MATH 602

PRE CALCULUS

TOPIC 2: CALCULATING LIMITS USING THE LIMIT LAWS

Limit Laws:
Suppose that c is a constant and the limits
lim f(x) and lim g(x)
x→a x→a
exist. Then

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)] = clim f(x)

x→a x→a

4. lim [f(x)g(x) ] = lim f(x).lim g(x)

x→a x→a x→a

lim f(x)
f(x) x→a
5. lim -------- = -------- -- if lim g(x) ≠ 0
x→a g(x) lim g(x) x→a
x→a

These five laws can be started verbally as follows:

1. The limit of a sum is the sum of the limits. Sum law
2. The limit of a difference is the difference of the limits. Difference Law
3. The limit of constant times a function is the constant
times the limit of the function. Constant Multiple law
4. The limit of a product is the product of the limits. Product Law
5. The limit of a quotient is the quotient of the limits. Quotient Law
(provided that the limit of the denominator is not 0).

It is easy to believe that these properties are true. For instance, f(x) is close to L
and g(x) is close to M, it is reasonable to conclude that f(x) + g(x) is close to L + M.
This gives us an intuitive basis for believing that the Law is true.

Example 1:

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Use the limit Laws and the graphs of f and g in figure 1.17 to evaluate the following
limits, if they exist.
f(x)
(a) lim [f(x) + 5g(x)] (b) lim [f(x)g(x) ] (c) lim --------
x → -2 x →1 x→2 g(x)

(a) From the graphs of f and g wee see that

Y

lim f(x) = 1 and lim g(x) = -1 f

x→-2 x→-2

1
Therefore we have;
0
x
lim [f(x) + 5g(x)] = lim f(x) + lim [5g(x)] → (Limit Law 1) g 1
x→-2 x→-2
= lim f(x) + 5lim g(x) →(Limit Law 3)
x→-2 x→-2

= 1 + 5(-1) = - 4 Figure 1.17

(b) We see that lim f(x) = 2. But lim g(x) does not exist
x→1-- x→ 1+

Because the left and right limits are different:

lim g(x) = -2 and lim g(x) = -1

x→ 1-- x→ 1+

So we can’t use law 4 for the desired limit. But we can use law 4 for the one-sided
limits.

lim [f(x)g(x)] = lim f(x) ∙ lim g(x) = 2 ∙ (-2) = - 4

x→1-- x→1-- x→1+

lim [ f(x)g(x) ] = lim f(x) ∙ lim g(x) = 2 ∙ (-1) = - 2

x→1+ x→1+ x→1+

The left and the right limits aren’t equal, so lim [f(x) g(x)] does not exist.
x→1

(c) The graph show that

lim f(x) ≈ 1.4 and lim g(x) = 0
x→2 x→2

Because the limit of the denominator is 0, we can’t use Law 5. The given limit does
not exist because the denominator approaches 0 while the numerator approaches a
nonzero number.
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If we use the Product Law repeatedly with g(x) = f(x), we obtain the following Law.

6. lim [ f(x) ]n = [ lim f(x) ]n where n is a positive integer Power Law

x→a x→a

In applying these six limit laws, we need to use two special limits:

7. lim c = c 8. lim x = a
x→a x→a

These limits are obvious from intuitive point of view (state them in words or draw a
graph of y = c and y = x).

If we now put f(x) = Law 6 and use Law 8, we get another useful special limit.

9. lim xn = an where n is a positive integer.

x→a

Similar limit holds for roots as follows.

