Ing.

Oliver Morales

CALCULUS
Ing. Oliver Morales

Calculus is a very difficult subject and one that a lot of students have trouble with. If it’s any
consolation, you should remember that, generally, only strong math students take Calculus.

If you weren’t a math whiz, you wouldn’t have made it this far! So be proud of yourself, and
realize that you’re not alone. Most people find calculus very hard.

One of the reasons why calculus is so difficult arises from a lack of understanding about the
nature of the subject. You probably think that calculus is the end of a sequence of courses in
mathematics that you arrive at after passing through algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and other
math courses.

WRONG !

It’s the beginning of a whole new branch of mathematics. You must learn a whole new set of
tools and a whole new approach to problem solving. Calculus is going to teach you a new way of
thinking and looking at mathematics and at nature. Maybe it will even stick.

Some friendly advices

The key to doing well on Calculus is to know a variety of techniques of solving calculus
problems, and to recognize when to use them.

There’s so much to learn in Calculus that it’s difficult to remember everything. Instead, you
should be able to derive or figure out how to do certain things based on your mastery of a few
essential techniques. In addition, you’ll be expected to remember a lot of the math that you did before
calculus -particularly trigonometry. You should be able to graph functions, find zeros, derivatives,
and integrals.

The recipe for success follows these guidelines:

▪ Do all the of the problems

As with many other things in life, if you want to do well in calculus, you must practice! You should
work carefully through the examples and solved problems, so that you really understand the method
involved for getting the right answer. Often it won’t be the calculus that you get wrong, it will be the
algebra.

▪ Know your algebra!

One of the main reasons that students have trouble with calculus is that their algebra is weak.
You must be good at factoring, reducing, simplifying, expanding, inverting, and so on. Otherwise,
you won’t be able to perform the proper steps that reduce the problem to following a simple
technique.
 Ing. Oliver Morales

Unit 0. Precalculus
Activity 1. Review the general rules of mathematics, following the following topics and perform the
test.

▪ Properties of exponents.
▪ Special products.
▪ Factoring
▪ Synthetic division.

Activity 2. Synthetic division rule

1. Find all the zeros for: 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 4 − 3𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 + 11𝑥 − 6. Sketch the chart.
2. Find all the zeros for 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 6 − 2𝑥 5 + 9𝑥 4 − 16𝑥 3 + 23𝑥 2 − 30𝑥 + 15. Sketch the chart.
3. Find a polynomial with integer coefficients given these conditions: Degree of 2, and two zeros
at 1 + 𝑖 and 1 − 𝑖
4. ★ Given the following polynomial: 𝑓(𝑥) = 2𝑥 8 + 3𝑥 7 + 8𝑥 6 + 15𝑥 5 + 2𝑥 4 + 18𝑥 3 − 12𝑥 2
A. Factor completely.
B. Find all the zeros, find its multiplicity and classify them as reals or imaginaries.
C. Sketch the chart.
5. ★ Find a polynomial with integer coefficients given these conditions: Degree of 5, zeros at
1
2
, −1, −𝑖, principal coefficient 4, and the zero −1 has multiplicity of 2.

Worksheet Review. Topic: Factoring

[Checkpoint Quiz 1]. Topic: Precalculus.

[Checkpoint Quiz 2]. Topic: Synthetic division

 Ing. Oliver Morales

Unit 1. Limits
Contents

▪ Definition of limits.
▪ Basic limit theorems.
▪ Limits at infinity.
▪ Infinite limits.
▪ Indeterminacies of type 0/0.
▪ Indeterminacies of type ∞/∞.
▪ Limits of sectioned functions.
▪ The definition of continuity.
▪ Types of discontinuities.

1.1 Definition of limits

Activity 1. What is a limit?

RULES

Notation

lim 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝐿
𝑥→𝑎

It reads like this: “the limit of 𝑓(𝑥) as 𝑥 approaches 𝑎 is 𝐿".

Activity 2. Discuss what is a limit with the following example:

lim 𝑥 2 =?
𝑥→2

Fill in the following table and discuss what is happening?

