 =
𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏

𝜋 1 1 1
𝑓 ( 3 ) − 𝑓 ( 0) 𝜋 − 1 −1
𝑐𝑜𝑠
3
cos (0) 2
2−1 1 3
𝑚= 𝜋 = 𝜋 = 𝜋 = 𝜋 = 𝜋 = 𝜋 = 𝟎. 𝟗𝟓𝟒𝟗
−0
3 3 3 3 3
 Instantaneous Rate of Change or the Slope of a Tangent Line
What we want to do here is determine just how fast f(x) is changing at some
point in h. This is called the instantaneous rate of change or sometimes just
rate of change of f(x) at x=h.
Then to estimate the instantaneous rate of change at x=h, all we need to do is
to choose values of x getting closer and closer to x=h (don’t forget to choose
them on both sides of x) and compute values of average rate of change. From
that, we can then estimate the instantaneous rate of change.

Course Module
 Figure 5. Instantaneous rate of change of f(x) at x=h.

Figure 6. A tangent line that has one point on the curve.

Referring to this tangent line, we know that slope formula requires two
points. A tangent line has one point on the curve then we can create a second
point by selecting a small value of h.
Example:
Find the instantaneous rate of change for the function at the given point.
f(x) = −2x 2 + 4 (1,2) h = 0.1
Solution:
f(1 + 0.1) − f(1)
mtan =
(1 + 0.1) − 1
1.58 − 2
=
0.1
 −0.42
=
0.1
mtan = −𝟒. 𝟐

Example:
Find the instantaneous rate of change for the function at the given point.
f(x) = −2x 2 + 4 (1,2) h = 0.01
Solution:
f(1 + 0.01) − f(1)
mtan =
(1 + 0.01) − 1
1.9598 − 2
=
0.01
−0.402
=
0.01
mtan = −𝟒. 𝟎𝟐

Example:
Find the instantaneous rate of change for the function at the given point.
𝑓(𝑥 ) = −2𝑥 2 + 4 (1,2)
Solution:
𝑓(1 + ℎ) − 𝑓(1) −2(1 + ℎ)2 + 4 − (−2(1)2 + 4)
𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = =
( 1 + ℎ) − 1 ℎ

−2(1 + 2ℎ + ℎ2 ) + 4 − (−2(1)2 + 4)
=
ℎ
−2 − 4ℎ − 2ℎ2 + 4 − 2
=
ℎ
2
−4ℎ − 2ℎ ℎ (−4 − 2ℎ)
= =
ℎ ℎ
𝒎𝒕𝒂𝒏 = −𝟒 − 𝟐𝒉

𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = −4 − 2ℎ ℎ = 0.1
𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = −4 − 2(0.1)
𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = −4.2

𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = −4 − 2ℎ ℎ = 0.01
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𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = −4 − 2(0.01)
𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = −4.02
𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = −4 − 2ℎ ℎ = 0.001
𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = −4 − 2(0.001)
𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = −4.002

𝒎𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒙 = 𝟏 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 − 𝟒 𝒂𝒔 𝒉 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝟎

Now let’s take another set of examples.

Example 1:
Find the tangent line to f (x) = 15 – 2x2 at x=1.
Solution
From algebra, we know that to find the equation of a line we need either two
points on the line or a single point on the line and the slope of the line. Since
we know that we are after a tangent line we do have a point that is on the
line. The tangent line and the graph of the function must touch at x=1 so the
point (1, f(1)) = (1, 13) must be on the line.
This is all that we know about the tangent line. In order to find the tangent
line we need either a second point or the slope of the tangent line. Since the
only reason for needing a second point is to allow us to find the slope of the
tangent line let’s just concentrate on seeing if we can determine the slope of
the tangent line.
At this point, what we’re going to be able to do is to get an estimate fo r the
slope of the tangent line, but if we do it correctly we should be able to get an
estimate that is in fact the actual slope of the tangent line. We’ll do this by
starting with the point that we’re after, let’s call it P = (1,13). We will then
pick another point that lies on the graph of the function, let’s call it point
Q=(x, f(x)). For the sake of argument let’s take choose x=2 and so the second
point will be Q (2,7).
Here is a graph of the function, the tangent line and the secant line that
connects P and Q.

Figure 7. Graph of the tangent line and the secant line that connects P
and Q.
 We can see from this graph that the secant and tangent lines are somewhat
similar and so the slope of the secant line should be somewhat close to the
actual slope of the tangent line.
So, as an estimate of the slope of the tangent line we can use the slope of the
secant line, let’s call it mPQ, which is,

𝑓(2) − 𝑓(1) 7 − 13
𝑚 𝑃𝑄 = = = −6
( 2) − 1 1
To get a better estimate, we can take an x that is closer to x = 1 and redo the
work we’ve done to get a new estimate on the slope. We could then take a
third value of x even closer yet and get an even better estimate. In other
words, as we take Q closer and closer to P the slope of the secant line
connecting Q and P should be getting closer and closer to the slope of the
tangent line.
As you can see in the figure, as we moved Q in closer and closer to P, the
secant lines does start to look more and more like the tangent line and so the
approximate slopes (i.e. the slopes of the secant lines) are getting closer and
closer to the exact slope.