10. lim n x =n a where n is appositive number

Example 2:

Evaluate the following limits and justify each step.

x3 + 2x2 - 1
2
(a) lim (2x – 3x + 4) (b) lim ----------------
x→5 x→-2 5 – 3x

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Solution:

(a) lim (2x2 – 3x + 4) = lim (2x2) – lim (3x) + lim 4 (by Laws 2 and 1)
x→5 x→5 x→5 x→5

= 2 lim x2 – 3 lim x + lim 4 (by 3)

x→5 x→5 x→5

= 2(5)2 – 3(5) + 4 (by 9, 8 and 7)

= 39

(b)We start by using Law 5, but its fully justified only at the final stage when we see
that the limits of the numerator and denominator exist and the limit of the
denominator is not 0.

x3 + 2x2 – 1 lim (x3 + 2x2 – 1)

x→-2
lim --------------- = ------------------- (by Law 5)
x→-2 5 – 3x lim (5 – 3x)
x→-2

lim x3 + 2 lim x2 – lim 1

x→-2 x→-2 x→-2
= ----------------------------- (by 1, 2 and 3)
lim 5 – 3 lim x
x→-2 x→-2

(- 2)3 + 2(-2)2 – 1
= ----------------------- (by 9, 8 and 7)
5 – 3(-2)

-1
= -------
11

Note: If we let f(x) = 2x3 – 3x + 4, then f(5) = 39. In other words, we would have
gotten the correct answer in Example 2 (a) by substituting 5 for x; similarly, direct
substitution provides the correct answer in part (b). The function in Example 2 is
a polynomial and rational function, respectively, and similar use of Limit Laws
proves that direct substitution always works for such functions.

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Direct Substitution Property

If f is a polynomial or a rational function and a is the domain of f, then

lim f (x) = f (a)

x→a

Example 3:

x2 – 1
Find lim ---------
x→1 x – 1

Solution: Let f(x) = (x2 – 1)/(x – 1). We can’t find the limit by substituting x = 1 because
f(1) isn’t defined. Nor can we apply the Quotient Law, because the limit of the
denominator is 0. Instead, we need to do something preliminary algebra. We
factor the numerator as a difference of squares.

x2 – 1 (x + 1) (x – 1)
------ = -------------------
x–1 x–1

The common denominators have a common factor of x – 1. When we take

the limit as x approaches 1, we have x ≠ 1 and so x – 1 ≠ 0. Therefore we can
cancel the common factor and then compute the limit by direct substitution
as follows.

x2 – 1 (x + 1) (x – 1)
lim -------- = lim -------------------
x→1 x – 1 x→1 x -1

= lim (x + 1)
x→1

= lim x + lim 1
x→1 x→1

=1+1=2

Note 1:
In Example 3 we do not have an infinite limit even though the denominator
approaches 0 as x→ 1. When both numerator and denominator approach 0,
the limit may be infinite or may be some infinite value.

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Note 2:
In Example 3 we were able to compute the limit by replacing the given
function f(x) = (x2 – 1)/(x – 1) by simpler function, g(x) = x +1, with the same
limit. This is valid because f(x) = g(x) except when x = 1, and in computing a
limit as x approaches 1 we don’t consider what happens when x is actually
equal to 1. In general we had the following useful facts

If f(x) – g (x), when x ≠ a, then lim g(x), provided the limits exist.
x→a

Example 4:

Find lim g(x) where

x→1

x+1 if x≠ 1
g(x) =
π if x = 1

Solution:
Here g is defined at x + 1 and g(1) = π , but the value of a limit as x approaches
1 does not depend on the value of the function at 1. Since g(x) = x + 1 for x ≠ 1

lim g(x) = lim (x +1)

x→1 x→1

= limx + lim1
x→1 x→1

=1+1=2

Note that the values of the functions in Example 3 and 4 are identical when x = 1and so
they have the same limit as x approaches 1. (See Figure 1.18)

y
y = f (X) y = g(x)

2
1 1

0 1 2 3 4 5 X 0 1 2 3 4

Figure 1.18

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Example 5:
(3 + h)2 – 9
Evaluate lim -----------------
h→0 h

Solution:
If we define:

(3 + h)2 – 9
f(h) = ---------------------
h

then, as in Example 3, we can’t compute lim f(h) by letting h = 0 since

h→0
f(0) is undefined. But if we simplify f(h) algebraically, we find that

(9 + 6h – h2) – 9 6h + h2 h (6 +h)
f(h) = ----------------------- = ---------- = --------- = 6 + h
h h h

