Limits and an Introduction

to Calculus
• Calculus is the mathematics of change.
• - can either be finite (discrete), or continuous

• FUNCTION
• LIMIT
• DERIVATIVE
• INTEGRAL

2
The Limit Concept

3
The Limit Concept
• The notion of a limit is a fundamental concept of
calculus.

• you will learn how to evaluate limits and how to use

them in the two basic problems of calculus: the
tangent line problem and the area problem.

4
Example 1 – Finding a Rectangle of Maximum Area

• Find the dimensions of a rectangle that has a perimeter

of 24 inches and a maximum area.

• Solution:
• Let w represent the width of the rectangle and let l
represent the length of the rectangle. Because
Perimeter is 24.
• 2w + 2l = 24

• it follows that l = 12 – w,
as shown in the figure.
5
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

• So, the area of the rectangle is

Formula for area
• A = lw
Substitute 12 – w for l.

• = (12 – w)w
Simplify.

• = 12w – w2.

• Using this model for area, experiment with different

values of w to see how to obtain the maximum area.
6
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

• After trying several values, it appears that the

maximum area occurs when w = 6, as shown in the
table.

• In limit terminology, you can say that “the limit of A

as w approaches 6 is 36.” This is written as

7
Definition of Limit

8
Definition of Limit

9
Example 2 – Estimating a Limit Numerically
• Use a table to estimate numerically the limit: .

• Solution:
• Let f (x) = 3x – 2.

• Then construct a table that shows values of f (x) for

two sets
of x-values—one set that approaches 2 from the left
and one that approaches 2 from the right.

10
Example 2 – Solution cont’d

• From the table, it appears that the closer x gets to 2,

the closer f (x) gets to 4. So, you can estimate the limit
to be 4. Figure 12.1 illustrates this conclusion.

Figure 12.1
11
Limits That Fail to Exist

12
Limits That Fail to Exist
• Next, you will examine some functions for which
limits do not exist.

13
Example – Comparing Left and Right Behavior
• Show that the limit does not exist.

• Solution:
Consider the graph of f (x) = | x |/x.
•
From Figure 4, you can see that
for positive x-values

• and for negative x-values

Figure 4

14
Example – Solution cont’d

• This means that no matter how close x gets to 0, there

will be both positive and negative x-values that yield f
(x) = 1 and f (x) = –1.

• This implies that the limit does not exist.

15
Limits That Fail to Exist
• Following are the three most common types of
behavior associated with the nonexistence of a limit.

16
Properties of Limits and
Direct Substitution

17
Properties of Limits and Direct Substitution
• You have seen that sometimes the limit of f (x) as x ®
c is simply f (c), as shown in Example 2. In such cases,
the limit can be evaluated by direct substitution.

• That is,
Substitute c for x.

• There are many “well-behaved” functions, such as

polynomial functions and rational functions with
nonzero denominators, that have this property.
18
Properties of Limits and Direct Substitution
• The following list includes some basic limits.

• This list can also include trigonometric functions. For

instance,
• and
19
Properties of Limits and Direct Substitution
• By combining the basic limits with the following
operations, you can find limits for a wide variety of
functions.

20
Example – Direct Substitution and Properties of Limits

• Find each limit.

• a. b.

• c. d.

• Solution:
• Use the properties of limits and direct substitution to
evaluate each limit.

• a.
21
Example 9 – Solution cont’d

• b. Property 1

22
Example – Solution cont’d

• c.

• d .
Properties 2 and 5

23
Properties of Limits and Direct Substitution
• Example shows algebraic solutions. To verify the limit
in Example 9(a) numerically, for instance, create a
table that shows values of x2 for two sets of x-values—
one set that approaches 4 from the left and one that
approaches 4 from the right, as shown below.

24
Properties of Limits and Direct Substitution
• From the table, you can see that the limit as x
approaches 4 is 16. To verify the limit graphically,
sketch the graph
of y = x2. From the graph shown , you can determine
that the limit as x approaches 4 is 16.

25
Properties of Limits and Direct Substitution
• The following summarizes the results of using direct
substitution to evaluate limits of polynomial and
rational functions.

26
27
Continuity
Continuity
• The limit of a function as x approaches a can often be
found simply by calculating the value of the function
at a. Functions with this property are called
continuous at a.
• We will see that the mathematical definition of
continuity corresponds closely with the meaning of the
word continuity in everyday language. (A continuous
process is one that takes place gradually, without
interruption or abrupt change.)

2
9
Continuity
• Notice that Definition 1 implicitly requires three
things if f is continuous at a:

• 1. f (a) is defined (that is, a is in the domain of f )

• 2. exists

• 3.
• The definition says that f is continuous at a if f (x)
approaches f (a) as x approaches a. Thus a continuous
function f has the property that a small change in x
produces only a small change in f (x).
3
0
Continuity
• In fact, the change in f (x) can be kept as small as we
please by keeping the change in x sufficiently small.

• If f is defined near a (in other words, f is defined on an

open interval containing a, except perhaps at a), we say
that f is discontinuous at a (or f has a discontinuity at a)
if f is not continuous at a.

• Physical phenomena are usually continuous. For instance,

the displacement or velocity of a vehicle varies
continuously with time, as does a person’s height. But
discontinuities do occur in such situations as electric
currents. 3
1
Continuity
• Geometrically, you can think of a function that is
continuous at every number in an interval as a
function whose graph has no break in it. The graph
can be drawn without removing your pen from the
paper.

