Business Mathematics: MGT 1123 & BPM 1133

Introuction to Calculus
(A.Functions, B.Graphs & C.Limits)

Chapter 4

Handbook: E. Haeussler, R. Paul, R. Wood

Ms. S.Thevaka
(2011). Introductory Mathematical Analysis for
Lecturer (Prob.) in Applied Mathematics & Computing
business, economics and
Vavuniya life and social
Campus
sciences. Pearson education
10/13/2023 1
 A. Functions in general

Introduction

In every day speech we often hear economists say things like

“ interest rates are a function of oil prices”,
“pension income is a function of years worked”

Sometimes such usage agrees with mathematical usage, but not

always.

10/13/2023 (Handbook: Section 2.1 p80, paragraph 1-2) 2

 Example Taxi driver

What does a taxi ride cost me with company A?

• Base price: 5 Euro
• Per kilometer: 2 Euro

Price of a 7 km ride?

price  5  2  7  19

10/13/2023 3
 Definition

• x and y : VARIABLES
(length of ride in km) (price of ride in euro)
• y depends on x: INPUT  OUTPUT
x y

y: DEPENDENT VARIABLE
x: INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

Function: rule that assigns to

each input at most 1 output

10/13/2023 (Section 2.1 p81, last 4 paragraphs) 4

 Definition
• We say: y is FUNCTION of x,
or in short f of x
• We denote: y(x) or y=f(x)
• Outputs are also called function values

Second way: Most concentrated form!

Through the EQUATION, e.g. y = 2x + 5.

formula y = 2x + 5:
EQUATION OF THE FUNCTION

10/13/2023
(Handbook: Section 2.1 p82) 5
 Equation

A function f is a linear function if and only if

f(x) can be written in the form
f(x)=y=mx + c
where m, c are constants.

Caution: m and c FIXED: parameters

x and y: VARIABLES!

10/13/2023 (Section 3.1 p138) 6

 Applications

• Cost y to purchase a car of 20 000 Euro and

drive it for x km, if the costs amount to 0.8
Euro per km?
y = 20 000 + 0.8x hence … y = mx + b!

• Production cost c to produce q units, if the

fixed cost is 3 and the production cost is 0.2
per unit?
c = 3 + 0.2q hence y = mx + b!

10/13/2023 7
 Exersises

For a local pizza parlor the weekly demand function

Is given by p=26-q/40.
(a) What will be the revenue for the pizza parlor
if 400 pizza’s are ordered ?
(b) Express the revenue as a function of the
demand q.

!! Not all functions are first degree functions

Note: Demand functions are not always linear !

10/13/2023 8
 B. Graphs
Three representations
x y
Third way: y
7 0 5
Most visual form!
6 1 7
Through the GRAPH
rectangular coordinate system:
x-coordinate, y-coordinate
5
4
3
2
1
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 x
-1
10/13/2023 9
(Handbook: Section 2.5 p99)
 Example: Taxi driver

y = 2x + 5

y
The graph of a linear function with
14 equation y=mx +b is
- a STRAIGHT LINE

2
x
1
10/13/2023 5 10
 Significance of the parameter b

• Taxi company A: y = 2x + 5. y

Here b = 5: the base price. 14

• Numerically:
b can be considered asofthe
Significance the parameter b
VALUE OF y WHEN x = 0.
• graphically:
b shows where the graph cuts2
the Y-axis: Y-INTERCEPT x
1 5

10/13/2023 11
 Significance of the parameter m

• Taxi company A: y = 2x + 5, m = 2: the price per

km.
• Numerically: m is CHANGE OF y WHEN x IS
INCREASED BY 1
INPUT OUTPUT
x y
3 11
x = 1 y = 2
4 13

m is the RATE OF CHANGE of the linear function

10/13/2023 12
 Significance of the parameter m

• Graphically:

if x is increased by 1 unit,
y is increased by m units

m is the SLOPE of the straight line

10/13/2023 13
 Significance of the parameter m

• Taxi company A: y = 2x + 5, m = 2: the price per

km.
• If x is increased by e.g. 3 (the ride is 3 km longer),
y will be increased by 2  3 = 6 (we have to pay 6
Euro more).

