Limits involving ln(x)

We can use the rules of logarithms given above to derive the following
information about limits.
lim ln x = ,

x
I
I
I

lim ln x = .

x0

We saw the last day that ln 2 > 1/2.

Using the rules of logarithms, we see that ln 2m = m ln 2 > m/2, for
any integer m.
Because ln x is an increasing function, we can make ln x as big as we
choose, by choosing x large enough, and thus we have
lim ln x = .

x
I

.


Similarly ln 21n = n ln 2 < n/2 and as x approaches 0 the values
of ln x approach .

Example
Find the limit limx ln( x 21+1 ).
I As x , we have 21 0
x +1
I Letting u = 21 , we have
x +1
lim ln(

1
) = lim ln(u) = .
u0
x2 + 1

Extending the antiderivative of 1/x

We can extend our antiderivative of 1/x( the natural logarithm function)
to a function with a larger domain by composing ln x with the absolute
value function |x|. . We have :

ln x
x >0
ln |x| =
ln(x) x < 0
This is an even function with graph

We have ln|x| is also an antiderivative of 1/x with a larger domain than

ln(x).
Z
d
1
1
(ln |x|) =
and
dx = ln |x| + C
dx
x
x

Using Chain Rule for Differentiation

1
d
(ln |x|) =
dx
x
I
I

d
g 0 (x)
(ln |g (x)|) =
dx
g (x)

and

Example 1: Differentiate ln | sin x|.

Using the chain rule, we have
1
d
d
ln | sin x| =
sin x
dx
(sin x) dx

cos x
sin x

Using Chain Rule for Differentiation : Example 2

Differentiate

ln | 3 x 1|.

We can simplify this to finding

ln | 3 x 1| = ln |x 1|1/3

d
dx

1
3


ln |x 1| , since

d 1
1
1
d
1
ln |x 1| =
(x 1) =
dx 3
3 (x 1) dx
3(x 1)

Using Substitution
Reversing our rules of differentiation above, we get:
Z
Z 0
g (x)
1
dx = ln |x| + C and
dx = ln |g (x)| + C
x
g (x)
I
I

R x
Example Find the integral
3x 2 dx
Using substitution, we let u = 3 x 2 .
du = 2x dx,

x
dx =
3 x2

x dx =

du
,
2

1
du
2(u)

1
1
ln |u| + C =
ln |3 x 2 | + C
2
2