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Functions of one
and Two
Variables
Limits for Functions of One
Variable.
What do we mean when we say that
lim f ( x) L?
xa
Means that
•given any tolerance T for L
L+T • we can find a tolerance t for
a
L such that
L-T •if x is between a-t and a+t,
but x is not a,
• f(x) will be between L-T and
L+T.
(Graphically, this means that the
part of the graph that lies in the
yellow vertical strip---that is,
those values that come from
a-t a a+t (a-t,a+t)--- will also lie in the
orange horizontal strip.)
This isn’t True for This function!
No amount of making the
Tolerance around a smaller is
going to force the graph of
L+T that part of the function
within the bright orange
L strip!
L-T
a
lim f ( x) L
xa
Changing the value of L doesn’t help either!
L+T
L
L-T
In fact, there is no L that will help us. lim f ( x) does not exist.
x a
Functions of Two Variables
How does this extend to functions of two variables?
We can start with informal language as before:
lim f ( x, y ) L
( x , y ) ( a ,b )
r
(x,y)
(a,b)
What about those strips?
r
(a,b) (x,y)
Horizontal Strip?
L lies on the z-axis. Remember that the
We are interested function values are
in function values L+T back in the real
that lie between L numbers, so
z=L-T and z=L+T L-T “closeness” is once
again measured in
terms of
“tolerance.”
The set of all z-values
that lie between L-T
and L+T, are
“trapped” between
the two horizontal
planes z=L-T and The horizontal strip
becomes a “sandwich”!
z=L+T
Putting it All Together
The part of the graph that
lies above the green circle
must also lie between the
two horizontal planes.
lim f ( x, y ) L
( x , y ) ( a ,b )
lim f ( x, y ) L
( x , y ) ( a ,b )
L+T
Means that
L •given any tolerance T for L
L-T • we can find a radius r about
(a,b)
such that
•if (x,y) lies within a distance r
from (a,b), with (x,y) different
from (a,b) ,
• f(x,y) will be between L-T
and L+T.
Once again, the pt. ((a,b), f(a,b)) can be anywhere (or nowhere) !