Limits and Continuity

Compare behaviour of the functions

sin( x  y )
2 2
x y
2 2
f ( x, y )  g ( x, y )  2
x y
2 2
x y 2

as x and y both approach to zero (i.e., (x,y) approaches

to zero).
BOTH FUNCTIONS ARE NOT DEFINED AT (0,0).
As (x,y) approaches to As (x,y) approaches to
(0,0) the values of f are (0,0) the values of g aren’t
approaching to 1. approaching any number.
 sin( x  y )
2 2 x y
2 2

lim 1 and ( x , ylim

)( 0 , 0 ) x 2  y 2
does not exist.
( x , y )( 0 , 0 ) x y
2 2

➢It appears that, as (x, y) approaches (0, 0), the

values of f(x, y) are approaching 1, whereas the
values of g(x, y) aren’t approaching any number.
 lim f ( x, y )  L
( x , y )( a ,b )

indicates that that the values of f(x,y) approach the

number L as the point (x,y) approaches the point (a,b)
along any path that stays within the domain of f.
If f ( x, y )  L1 as ( x, y )  ( a, b) along a path C1 and
f ( x, y )  L2 as ( x, y )  ( a, b) along a path C ,where L1  L2
2
then ( x , ylim
)( 0 ,0 )
f ( x, y ) does not exist.

Thus to show that the limit for f(x,y) through the limit
point (a,b) does not exist:
We should show the function approaches different
limits along different paths (e.g. along two different
lines , along x-axis and along y-axis etc. ) through the
limit point.
 2
x
Example: Examine lim
( x , y )( 0 , 0 ) x 2  y 2
numerically.

Then prove that limit does not exist.

Solution:
The Table suggests
that f(x,y) takes on
all values between 0
and 1 no matter how
(x,y) gets close to
(0,0). For example f(0.1,0)=1, f(0.1,0.1)=0.5, f(0,0.1)=0
 Let’s prove that the limit does not exist
2
x
Limit along x-axis (i.e. y=0 line) lim f ( x, 0)  lim 2 2  lim1  1
x 0 x 0 x  0 x 0

02
Limit along y-axis (i.e. x=0 line) lim f (0, y )  lim 2  lim 0  0
x 0 x 0 0  y 2 x 0

These two limits are different and hence

2
x
lim
( x , y )( 0 , 0 ) x 2  y 2

does not exist.