1

The Concept of Limits

Module 1

The Limit of a
Function

Introduction
In this section first we’re going to make sure that you’re
familiar with functions and function notation. Then, you will be
introduced to the notation of the limit. We will also take a conceptual
look at limits and try to get a grasp on just what they are and what they
can tell us. We will be estimating the value of limits in this section and
actually start computing limits in a couple of sections.
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As you journey through this lesson, you are expected to:

Learning
Solve problems involving limits of
functions Outcome

Learning Objectives

1. Define a function
2. Explain the concept of limits
3. Enumerate the theorems on limits
4. Define and illustrate left-hand and right-hand limits
5. Evaluate the limit of a given function
6. Define a continuous function

Content
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Review

Functions

First, what exactly is a function? The simplest definition is an equation will be a function
if, for any x in the domain of the equation (the domain is all the x’s that can be plugged
into the equation), the equation will yield exactly one value of y when we evaluate the
equation at a specific x.

This is usually easier to understand with an example.

Example 1 Determine if each of the following are functions.

1. y=x2+1
2. y2=x+1

Solution: 

1. y = x2+1

This first one is a function. Given an x, there is only one way to square it and then add 1
to the result. So, no matter what value of x you put into the equation, there is only one
possible value of y when we evaluate the equation at that value of x.

2. y2 = x+1

The only difference between this equation and the first is that we moved the exponent off
the x and onto the y. This small change is all that is required, in this case, to change the
equation from a function to something that isn’t a function.

To see that this isn’t a function is fairly simple. Choose a value of x, say x=3 and plug
this into the equation.

y2 = 3+1 = 4

Now, there are two possible values of y that we could use here. We could
use y=2 or y=−2. Since there are two possible values of y that we get from a single x this
equation isn’t a function.

Note that this only needs to be the case for a single value of x to make an equation not a
function. For instance, we could have used x=−1 and in this case, we would get a
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single y (y=0). However, because of what happens at x=3 this equation will not be a

function.

Next, we need to take a quick look at function notation. Function notation is nothing
more than a fancy way of writing the y in a function that will allow us to simplify
notation and some of our work a little.

Let’s take a look at the following function.

y=2x2−5x+3

Using function notation, we can write this as any of the following.

f(x)=2x2−5x+3

h(x)=2x2−5x+3

w(x)=2x2−5x+3

g(x)=2x2−5x+3

R(x)=2x2−5x+3

y(x)=2x2−5x+3⋮

Now, how do we actually evaluate the function? That’s really simple. Everywhere we see
an x on the right side we will substitute whatever is in the parenthesis on the left side. For
our function this gives,

f(−3) = 2(−3)2−5(−3)+3
= 2(9)+15+3
= 36

Let’s take a look at some more function evaluation.

Example 2 Given f(x)=−x2+6x−11 find f(−10).

Solution:
 

f(−10)=−(−10 )2+6(−10)−11=−100−60−11=−171
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Domain and Range of a Function

One of the more important ideas about functions is that of its domain and range. In

simplest terms the domain of a function is the set of all values that can be plugged into a
function and have the function exist and have a real number for a value. So, for the
domain we need to avoid division by zero, square roots of negative numbers, logarithms
of zero and logarithms of negative numbers. The range of a function is simply the set of
all possible values that a function can take.

Let’s find the domain and range of a few functions.

Example 3  Find the domain and range of each of the following functions.

1. f(x) = 5x−3
2. g(t) = √ 4−t
3. g(x) = 8

Solutions:

1. f(x)=5x−3

We know that this is a line and that it’s not a horizontal line (because the slope is 5 and
not zero). This means that this function can take on any value and so the range is all real
numbers. Using “mathematical” notation this is,

Range: (−∞,∞)

This is more generally a polynomial and we know that we can plug any value into a
polynomial and so the domain in this case is also all real numbers or,

Domain: −∞<x<∞ or (−∞,∞)

2. g(t)=√ 4−t

This is a square root and we know that square roots are always positive or zero. We know
then that the range will be,

Range:[0,∞)

For the domain we need to make sure that we don’t take square roots of any negative
numbers, so we need to require that,
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4 - 7t≥0
4 ≥ 7t
4 4
≥t ⇒t≤
7 7

The domain is then,

4 4
Domain: t ≤ or (−∞, ]
7 7

3. g(x) = 8 

This is a constant function and so any value of x that we plug into the function will yield
a value of 8. This means that the range is a single value or,

Range:8

The domain is all real numbers,

Domain: −∞ < x < ∞ or (−∞,∞)

Tangent Lines and Rates Of Change

In this section we are going to take a look at two fairly important problems in the study of
calculus. There are two reasons for looking at these problems now.