INPUT OUTPUT
x y
x = 3 3 11 y = 3x2=6
6 17
• Always: y = mx
(INCREASE FORMULA)

10/13/2023 14
 B. Linear functions
Slope of the line m (Section 3.1 p128-129)

Sign of m determines whether the linear function is

- increasing / constant(!!) / decreasing
y y y
2 2 2

x x x
-2 2 -2 2 -2 2

m<0 m=0 m>0

-2 -2 -2

- Note: what about a vertical line ?

(Section 3.1 p131-

10/13/2023
Example 6) 15
 Slope of the line m

Slope of a straight
line given by two
points:

vertical distance y2  y1 y
m  
horizontal distance x2  x1 x

10/13/2023 (Section 3.1 p128) 16

C. Calculating Limits Using The
Limit Laws

17
Basic Limit Laws

1. lim c  c 2. lim x  a
x a x a

(a, c) (a, a) y=x


  y=c
|  |
a a

3a. lim x  a where n is a positive integer.

n n
x a

3b. lim n x  n a where n is a positive integer.

xa

18
 Limit Laws Generalized
Suppose that c is a constant and the following
limits exist lim f ( x) and lim g ( x).
xa x a

1. lim  f ( x)  g ( x)  lim f ( x)  lim g ( x)

xa xa xa

2. lim  f ( x)  g ( x)  lim f ( x)  lim g ( x)

xa xa xa

3. lim cf ( x)  c lim f ( x)

xa xa

19
 Limit Laws Generalized

4. lim  f ( x) g ( x)  lim f ( x)  lim g ( x)

xa xa xa

 f ( x)  lim f ( x)
5. lim   xa
xa g ( x) 
  lim
xa
g ( x)

20
Examples
Evaluate the following limits. Justify each step
using the laws of limits.

1. lim 3 x  2 x  5
x  3
2

 3x  2 
2. lim  
x 1
 x5 

3. lim x  2 x
3 2
x2

21
Direct Substitution Property

If f is a polynomial or a rational function and a

is in the domain of f, then
lim f ( x)  f (a )
xa

22
 Examples
You may encounter limit problems that seem to be impossible
to compute or they appear to not exist. Here are some tricks to
help you evaluate these limits.

1. If f is a rational function or complex:

a. Simplify the function; eliminate common factors.
b. Find a common denominator.
c. Perform long division.
2. If a root function exists, rationalize the numerator or
denominator.
3. If an absolute values function exists, use one-sided limits
and the definition.  a if a  0
a 
 a if a  0
23
Direct Substitution Property
Evaluate the following limits, if they exist.

x3  1 1 h 1
1. lim 2 2. lim
x 1 x  1 h 0 h

1 1  x2
3. lim   2  4. lim
t 0  t t 1 x2 x2

24
 You Try It
Evaluate the following limits, if they exist, in groups of
no more than three members.

10 x  9  1  1 2 
1. lim 2. lim   2 
x2  x  2 x  2x 
x 1 x 1

25
 Dividing Out Technique
• We have studied several types of functions
whose limits can be evaluated by direct
substitution.

In this section, you will study several

techniques for evaluating limits of functions
for which direct substitution fails.

Suppose you were asked to find the following

limit.
 Dividing Out Technique
• Direct substitution fails because –3 is a zero of
the denominator. By using a table, however, it
appears that the limit of the function as x
approaches –3 is –5.
 Example 1 – Dividing Out Technique

• Find the limit.

• Solution:
• Begin by factoring the numerator and dividing
out any common factors. Factor numerator.
 Example 1 – Solution cont’d

• Divide out common

factor.

Simplify.

• (x – 2)
Direct substitution

• = –3 – 2 Simplify.

• = –5
 Dividing Out Technique
• This procedure for evaluating a limit is called
the dividing out technique.
• The validity of this technique stems from the
fact that when two functions agree at all but a
single number c, they must have identical limit
behavior at x = c.
 Dividing Out Technique
• The dividing out technique should be applied
only when direct substitution produces 0 in
both the numerator and the denominator.

• An expression such as has no meaning as a

real number.
• It is called an indeterminate form because you
cannot, from the form alone, determine the
limit.
 Dividing Out Technique
• When you try to evaluate a limit of a rational
function by direct substitution and encounter
this form, you can conclude that the
numerator and denominator must have a
common factor.

• After factoring and dividing out, you should try

direct substitution again.