Calculus 1

MAT060

NORMALAH S. ABDULCARIM,PhD
Mathematics Department
College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Mindanao State University-Marawi
normalah.abdulcarim@msumain.edu.ph

March 19, 2024

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2.7 The L’Hopital’s Rule

The L’Hopital’s rule is a theorem which provides a technique to

evaluate limits of indeterminate form. Application (or repeated
application) of the rule often coverts an indeterminate form to an
expression that can be easily evaluated by substitution.
INDETERMINATE FORMS:
0 ∞
A. Form 1: ,
0 ∞
B. Form 2: 0 · ∞, ∞ − ∞

C. Form 3: 00 , ∞0 , 1∞

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Theorem 2.7.1
f 0 (x)
1 Suppose that lim f (x) = 0, lim g(x) = 0 and lim = L,
x→a x→a x→a g 0 (x)
then
f (x) f 0 (x)
lim = lim 0 = L.
x→a g(x) x→a g (x)

2 Suppose that lim f (x) = ∞, lim g(x) = ∞ and

x→a x→a
f 0 (x)
lim 0 = L, then
x→a g (x)

f (x) f 0 (x)
lim = lim 0 = L.
x→∞ g(x) x→∞ g (x)

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Remark 2.7.2
Also valid when a = +∞ or −∞

Example 2.7.3
Evaluate the following limits:
x2 − x − 6
1 lim 2
x→3 2x + 3x − 27
lnx
2 lim x
x→∞ e
5x − 3x
3 lim √
x→0 x
3
x − 3x + 2
4 lim
x→1 x3 − x2 − x + 1

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Note:
1 Use L’Hopitals rule in evaluating limits by direct
substitution which resulted to Indeterminate ”Form 1”.
2 Indeterminate ”Form 2” can be expressed into that of Form
1.
3 Indeterminate ”Form 3” are results from expressions of the
form
H(x) = [f (x)]g(x)
and can be changed to either ”Form 1” or ”Form 2” by
making use of the logarithms.

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Consider the following steps:

i. Let y = [f (x)]g(x) .
ii. Take logarithms of both sides and simplify.
(Apply loga M r = r loga M ).
iii. Find the lim ln y, if it exists.
x→a
iv. If lim ln y = L, then
x→a

lim ln y = lim [f (x)]g(x)

x→a x→a
L
= e .

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Example 2.7.4
Evaluate the following limits:
 
1 1
1 lim −
x→1 lnx x − 1
1
x−1
2 lim x
x→1

 1
2 x
3 lim
x→∞ x

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Exercise. Evaluate the following limits:
x3 − 3x + 2
1 lim 3
x→1 x − x2 − x + 1
2x3 − x2 + 3x + 1
2 lim 3
x→∞ x + 2x2 − x − 1
1 − cos x
3 lim
x→0 x + x2
4 limπ (sec x − tan x)
x→ 2
2
5 lim (ex + x) x
x→∞

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