Looking at these problems here will allow us to start to understand just what a limit is
and what it can tell us about a function.

Secondly, the rate of change problem that we’re going to be looking at is one of the most
important concepts that we’ll encounter in the whole course.

Tangent Lines
A tangent line to the function f(x) at the point x=a is a line that just touches the graph of
the function at the point in question and is “parallel” (in some way) to the graph at that
point. Take a look at the graph below.
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In this graph the line is a tangent line at the indicated point because it just touches the
graph at that point and is also “parallel” to the graph at that point. Likewise, at the second
point shown, the line does just touch the graph at that point, but it is not “parallel” to the
graph at that point and so it’s not a tangent line to the graph at that point.

At the second point shown (the point where the line isn’t a tangent line) we will
sometimes call the line a secant line.

Now that we’ve gotten the definition of a tangent line out of the way let’s move on to the
tangent line problem. That’s probably best done with an example.

Example 4  Find the tangent line to f(x) = 15−2x2 at x=1.

Solution: 

We know from algebra that to find the equation of a line we need either two points on the
line or a single point on the line and the slope of the line. Since we know that we are after
a tangent line we do have a point that is on the line. The tangent line and the graph of the
function must touch at x = 1 so plugging in 1 to f(x) we get

f(1) = 15-2( 1 )2 = 13

so that the point (1,13) must be on the line.

This is all that we know about the tangent line. In order to find the tangent line we need
either a second point or the slope of the tangent line. Meanwhile let’s call the point (1,13)
P, which means that P = (1,13). We will then pick another point that lies on the graph of
the function and let’s call that point Q=(x,f(x)).

For the sake of argument let’s take x=2 and so since

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f(2) = 15-2( 2 )2 = 7

then the second point Q must be (2,7). Below is a graph of the function, the tangent line
and the secant line that connects P and Q.

We can see from this graph that the secant and tangent lines are somewhat similar and so
the slope of the secant line should be somewhat close to the actual slope of the tangent
line. So, as an estimate of the slope of the tangent line we can use the slope of the secant
line, let’s call it mPQ , which is,

f ( 2 )−f (1) 7−13

mPQ = = = -6
2−1 1

Now, we are interested in accuracy so we would like an estimate that is at least somewhat
close the actual value. Hence, to get a better estimate we can take an x that is closer
to x=1 and redo the work above to get a new estimate on the slope.

In other words, as we take Q closer and closer to P so that the slope of the secant line
connecting Q and P should be getting closer and closer to the slope of the tangent line. If
you are viewing this on the web, the image below shows this process.
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As you can see as we moved Q in closer and closer to P the secant lines start to look more
and more like the tangent line and so the approximate slopes (i.e. the slopes of the secant
lines) are getting closer and closer to the exact slope

In this figure we only looked at Q’s that were to the right of P, but we could have just as
easily used Q’s that were to the left of P and we would have received the same results. In
fact, we should always take a look at Q’s that are on both sides of P.

So, let’s see if we can come up with the approximate slopes we showed above, and hence
an estimation of the slope of the tangent line. In order to simplify the process a little let’s
get a formula for the slope of the line between P and Q, mPQ , that will work for any x that
we choose to work with. We can get a formula by finding the slope
between P and Q using the “general” form of Q=(x,f(x)).

f ( x )−f (1) 15−2 x 2−13 2−2 x2

mPQ = = =
x−1 x−1 x−1

Now, let’s pick some values of x getting closer and closer to x=1, plug in and get some
slopes.

x mPQ x mPQ

2 -6 0 -2
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1.5 -5 0.5 -3

1.1 -4.2 0.9 -3.8

1.01 -4.02 0.99 -3.98

1.001 -4.002 0.999 -3.998

1.0001 -4.0002 0.9999 -3.9998

So, if we take x’s to the right of 1 and move them in very close to 1 it appears that the
slope of the secant lines appears to be approaching -4. Likewise, if we take x’s to the left
of 1 and move them in very close to 1 the slope of the secant lines again appears to be
approaching -4.

Based on this evidence it seems that the slopes of the secant lines are approaching -4 as
we move in towards x=1, so we will estimate that the slope of the tangent line is also -4.
As noted above, this is the correct value and we will be able to prove this eventually.