3
2
Example 1
• Figure 2 shows the graph of a function f. At which numbers
is f discontinuous? Why?

Figure 2

• Solution:
• It looks as if there is a discontinuity when a = 1 because the
graph has a break there. The official reason that f is
discontinuous at 1 is that f (1) is not defined. 3
3
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

• The graph also has a break when a = 3, but the reason for
the discontinuity is different. Here, f (3) is defined, but
limx®3 f (x) does not exist (because the left and right limits
are different). So f is discontinuous at 3.

• What about a = 5? Here, f (5) is defined and limx®5 f (x)

exists (because the left and right limits are the same).

• But

• So f is discontinuous at 5. 3
4
Example 2
• Where are each of the following functions discontinuous?

• Solution:
• (a) Notice that f (2) is not defined, so f is discontinuous at 2.
Later we’ll see why f is continuous at all other numbers.

3
5
Example 2 – Solution cont’d

• (b) Here f (0) = 1 is defined but

• does not exist. So f is discontinuous at 0.

• (c) Here f (2) = 1 is defined and

3
6
Example 2 – Solution cont’d

• = 3 exists.

• But

• so f is not continuous at 2.

• (d) The greatest integer function f (x) = has

discontinuities at all of the integers because
does not exist if n is an integer. 37
Continuity
• Figure 3 shows the graphs of the functions in Example
2.

Graphs of the functions in Example 2

Figure 3

38
Continuity

Graphs of the functions in Example 2

Figure 3

39
Continuity
• In each case the graph can’t be drawn without lifting the
pen from the paper because a hole or break or jump
occurs in the graph.

• The kind of discontinuity illustrated in parts (a) and (c) is

called removable because we could remove the
discontinuity by redefining f at just the single number 2.
[The function g (x) = x + 1 is continuous.]

• The discontinuity in part (b) is called an infinite

discontinuity. The discontinuities in part (d) are called
jump discontinuities because the function “jumps” from
one value to another. 40
Continuity
• A computer calculates a finite number of points on the
graph and turns on the pixels that contain these
calculated points.

• It assumes that the function is continuous and takes on

all the intermediate values between two consecutive
points.

• The computer therefore connects the pixels by turning

on the intermediate pixels.

41
derivatives
• limit
• continuity - a continuous function is one which has no
breaks in its curve. it can be drawn w/o lifting a pencil
from the paper.
• a function f is continuous at x = a if:
• f(x) is defined
• lim f(x) exists
x a
• lim f(x) - f(a)
x a
• all polynomial functions are continuous
• all rational functions are continuous except those undefined

• SLOPE OF A CURVILINEAR
• slope of a curvilinear function at a given point is measured
by the slope of a line drawn tangent to the function at that
point.
• a tangent line is a straight line that touches a curve at only
one point. measuring the slope of a curvilinear function at
a different points requires separate tangent lines
• slope of a tangent line is derived from the slopes of a family of secant
lines.
• Secant line S is a straight line that intersects a curve at two points
• Slope S = y2 - y1 / x2 - x1
• Slope T
• DERIVATIVE
• f’(x) dy/dx df/dx y’ Dy(f(x)) d/dx (f(x))
• the derivative of a function is itself a function which measures
both the slope and the instantaneous rate of change of the original
function f(x) at a given point
• a function is differentiable at a point if the derivative exists at that
point.
• must be continuous
• must have a unique tangent at that point.
• RULES OF DIFFERENTIATION
• CONSTANT FUNCTION RULE
• f(x) = k f’(x) = 0
• LINEAR FUNCTION RULE
• f(x) = mx + b f’(x) = m
• POWER FUNCTION RULE
• f(x) = kxn f’(x) = k*n*xn-1
• RULES OF SUMS AND DIFFERENCES
• f(x) = g(x) +/- h(x) f’(x) = g’(x) +/- h’(x)
• PRODUCT RULE
• f(x) = g(x)*h(x) f’(x) = g(x)*h’(x) + h(x)*g’(x)

• QUOTIENT RULE

• f(x) = g(x) / h(x) f’(x) = h(x)*g’(x) - g(x)*h’(x) / (h(x))2

• GENERALIZED POWER RULE

• f(x) = (g(x))n f’(x) = n(g(x))n-1 * g’(x)

• CHAIN RULE

• y = f(u) u = g(x) y = f(g(x))

• dy/dx = dy/du * du/dx

• f(x) = 8
• f(x) = 3x + 2
• f(x) = 4x3
• f(x) = 12x5 - 4x4
• f(x) = 3x4(2x - 5)
• f(x) = 5x3 / 4x + 3
• f(x) = (x3 + 6)5
• f(x) = (5x2 + 3)4
• HIGHER ORDER DERIVATIVES
• f’(x) = measures the slope and the rate of change of the original function
• f’’(x) = measures the slope and the rate of change of the 1st derivative
• f’’’(x) = measures the slope and the rate of change of the 2nd derivative
• …….
• IMPLICIT DIFFERENTIATION
• explicit function
• dependent to the left and independent to the right
• implicit function
• both variables are on the same side of the equal sign
• f(x) = 2x4 + 5x3 + 3x2
• 3x4 - 7y5 = 86