Lec 15: Fundamental trig limit and infinite limits of functions

MATH 147 Section 2, Fall Term 2022

I (We will first finish the material from Lecture 14)

I Fundamental trigonometric limit
I Definition of infinite limits
I Properties of infinite limits

Key references: Text book sec 2.2, 2.3.1

Fundamental trigonometric limit

sin(x)
An important limit to remember is the Fundamental Trigonometric Limit: lim = 1.
x→0 x
We can consider the two one-sided limits separately to prove this.
The Fundamental Trigonometric Limit gives us the “small angle approximation” sin(x) ≈ x” for small |x|.

Exercise
sin(3x)
Show that lim = 3.
x→0 x
Definition of infinite limits

Definition 1
Let J be an open interval containing the point x0 and let f be a function defined on J \ {x0 }. We say that the
limit of f at x0 is +∞ if for all M > 0, there exists δ > 0 such that f (x) > M for all x satisfying
0 < |x − x0 | < δ.
We express this property with the notation lim f (x) = +∞.
x→x0

We have an analogous definition for lim f (x) = −∞.

x→x0

One-sided infinite limits are defined with the natural modifications to the condition above. E.g., for
lim f (x) = +∞, we require that for all M > 0, there exists δ > 0 such that f (x) > M for all x satisfying
x→x0+
x0 < x < x0 + δ.
If either of the one-sided limits at x0 is ±∞, then we say that the line x = x0 is a vertical asymptote of f .

Remarks:
1. As with infinite limits of sequences, we do not say that the “limit exists” if it is ±∞.
2. It is straightforward to verify from the definitions that lim f (x) = +∞ if and only if lim [−f (x)] = −∞.
x→x0 x→x0
Exercise

Exercise
sin(x)
Determine the limiting behaviour of f (x) = x(x−π/2)
at x = π/2.
Division by zero and infinity?
Proposition 1
Let J be an open interval containing the point x0 .
1
1. If f is a function satisfying f (x) > 0 for all x ∈ J \ {x0 } and lim f (x) = 0, then lim = +∞.
x→x0 x→x0 f (x)
1
2. If f is a function satisfying f (x) < 0 for all x ∈ J \ {x0 } and lim f (x) = 0, then lim = −∞.
x→x0 x→x0 f (x)

Remark: The one-sided versions of Proposition 1 also hold.

Question
Does Proposition 1 suggest that we can (informally) use the rule “1/0 = ∞”?

Question
What about the converse of Proposition 1?

Exercise
1 1
Determine lim and lim .
x→1+ ln(x) x→1−
ln(x)
Product and sum rule for infinite limits
Proposition 2
Suppose that either lim f (x) = L > 0 or lim f (x) = +∞. Suppose also that lim g (x) = +∞. Then
x→x0 x→x0 x→x0
lim f (x)g (x) = +∞.
x→x0

Proposition 3
Suppose that either lim f (x) = L > 0 or lim f (x) = +∞. Suppose also that lim g (x) = +∞. Then
x→x0 x→x0 x→x0
lim [f (x) + g (x)] = +∞.
x→x0

Remarks:
1. Propositions 2 and 3 suggest that in the context of evaluating infinite limits of functions, we have the rules
(i) “x · (+∞) = +∞” for all x > 0, and “(+∞) · (+∞) = +∞”
(ii) “x + (+∞) = +∞” for all x ∈ R, and “(+∞) + (+∞) = +∞”.
2. Note that it is not always true that:
(i) “0 · (+∞) = +∞” or “0 · (+∞) = 0”
(ii) “(+∞) + (−∞) = 0”