Now, the equation of the line that goes through (a,f(a)) is given by

y=f(a)+m(x−a)

Therefore, the equation of the tangent line to f(x)=15−2x2 at x=1 is

y=13−4(x−1)=−4x+17

Before moving on let’s do a quick review of just what we did in the above example. We
wanted the tangent line to f(x) at a point x=a. First, we know that the point P=(a,f(a)) will
be on the tangent line. Next, we’ll take a second point that is on the graph of the function,
call it Q=(x,f(x)) and compute the slope of the line connecting P and Q as follows,

f ( x )−f (a)
mPQ =
x −a

We then take values of x that get closer and closer to x=a (making sure to look at x’s on
both sides of x=a and use this list of values to estimate the slope of the tangent line, m.

The tangent line will then be,

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y=f(a)+m(x−a)

Rates of Change

The next problem that we need to look at is the rate of change problem. Here we are
going to consider a function, f(x), that represents some quantity that varies as x varies.
For instance, maybe f(x) represents the amount of water in a holding tank after x minutes.
Or maybe f(x) is the distance traveled by a car after x hours. In both of these examples
we used x to represent time.

What we want to do here is determine just how fast f(x) is changing at some point,
say x=a. This is called the instantaneous rate of change or sometimes just rate of
change of f(x) at x=a.
As with the tangent line problem all that we’re going to be able to do at this point is to
estimate the rate of change. So, let’s continue with the examples above and think
of f(x) as something that is changing in time and x being the time measurement. While
we can’t compute the instantaneous rate of change at this point we can find the average
rate of change.
To compute the average rate of change of f(x) at x=a all we need to do is to choose
another point, say x, and then the average rate of change (ARC) will be,

change∈ f (x) f (x )−f (a)

ARC = =
change∈ x x−a

Then to estimate the instantaneous rate of change at x=a all we need to do is to choose

values of x getting closer and closer to x=a (don’t forget to choose them on both sides
of x=a) and compute values of ARC. We can then estimate the instantaneous rate of
change from that.

Let’s take a look at an example.

Example 5 Suppose that the amount of air in a balloon after t hours is given by

V(t)=t3−6t2+35

Estimate the instantaneous rate of change of the volume after 5 hours.

Solution 
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The first thing that we need to do is get a formula for the average rate of change of the
volume. In this case this is,

V (t)−V (5) t 3 −6 t 2 +35−10 t 3 −6 t 2 +25

ARC = = =
t−5 t−5 t−5

To estimate the instantaneous rate of change of the volume at t=5 we just need to pick
values of t that are getting closer and closer to t=5. Here is a table of values of t and the
average rate of change for those values.

t ARC t ARC

6 25.0 4 7.0

5.5 19.75 4.5 10.75

5.1 15.91 4.9 14.11

5.01 15.0901 4.99 14.9101

5.001 15.009001 4.999 14.991001

5.0001 15.00090001 4.9999 14.99910001

So, from this table it looks like the average rate of change is approaching 15 and so we
can estimate that the instantaneous rate of change is 15 at this point.

From this discussion we looked at a couple of problems and in both problems we had a
function (slope in the tangent problem case and average rate of change in the rate of
change problem) and we wanted to know how that function was behaving at some point 
x=a.

To answer the questions we choose values of x that got closer and closer to x=a and we
plugged these into the function. We also made sure that we looked at values of x that
were on both the left and the right of x=a. Once we did this we looked at our table of
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function values and saw what the function values were approaching as x got closer and
closer to x=a and used this to guess the value that we were after.

This process is called taking a limit and we have some notation for this. The limit
notation for the two problems from the last section is,
2 3 2
2−2 x t −6 t + 25
lim = -4 lim =15
x →1 x−1 t →5 t−5

In this notation we will note that we always give the function that we’re working with
and we also give the value of x (or t) that we are moving in towards.

In this section we are going to take an intuitive approach to limits and try to get a feel for
what they are and what they can tell us about a function. With that goal in mind we are
not going to get into how we actually compute limits yet. We will instead rely on what
we did in the previous section as well as another approach to guess the value of the limits.

Both approaches that we are going to use in this section are designed to help us
understand just what limits are.

Let’s first start off with the following “definition” of a limit.

Definition

We say that the limit of f(x) is L as x approaches a and write this as

lim f ( x ) = L
x→ a

provided we can make f(x) as close to L as we want for all x sufficiently close to a, from
both sides, without actually letting x be a.

This is not the exact, precise definition of a limit. The definition given above is more of a
“working” definition. This definition helps us to get an idea of just what limits are and
what they can tell us about functions.

So just what does this definition mean? Well let’s suppose that we know that the limit
does in fact exist. According to our “working” definition we can then decide how close
to L that we’d like to make f(x). For the sake of argument let’s suppose that we want to
make f(x) no more than 0.001 away from L. This means that we want one of the
following
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f(x)−L < 0.001 if f(x) is larger than L

L−f(x) < 0.001 if f(x) is smaller than L

Now according to the “working” definition this means that if we get x sufficiently close
to a we can make one of the above true.