(Recall that we consider only h ≠ 0 when letting h approach 0.) Thus

(3 + h)2 – 9
lim --------------- = lim (6 + h) = (6 + 0) = 6
h→0 h h→0

Example 6:

t2 + 9 – 3
Find lim --------------.
t→0 t2

Solution:
We can’t apply the quotient Law immediately, since the limit of the
denominator is 0. Here the preliminary algebra consists of rationalizing the
numerator:

t2 + 9 – 3 t2 + 9 – 3 t2 + 9 + 3
lim = ------------- = lim ------------- ∙ --------------
t→0 t2 t→0 t2 t2 + 9 + 3

(t2 + 9) - 9
lim --------------------
2 2
t→0 t ( t + 9 + 3)

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t2
= lim --------------------
2 2
t→0 t ( t + 9 + 3)

1
= lim --------------
2
t→0 ( t + 9 + 3)

1
= ------------------------
(lim ( t2 + 9) + 3)
t→0

1 1
= ------------------ = ------
3+3 6

Some limits are best calculated by first finding the left and right-hand limits. The
following theorem is a reminder of what we discovered in Section 1.1. It says that a
two-sided limit exists if and only if both of the one-sided limits exist and are equal.

Theorem:
lim f(x) = L if and only if lim f(x) = L = lim f(x)
x→a x→a-- x→a+

When computing on-sided limits, we use the fact that the Limit Laws also holds on for
one-sided limits.

Example 7:
y
Show that lim ǀ x ǀ = 0 y=ǀxǀ
x→0

Solution:
Recall that

0 x
x if x ≥ 0
ǀxǀ= Figure 1.19 the result of
-x if x < 0 example 7.

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Since ǀ x ǀ = x for x > 0, we have

lim ǀ x ǀ = lim x = 0
x→0+ x→0+

For x < 0 we have ǀ x ǀ = - x and o

lim ǀ x ǀ = lim (- x) = 0
x→0-- x→0—

Therefore by the above theorem,

lim ǀ x ǀ = 0
x→0

Example 8:
ǀxǀ
Prove that lim --------
x→0 x

Solution:
Using the facts that ǀ x ǀ = x when x > 0 and ǀ x ǀ = - x when x< 0

Showing the arguments:

ǀxǀ x
lim ------ = lim ----- = lim 1 = 1
x→0+ x x→0+ x x→0+

ǀxǀ x
lim ------ = lim ----- = lim ( - 1) = - 1
x→0-- x x→0-- x x→0--

Since the right- and left-hand limits are different, it follows from the previous theorem
that lim ǀ x ǀ/x does not exist. The graph of the function f(x) = ǀ x ǀ/x is shown in figure.

y
ǀxǀ
y = ------ 1
x

0 x

-1

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Figure 1.2

Example 9:

x–4 if x > 4
f(x) = ----------
8 – 2x if x < 4

Determine whether lim f(x) exists.

x→4
Solution:
Since f(x) = x – 4 for x > 4

lim f(x) = lim x–4= 4–4 =0

x→4+ x→4+

Since f(x) = 8 – 2x for x < 4

lim f(x) = lim (8 – 2x) = (8 – 2 ∙ 4 = 0

x→4-- x→4--

Therefore, the right- and left-hand limits are equal. Thus the limits exists and

lim f(x) = 0
x→4

0
4 x
Figure 1.21

Exercises A: Answer completely

1. Given that
lim f(x) = 4 lim g(x) = - 2 lim h(x) = 0
x→2 x→2 x→2

Find the limit if it exists. If the limit does not exists, ex plain why.

(a) lim [ f(x) + 5g(x) ] (b) lim [ g(x) ]2

x→2 x→2

3 f(x)
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(c ) lim f(x) (d) lim ---------

x→2 x→2 g(x)

g(x) g(x) h(x)

(e) lim -------- (f) lim ------------------
x→2 h(x) x→2 f(x)

2. Let

x if x < 1
3 if x = 1
g(x) 2 – x2 if 1< x ≤ 2
x–3 if x > 2

Evaluate each of the following, if it exists.

a) lim g(x) b) lim g(x) c) g(1)

x→1-- x→1

d)lim g(x) e) lim g(x) f) lim g(x)

x→2-- x→2+ x→2

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