12 CHAPTER 1.

LIMITS AND CONTINUITY

6. Limit At Infinity. Let f be a function defined on (a, ∞). Then lim f (x) = L
x→∞
means that the values of f (x) can be made arbitrarily close to L by taking x
sufficiently large.
7. Horizontal Asymptote. The line y = a is called a horizontal asymptote of
the curve y = f (x) if if at least one of the following statements is true:
lim f (x) = a or lim f (x) = a.
x→∞ x→−∞

8. Limit Laws. Let c be a constant and let the limits lim f (x) and lim g(x)
x→a x→a
exist. Then
(a) lim (f (x) ± g(x)) = lim f (x) ± lim g(x)
x→a x→a x→a
(b) lim (c · f (x)) = c · lim f (x)
x→a x→a
(c) lim (f (x) · g(x)) = lim f (x) · lim g(x)
x→a x→a x→a
f (x) limx→a f (x)
(d) lim = if limx→a g(x) 6= 0.
x→a g(x) limx→a g(x)
9. Squeeze Law. If f (x) ≤ g(x) ≤ h(x) when x is near a (except possibly at a)
and lim f (x) = lim h(x) = L then lim g(x) = L.
x→a x→a x→a

sin θ cos θ − 1
10. Trigonometric Limits. lim = 1 and lim = 0.
θ→0 θ θ→0 θ
 x
1 1
11. The Number e. lim (1 + x) x = e and lim 1 + = e.
x→0 x→∞ x
12. L’Hospital’s Rule. Suppose that f and g are differentiable and g 0 (x) 6= 0
near a (except possibly at a.) Suppose that lim f (x) = 0 and lim g(x) = 0 or
x→a x→a
f (x) f 0 (x)
that lim f (x) = ±∞ and lim g(x) = ±∞. Then lim = lim 0 if the
x→a x→a x→a g(x) x→a g (x)
limit on the right side exists (or is ∞ or −∞).
13. Continuity. We say that a function f is continuous at a number a if lim f (x) =
x→a
f (a).
14. Continuity and Limit. If f is continuous at b and lim g(x) = b then
x→a
lim f (g(x)) = f (lim g(x)) = f (b).
x→a x→a

15. Intermediate Value Theorem. Let f be continuous on the closed interval

[a, b] and let f (a) 6= f (b). For any number M between f (a) and f (b) there
exists a number c in (a, b) such that f (c) = M .