Figure 8. Graph of the points P and Q.

In this figure we only looked at Q’s that were to the right of P, but we could
have just as easily used Q’s that were to the left of P and we would have
received the same results. In fact, we should always take a look at Q’s that are
on both sides of P. In this case the same thing is happening on both sides of P.
However, we will eventually see that doesn’t have to happen. Therefore we
should always take a look at what is happening on both sides of the point in
question when doing this kind of process.

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In order to simplify the process a little let’s get a formula for the slope of the
line between P and Q, mPQ, that will work for any x that we choose to work
with. We can get a formula by finding the slope between P and Q using the
“general” form of Q = (x, f(x)).

𝑓(𝑥 ) − 𝑓(1) 15 − 2𝑥 2 − 13 2 − 2𝑥 2
𝑚 𝑃𝑄 = = =
(𝑥 ) − 1 𝑥 −1 𝑥 −1

Now, pick some values of x getting closer and closer to x=1, plug in and get
some slopes.

Table 1. Values for the slope of the secant lines.

If we take x’s to the right of 1 and move them in very close to 1 it appears that
the slope of the secant lines appears to be approaching -4. Likewise, if we
take x’s to the left of 1 and move them in very close to 1 the slope of the
secant lines again appears to be approaching -4.
Since the slopes of the secant lines are approaching -4 as we move in towards
x=1 , we will estimate that the slope of the tangent line is also -4. As noted,
this is the correct value and we will be able to prove this eventually.
Now, the equation of the line that goes through (a), f (a) is given by,
𝑦 = 𝑓 (𝑎) + 𝑚(𝑥 − 𝑎)
Therefore, the equation of the tangent line to f (x) = 15 – 2x2 at x = 1 is : y =
13 – 4 (x – 1) = 4x + 17
There are a couple of important points to note about our solution.
First, we looked at points that were on both sides of x=1. Always look at what
is happening on both sides of the point. In this example we could sketch a
graph and from that, guess that what is happening on one side will also be
happening on the other, but we will usually not have the graphs in front of us
or be able to easily get them.
Next, notice that when we say we’re going to move in close to the point in
question we do mean that we’re going to move in very close and we also used
more than just a couple of points. We should never try to determine a trend
 based on a couple of points that aren’t really all that close to the point in
question.
The next thing to notice is really a warning more than anything. The values of
mPQ in our example were fairly “nice” and it was pretty clear what value they
were approaching after a couple of computations. In most cases this will not
be the case. You’ll often need quite a few computations to be able to get an
estimate.

Rates of Change
The next problem that we need to look at is the rate of change problem. This
will turn out to be one of the most important concepts that we will look at
throughout this course.
Rates of Change describe how one quantity changes in relation to another
quantity changing.
Here we are going to consider a function, f(x), that represents some quantity
that varies as x varies. For example, f(x) may represent the amount of water
in a holding tank after x minutes. Or maybe f(x) is the distance traveled by a
car after x hours. In both of these example we used x to represent time. Some
examples are:
𝒎𝒊/𝒉𝒓, 𝒇𝒕/𝒔𝒆𝒄 : Rate of how distance changes as time changes
𝒇𝒕𝟐/𝒉𝒓, 𝒄𝒎𝟐/𝒔𝒆𝒄 : Rate of how area changes as time changes
𝒊𝒏𝟑 /𝒉𝒓, 𝒄𝒎𝟑/𝒔𝒆𝒄 : Rate of how volume changes as time changes
∆𝒚
𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒆, ∆𝒙 : Rate: how y changes as x changes

What we want to do here is determine just how fast f(x) is changing at some
point, say x=a . This is called the instantaneous rate of change or
sometimes just rate of change of f(x) at x=a.

Now, let’s take some examples.

Example 2:
Suppose that the amount of air in a balloon after t hours is given by V(t) = t3 –
6t2 +35. Estimate the instantaneous rate of change of the volume after 5
hours.
Solution:
The first thing that we need to do is get a formula for the average rate of
change of the volume. In this case this is, (refer to the slide).
𝑉(𝑡) − 𝑉 (5) 𝑡 3 − 6𝑡 2 + 35 − 10
𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = =
𝑡 −5 𝑡−5

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 𝑡 3 − 6𝑡 2 + 25
=
𝑡−5

To estimate the instantaneous rate of change of the volume at t=5 we just

need to pick values of t that are getting closer and closer to t=5.
Here is a table of values of t and the average rate of change for those values.
From this table, it looks like the average rate of change is approaching 15 and
so we can estimate that the instantaneous rate of change is 15 at this point.
Table 2. Table of values of the average rate of change for each value of t.

