DEFINITION OF THE

LIMIT OF A FUNCTION
AND
LIMIT THEOREMS
Definition of the Limit of a Function

Let f be a function defined at every number in

some open interval containing a, except
possibly at the number a itself. The limit of
f(x) as x approaches a is L, written as
lim f ( x)  L
x a
if the following statement is true:
Given any   0 , however small, there
exists a   0 such that if
0  x  a   then f ( x)  L  
LIMIT THEOREM 1 Limit of a Linear
Function

If m and b are any constants,

lim(mx  b)  ma  b
x a
• ILLUSTRATION 1

From Limit Theorem 1,

lim(3 x  5)  3  2  5
x2

 11
LIMIT THEOREM 2 Limit of a Constant

If c is a constant, then for any number a

lim c  c
xa
LIMIT THEOREM 3 Limit of the Identity
Function

lim x  a
x a
• ILLUSTRATION 2

From Limit Theorem 2,

lim 7  7
x5

and from Limit Theorem 3,

lim x  6
x 6
LIMIT THEOREM 4 Limit of the Sum and
Difference of Two Functions

If lim f ( x)  L and lim g ( x)  M , then

x a x a

lim  f ( x)  g ( x)  L  M
x a
 LIMIT THEOREM Limit of the Sum and
Difference of n Functions

If lim f1 ( x)  L , lim f 2 ( x)  L2 , , and

xa x a

lim f n ( x)  Ln , then
x a

lim  f1 ( x)  f 2 ( x)   f n ( x)  L1  L2   Ln
x a
LIMIT THEOREM 6 Limit of the Product of
Two Functions

If lim f ( x)  L and lim g ( x)  M , then

x a x a

lim  f ( x)  g ( x)  L  M
x a
• ILLUSTRATION 3

From Limit Theorem 3, lim x  4 , and from

x4
Limit Theorem 1, lim  2 x  1  9 . Thus
x 4
from Limit Theorem 6

lim  x  2 x  1  lim x  lim  2 x  1

x 4 x 4 x 4

 49
 36
LIMIT THEOREM 7 Limit of the Product of
n Functions

If lim f1 ( x)  L , lim f 2 ( x)  L2 , , and

xa x a

lim f n ( x)  Ln , then
x a

lim  f1 ( x) f 2 ( x) f n ( x)  L1L2 Ln

x a
LIMIT THEOREM 8 Limit of the nth Power
of a Function

If lim f ( x)  L , and n is any positive integer,

x a
then
lim  f ( x)   L
n n
x a
• ILLUSTRATION 4

From Limit Theorem 1, lim  5x  7   3 .

x 2
Therefore, from Limit Theorem 8

4
lim  5x  7    lim  5x  7 
4

x 2  x2 
  3 
4

 81
LIMIT THEOREM 9 Limit of the Quotient of
Two Functions

If lim f ( x)  L and lim g ( x)  M , then

x a x a

f ( x) L
lim  if M  0
x a g ( x) M
• ILLUSTRATION 5

From Limit Theorem 3, lim x  4 , and from

x4
Limit Theorem 1, lim  7 x  1  27 .
x4
Therefore from Limit Theorem 9,
x lim x
lim  x 4
x 4 7 x  1 lim  7 x  1
x 4

4 4
 
27 27
LIMIT THEOREM 10 Limit of the nth Root of
a Function

If n is a positive integer and lim f ( x)  L , then

x a

lim n f ( x)  n L
x a

with the restriction that if n is even, L  0

• ILLUSTRATION 6

From Illustration 5 and Limit Theorem 10,

x x
lim 3  3 lim
x 4 7 x  1 x 4  7 x  1

4
3
27
3
4

3
THEOREM

If a is any real number except zero

1 1
lim 
x a x a
THEOREM

If a>0 and n is a positive integer, or if a  0

and n is an odd positive integer, then

lim n x  n a
x a
• Example 1

 
Find lim x  7 x  5 and, when appropriate,
x 3
2

indicate the limit theorems being applied.

lim  x 2  72  5  lim x 2  lim 7 x  lim5
x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3

 lim x  lim x  lim 7 x  lim x  lim 5

x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3

 3 3  7  3  5
 9  21  5
 25
• QUIZ 1 (5 mins)

Find the following limit and, when

appropriate, indicate the limit theorems
being applied:

x3  2 x  3
lim
x 2 x2  5
Definition of a Right-Hand Limit
Let f be a function defined at every number in
some open interval (a,c). Then the limit of f(x)
as x approaches a from the right, is L,
written
lim f ( x)  L
xa

if for any   0 , however small, there exists a   0

such that

if 0  xa  then f ( x)  L  
Definition of a Left-Hand Limit
Let f be a function defined at every number in
some open interval (d,a). Then the limit of
f(x) as x approaches a from the left, is L,
written
lim f ( x)  L
xa

if for any   0 , however small, there exists a   0

such that

if 0  xa  then f ( x)  L  
• Illustration 7

Figure 1 shows the graph of the signum function

defined by
-1 if x  0

sgn x = 0 if x  0
1 if 0  x

THEOREM

lim f ( x ) exists and is equal to L and only if

xa

lim f ( x ) and lim f ( x ) both exists and

xa xa

both exist and both are equal to L.

Definition of a Function Values Increasing Without Bound
Let f be a function defined at every number in
some open interval I, containing a, except
possibly at the number a itself. As x
approaches a, f(x) increases without
bound, which is written
lim f ( x)  
xa

if for any number N  0 , there exists a   0

such that

if 0 xa  then f ( x)  N
Definition of a Function Values Increasing Without Bound
Let f be a function defined at every number in
some open interval I, containing a, except
possibly at the number a itself. As x
approaches a, f(x) decreases without
bound, which is written
lim f ( x)  
xa

if for any number N  0 , there exists a   0

such that

if 0 xa  then f ( x)  N
LIMIT THEOREM 11

If r is any positive integer, then

1
(i). lim r  
x 0 x

1  if r is odd
(ii.) lim r  
x 0 x
 if r is even
• Evaluate • Evaluate

4 x  3x  6
3 2
4
lim 3
x  2 x  5 x  3
lim 2
x  x
• Evaluate • Evaluate
f  x   f  2 x  64
3
lim lim 2
x 2 x2 x  4 x  16

if
f  x   x  3x
2
DIFFERENTIATION OF ALGEBRAIC
EQUATIONS
 The symbol 
• Any change in a variable quantity is called an
“increment”.
• The symbol  (read ‘delta’) is customarily
used to denote this change or increment.
• If we regard x as the variable, then the symbol
x (read ‘delta x’) denotes the increment of
x.