Determining the Limit of a Function Using Table of Values and Graph of a Function

Tabular Approach
To understand the concept of limits, let us consider a particular function f given by

We will investigate what happens to the values of f when we make x approach 2; that is, when we
substitute values for x which are sufficiently becoming closer and closer to 2 but not necessarily equal to 2. It is
important to note that the given function will not be defined when x = 2 as the value 2 is not in the domain of f.
Thus, we will not let x = 2.
We begin with values from the left of 2. The table below shows the values of f when 1 ≤ 𝑥 < 2.

x f(x)
1 4
1.5 4.5
1.9 4.9
1.99 4.99
1.999 4.999
1.9999 4.9999
1.99999 4.99999

It is easy to observe that as x becomes closer and closer to 2 (from the left), f becomes closer and closer
to a certain value as well, particularly 5. Note that the difference of the values of f and 5 becomes smaller and
smaller as the difference of the values x and 2 becomes smaller and smaller as well.
On the other hand, we also evaluate f using values to the right of 2. The table below shows the values of f when
2 < 𝑥 ≤ 2.
x f(x)
3 6
2.5 5.5
2.1 5.1
2.01 5.01
2.001 5.001
2.0001 5.0001
2.00001 5.00001

Similarly, we can see that as x becomes closer and closer to 2 (this time, values from the right of 2), f
becomes closer and closer to 5. The difference of the values of f and 5 becomes smaller and smaller as the
difference of the values of x and 2 becomes smaller and smaller as well.

Summarizing the results of the investigation for , we have the following conclusions:
As x approaches 2 from the left, f approaches to 5.

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 As x approaches 2 from the right, f also approaches 5.
We call 5 as the limit of f as x approaches 2, which can be written as

This notation is read as “the limit of as x approaches 2 is 5.”

Graphical Approach
To further analyze the idea presented about the limit of the given function as x
approaches 2, let us illustrate the graph of f as shown in figure 1.

𝑥 2 +𝑥 −6
Figure 1: Graph of f defined by 𝑓 (𝑥 ) =
𝑥 −2

The graph of f is a straight line defined at every real number x except at 2. Observe what happens to the
values of f as x approaches 2 from both sides.
Let us first look at the left side of 2 using values sufficiently close to 2. In figure 2, we can see the
shaded part covering the values of f as we use values of x within 1 to 2 but not necessarily equal to 2. Notice
that the value of f begins with 4 as x begins with 1, and f approaches 5 as x approaches 2.

𝑥 2 +𝑥 −6
Figure 2: Graph of f defined by 𝑓 (𝑥 ) = 𝑥 −2
using values from the left of
2
This time, we consider the right side of 2. In figure 3, we can see shaded part covering the values of f as
we use values of x within 3 to 2, again not necessarily equal to 2. Here, the value of f begins with 6 and
approaches 5 as x begins with 3 and approaches 2.

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 Figure 3: Graph of f defined by 𝑥 2 +𝑥 −6 using values from the
𝑓 (𝑥 ) = 𝑥 −2
right of 2

Hence, in this graphical approach we find that .

Limit of a Function
The limit of f(x) as x approaches c is equal to L, provided that we can make the number f(x) as close to L
by choosing x sufficiently near, though not equal to the number c. In symbols,

which is read as “the limit of f(x) as x approaches c is L.”

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