Let’s suppose that the units on the volume were in cm3. The units on the rate
of change (both average and instantaneous) are then cm3/hr. We have
estimated that at t=5 the volume is changing at a rate of 15 cm3/hr. This
means that at t=5, the volume is changing in such a way that, if the rate were
constant, then an hour later there would be 15 cm3 more air in the balloon
than there was at t=5.

The Limit
The word “limit” is used in everyday conversation to describe the ultimate
behavior of something, as in the “limit of one’s endurance” or the “limit of
one’s patience.”
In mathematics, the word “limit” has a similar but more precise meaning.

The Limit Process

We could begin by saying that limits are important in calculus, but that would
be a major understatement. Without limits, calculus would not exist. Every
single notion of calculus is a limit in one sense or another.
For example, what is the slope of a curve? It is the limit of slopes of secant
lines. What is the length of a curve? It is the limit of the lengths of polygonal
paths inscribed in the curve. What is the area of a region bounded by a curve?
It is the limit of the sum of areas of approximating rectangles.
 The curve in the figure represents the graph of a function f. The number c is
on the x-axis and the limit L is on the y-axis. As x approaches c along the x-
axis, f (x) approaches L along the y-axis.

Limit of a Function
As we have tried to emphasize, in taking the limit of a function f as x tends to
c, it does not matter whether f is defined at c and, if so, how it is defined
there. The only thing that matters is the values taken on by f at numbers x
near c. Take a look at the three cases depicted in Figure 10. In the first case, f
(c) = L. In the second case, f is not defined at c. In the third case, f is defined at
c, but f (c) ≠ L. Figure 9. Illustration of a limit.

Figure 10. Limits on Various Functions.

𝑥 2 −4
The function 𝑓(𝑥) = is not defined at x = 2, so its graph has a “hole” at x
𝑥 −2
= 2.

Course Module
 𝑥2 −4
Figure 11. Graph of the function 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥−2
.

𝑥 2 −4
Values of 𝑓(𝑥) = may be computed near x = 2, as x approaches 2, f(x)
𝑥−2
approaches 4.
Table 3. Values as x approaches 2, f(x) approaches 4.

The values of f(x) get closer and closer to 4 as x gets closer and closer to 2.
𝑥 2 −4
We say that “the limit of as x approaches 2 equals 4”and write
𝑥−2
2
𝑥 −4
lim = 4.
𝑥→2 𝑥−2

Let f be a function and let a and L be real numbers. L is the limit of f(x) as x
approaches a, written if the following conditions are met:
1. As x assumes values closer and closer (but not equal) to a on both
sides of a, the corresponding values of f(x) get closer and closer (and
are perhaps equal) to L.
2. The value of f(x) can be made as close to L as desired by taking values
of x arbitrarily close to a.
How do we use this definition to help us estimate limits? We take x’s on both
sides of x=a that move in closer and closer to a and we plug these into our
function. We then look to see if we can determine what number the function
values are moving in towards and use this as our estimate.
Let’s work an example.
Example 3:
𝑥 2 +4𝑥 −12
Estimate the value of lim .
𝑥→2 𝑥 2 −2𝑥

Solution:
 For the solution, estimate the value of the limit. Again, we are not going to
directly compute limits in this section. The point of this section is to give us a
better idea of how limits work and what they can tell us about the function.
So, with that we will choose values of x that get closer and closer to x=2 and
plug these values into the function. Doing this gives the following table of
values.
Note that we made sure and picked values of x that were on both sides of x=2
and that we moved in very close to x=2 to make sure that any trends that we
might be seeing are in fact correct. Please note that we can’t actually plug in
x=2 into the function as this would give us a division by zero error.

Table 4. Values as x approaches 2, f(x) approaches 4.

From Table 4 it appears that the function is going to 4 as x approaches 2, so

𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 12
lim = 4.
𝑥→2 𝑥 2 − 2𝑥

Example 4:
Find the limit of a polynomial function lim (𝑥 2 − 3𝑥 + 4).
𝑥→1

Solution:
The behavior of lim (𝑥 2 − 3𝑥 + 4) near x = 1 can be determined from a table
𝑥→1
of values, as x approaches 1, f(x) approaches 2.
Table 5. Values as x approaches 1, f(x) approaches 2.