𝑥 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 2
1.9
1.99
1.999

2.001
2.01
2.1

Solution:

As 𝑥 increases and approaches 2, 𝑓(𝑥) gets closer and closer to 4. This is called the left-hand limit.
And is written as lim− 𝑓(𝑥).
𝑥→2

As 𝑥 decreases and approaches 2, 𝑓(𝑥) gets closer and closer to 4. This is called the right-hand
limit. And is written as lim+ 𝑓(𝑥).
𝑥→2
 Ing. Oliver Morales

We got the same answer when evaluating both the left- and right- hand limits, because when 𝑥 is 2,
𝑓(𝑥) is 4. You should always check both sides of the independent variable because, as you’ll see
shortly, sometimes you don’t get the same answer.

Therefore, we write that lim 𝑥 2 = 4

𝑥→2

So, in order to the limit exists, both must be the same… and this is the unilaterality theorem:

𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝑳 if and only if 𝐥𝐢𝐦− 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝐥𝐢𝐦+ 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝑳

𝒙→𝒄 𝒙→𝒄 𝒙→𝒄

1.2 Basic limit theorems

Rules
There are some simple algebraic rules of limits that you should know. These are:

lim 𝑘 = 𝑘
𝑥→𝑐

lim 𝑥 𝑛 = 𝑐 𝑛
𝑥→𝑐

lim 𝑘 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑘 lim 𝑓(𝑥)

𝑥→𝑐 𝑥→𝑐

lim [𝑓(𝑥) ± 𝑔(𝑥)] = lim 𝑓(𝑥) ± lim 𝑔(𝑥)

𝑥→𝑐 𝑥→𝑐 𝑥→𝑐

lim [𝑓(𝑥) · 𝑔(𝑥)] = (lim 𝑓(𝑥)) (lim 𝑔(𝑥))

𝑥→𝑐 𝑥→𝑐 𝑥→𝑐

𝑓(𝑥) lim 𝑓(𝑥)

lim [ ] = 𝑥→𝑐 ; lim 𝑔(𝑥) ≠ 0
𝑥→𝑐 𝑔(𝑥) lim 𝑔(𝑥) 𝑥→𝑐
𝑥→𝑐
𝑛
lim [𝑓(𝑥)]𝑛 = [lim 𝑓(𝑥)]
𝑥→𝑐 𝑥→𝑐

Activity 1. Practice with basic limit theorems with the following examples:

lim 𝑥 2
𝑥→5

lim 𝑥 3
𝑥→3

lim [(𝑥 2 + 1)√𝑥 − 1]

𝑥→5

1.3 Limits at infinity vs Infinite limits.

Activity 1. Discuss the following limits: lim 𝑓(𝑥) , lim 𝑓(𝑥) , lim+ 𝑓(𝑥) , lim− 𝑓(𝑥) , lim 𝑓(𝑥), lim 𝑓(𝑥)
𝑥→∞ 𝑥→−∞ 𝑥→0 𝑥→0 𝑥→0 𝑥→2

And sketch the chart of both functions.

A. 𝑓(𝑥) = 1/𝑥 B. 𝑓(𝑥) = 1/𝑥 2

Do you notice the difference between the limits?

 Ing. Oliver Morales

Activity 2. Discuss about these limits. Do you need to sketch the graph?
4
lim (𝑥−5)3 Solution: 0 Is this an infinite limit or is a limit to the infinity?
𝑥→∞

lim √4 − 𝑥 Solution: ∞ Is this an infinite limit or is a limit to the infinity?

𝑥→−∞

1.4 Indeterminacies of type 𝟎/𝟎.

Activity 1. Evaluate algebraically the following limit

𝑥3 − 1
lim
𝑥→1 𝑥 − 1

Then, sketch the graph.

Do you remember what is a hole?

Activity 2. Evaluate algebraically the following limits.

Note: You should be ready with to practice your precalculus.