Solution:

Course Module
From a graph of f(x), lim (𝑥 2 − 3𝑥 + 4)=2.
𝑥→1

Figure 12. Graph of f(x) (𝑥 2 − 3𝑥 + 4).

Example 5:
Find the limit of a polynomial function lim 𝑓(𝑥 ) where 𝑓(𝑥) =
𝑥→3
2𝑥 + 1 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 ≤ 3
{
4𝑥 − 5 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 > 3

Solution:
Create a graph and table.

2𝑥 + 1 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 ≤ 3
Figure 13. Graph of 𝑓(𝑥) = {
4𝑥 − 5 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 > 3

As x approaches 3, f(x) approaches 7.

 Table 6. Values as x approaches 1, f(x) approaches 2.

Therefore, lim 𝑓(𝑥 ) = 7.

𝑥→3

Limits That Do Not Exist

If there is no single value that is approached by f(x) as x approaches a, we say
that f(x) does not have a limit as x approaches a, or lim 𝑓(𝑥 ) does not exist.
𝑥→2

Let’s take another example.

Example 6:
Set 𝑓(𝑥 ) = √ 1 − 𝑥 and take a = −8.

Solution:
As x approaches −8, 1 − x approaches 9 and √ 1 − 𝑥 approaches 3. We conclude
that lim 𝑓(𝑥 ) = 3.
𝑥→8

If for that same function we try to calculate lim 𝑓(𝑥 ), we run into a problem.
𝑥→2
The function 𝑓(𝑥 ) = √ 1 − 𝑥 is defined only for x ≤ 1not defined for x near 2,
and the idea of taking the limit as x approaches 2 makes no sense at all.
Therefore lim 𝑓(𝑥 ) does not exist.
𝑥→2

Example 7:
4𝑥 − 5 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 ≤ 2
Find lim 𝑓(𝑥 ) where 𝑓(𝑥) = { and determining whether a
𝑥→2 3𝑥 − 5 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 > 2
limit exists.
Solution:
Construct a table and graph.

Table 7. Values of f(x) as x approaches 2 from the left, f(x) as x approaches 2 from the right.

f(x) approaches 3 as x gets closer to 2 from the left, f(x) approaches 1 as x

gets closer to 2 from the right.
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 4𝑥 − 5 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 ≤ 2
Figure 14. Graph of 𝑓(𝑥) = { .
3𝑥 − 5 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 > 2

Therefore, lim 𝑓(𝑥 ) does not exist.

𝑥→2

Example 8:
1
Find lim 𝑓(𝑥 ) where 𝑓(𝑥 ) = 𝑥 2 and determining whether a limit exists.
𝑥→0

Solution:
Construct a table and graph.

Table 8. Values of f(x) as x approaches 0.

As x approaches 0, the corresponding values of f(x) grow arbitrarily large.

 1
Figure 15. Graph of 𝑓 (𝑥) = .
𝑥2

1
Therefore, lim 2 does not exist.
𝑥→0 𝑥

Remember that…
A tangent line is a straight line that touches a function at only one point. The
tangent line represents the instantaneous rate of change of the function at
that one point.

A secant line is a straight line joining two points on a function. (See below.)
It is also equivalent to the average rate of change, or simply
the slope between two points. The average rate of change of a function
between two points and the slope between two points are the same thing.
The formula for average rate of change is:
𝒇(𝒙𝟐 ) − 𝒇(𝒙𝟏 )
𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 = 𝒎 =
𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏
For limits, let f be a function and let a and L be real numbers. L is the limit of
f(x) as x approaches a, written if the following conditions are met:
1. As x assumes values closer and closer (but not equal) to a on both
sides of a, the corresponding values of f(x) get closer and closer (and
are perhaps equal) to L.
2. The value of f(x) can be made as close to L as desired by taking values
of x arbitrarily close to a.
To find the solution for limits:
1. Estimate the value of the limit. That is, to choose values of x that get
closer and closer to x=n (n is the given value for limit).
2. Plug these values into the function. Doing this gives the table of
values.

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 3. Make sure and pick values of x that were on both sides of x=n and that
you move in very close to x=n to make sure that any trends that you
might be seeing are in fact correct.
4. You can’t actually plug in x=n into the function as this would give you
a division by zero error.
If there is no single value that is approached by f(x) as x approaches a, we say
that f(x) does not have a limit as x approaches a, or the limit does not exist.

Activities and Exercises

Work on exercises and complete the quiz. Refer to Week004-Assessments-

LimitsAndContinuity1 file.

References
Angenent, Sigurd B. (2006). MATH 221 - 1st Semester Calculus Lecture
Notes, Version 2.0. Free Software Foundation
Strang, Gilbert. Calculus. Massachusetts: Wellesley, Wellesley-Cambridge
Press.
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