A. Simplify this limit for 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 2 + 1

𝑓(𝑥 + ℎ) − 𝑓(𝑥)
lim
ℎ→0 ℎ
B. Evaluate:
𝑡−2
lim
𝑡→−3 𝑡 + 5

1
−1
lim 𝑥 + 1
𝑥→0 𝑥

√𝑥 + 1 − 2
lim
𝑥→3 𝑥−3

√2 + 𝑥 − √2
lim
𝑥→0 𝑥
8−𝑥
lim 3
𝑥−1 √𝑥 − 2

𝟐 𝟑
★ 𝐥𝐢𝐦 [ 𝟑 − 𝟏− 𝒙]
𝒙−𝟏 𝟏− √𝒙 √

|𝒙−𝟏|
★ 𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒙→𝟏 𝒙−𝟏

Do you understand why you can’t evaluate immediately?

★ Activity 3. Solve algebraically the following limit:

𝒙+𝟏
𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒙→−𝟏 √
𝟔𝒙𝟐 + 𝟑 + 𝟑𝒙
 Ing. Oliver Morales

1.5 Indeterminacies of type ∞/∞

Activity 1. Evaluate the following limits

2 − 5𝑥 2
lim
𝑥→∞ 3𝑥 2 + 𝑥 − 1

4𝑥 2 + 𝑥
lim
𝑥→−∞ 𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 + 2

2 − 𝑥 − 4𝑥 3
lim
𝑥→∞ 𝑥 2 + 𝑥 + 1

Activity 2. Discuss about some special kind of limits

Evaluate: lim (−2𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 + 5)

𝑥→∞

Evaluate: lim (−2𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 + 5)

𝑥→−∞

★ Activity 3. Discuss about another special kind of indeterminacies

Evaluate: lim [√𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 1 + 𝑥]

𝑥→∞

Now… what it would happen if the limit changes to lim 𝑓(𝑥)?

𝑥→∞

1.6. Limits of sectioned functions

Activity 1. Discuss about these limits. Sketch the graph.

1. Given 𝑓(𝑥), find lim 𝑓(𝑥) , lim 𝑓(𝑥) , lim 𝑓(𝑥)

𝑥→1 𝑥→∞ 𝑥→−∞

2 − 𝑥2, 𝑥 ≤ 1
𝑓(𝑥) = {
4, 𝑥 > 1
2. Given 𝑓(𝑥), find lim 𝑓(𝑥) , lim 𝑓(𝑥) , lim 𝑓(𝑥)
𝑥→4 𝑥→∞ 𝑥→−∞

Worksheet Review. Topics: Indeterminacies of the type 0/0 and ∞/∞

[Checkpoint Quiz 3]. Topic: Limits.

1.7. The definition of continuity

Activity 1. What is continuity in math? Discuss

Activity 2. How can we know -mathematically- if a function is continuous at a certain value?

Rules:
The function 𝑓(𝑥) is continuous at 𝑥 = 𝑎 if and only if:

Condition I: 𝑓(𝑎) exists.

Condition II. lim 𝑓(𝑥) exists.

𝑥→𝑎

Condition III. 𝑓(𝑎) = lim 𝑓(𝑥)

𝑥→𝑎
 Ing. Oliver Morales

1.8 Types of discontinuity

A discontinuity is a point where a function is not continuous. Several different types of discontinuity
exist:

Which conditions fails for each?

Activity 1. Consider the following function… Is the function continuous at that value? If not determine
the type of discontinuity.
𝑥 + 3, 𝑥 ≤ 2
A. Consider the function 𝑓(𝑥) = { 2 .
𝑥 ,𝑥 > 2
𝑥2, 𝑥 ≠ 2
B. Consider the function 𝑓(𝑥) = {
5, 𝑥 = 2
5
C. Consider the function 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥−2
𝑥 2 −8𝑥+15
D. Consider the function 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 2 −6𝑥+15

★ Activity 2. Consider the following function, determine the constant 𝑎 and 𝑏 so 𝑓(𝑥) will be
continuous for any value of 𝑥
3𝑥 + 6𝑎 , 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 < −3
𝑓(𝑥) = {3𝑎𝑥 − 7𝑏, −3 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 3
𝑥 − 12𝑏 , 𝑥 > 3

Worksheet Review. Topics: Continuity

[Checkpoint Quiz 4]. Topic: Continuity