In somewhat simpler terms the definition says that as x gets closer and closer
to x=a (from both sides of course…) then f(x) must be getting closer and closer to L. Or,
as we move in towards x=a then f(x) must be moving in towards L.

An alternative notation that we will occasionally use in denoting limits is

f(x)→L as x→a

How do we use this definition to help us estimate limits? We take x’s on both sides
of x=a that move in closer and closer to a and we plug these into our function. We then
look to see if we can determine what number the function values are moving in towards
and use this as our estimate.

Let’s work an example.

Example 6 Estimate the value of the following limit.

2
x + 4 x−12
lim 2
x →2 x −2 x

Solution:

Notice that we did say estimate the value of the limit. Again, we are not going to directly
compute limits in this section. The point of this section is to give us a better idea of how
limits work and what they can tell us about the function.

So, with that in mind we will choose values of x that get closer and closer to x=2 and
plug these values into the function. Doing this gives the following table of values.

x f(x) x f(x)
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2.5 3.4 1.5 5.0

2.1 3.857142857 1.9 4.157894737

2.01 3.985074627 1.99 4.015075377

2.001 3.998500750 1.999 4.001500750

2.0001 3.999850007 1.9999 4.000150008

2.00001 3.999985000 1.99999 4.000015000

Note that we made sure and picked values of x that were on both sides of x=2 and that we
moved in very close to x=2 to make sure that any trends that we might be seeing are in
fact correct.

Also notice that we can’t actually plug in x=2 into the function as this would give us a
division by zero error. This is not a problem since the limit doesn’t care what is
happening at the point in question.

From this table it appears that the function is going to 4 as x approaches 2, so

x 2+ 4 x−12
lim 2 =4
x →2 x −2 x

Let’s think a little bit more about what’s going on here. Let’s graph the function from the
last example. The graph of the function in the range of x’s that were interested in is
shown below.
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First, notice that there is a rather large open dot at x=2. This is there to remind us that the
function (and hence the graph) doesn’t exist at x=2.

As we were plugging in values of x into the function we are in effect moving along the
graph in towards the point as x=2. This is shown in the graph by the two arrows on the
graph that are moving in towards the point.

When we are computing limits the question that we are really asking is what y value is
our graph approaching as we move in towards x=a on our graph. We are NOT asking
what y value the graph takes at the point in question. In other words, we are asking what
the graph is doing around the point x=a. In our case we can see that as x moves in
towards 2 (from both sides) the function is approaching y=4 even though the function
itself doesn’t even exist at x=2. Therefore, we can say that the limit is in fact 4.

So, what have we learned about limits? Limits are asking what the function is
doing around x=a and are not concerned with what the function is actually doing at x=a.
This is a good thing as many of the functions that we’ll be looking at won’t even exist
at x=a as we saw in our last example.

Let’s work another example.

Example 7  Estimate the value of the following

{
2
x +4 x −12
lim g (x) where g(x) = 2
if x ≠ 2
x →2 x −2 x
6 if x=2
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Solution 

The first thing to note here is that this is exactly the same function as the first example
with the exception that we’ve now given it a value for x=2. So, let’s first note that

g(2)=6

As far as estimating the value of this limit goes, nothing has changed in comparison to
the first example. We could build up a table of values as we did in the first example or we
could take a quick look at the graph of the function. Either method will give us the value
of the limit.

Let’s first take a look at a table of values and see what that tells us. Notice that the
presence of the value for the function at x=2 will not change our choices for x. We only
choose values of x that are getting closer to x=2 but we never take x=2. In other words,
the table of values that we used in the first example will be exactly the same table that
we’ll use here. So, since we’ve already got it down once there is no reason to redo it here.

From this table it is again clear that the limit is,

lim g (x) = 4
x →2

The limit is NOT 6! Remember from the discussion after the first example that limits do
not care what the function is actually doing at the point in question. Limits are only
concerned with what is going on around the point. Since the only thing about the
function that we actually changed was its behavior at x=2 this will not change the limit.

Let’s also take a quick look at this function’s graph to see if this says the same thing.
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Again, we can see that as we move in towards x=2 on our graph the function is still
approaching a y value of 4. Remember that we are only asking what the function is
doing around x=2 and we don’t care what the function is actually doing at x=2. The
graph then also supports the conclusion that the limit is,

lim g (x) = 4
x →2

Let’s make the point one more time just to make sure we’ve got it. Limits
are not concerned with what is going on at x=a. Limits are only concerned with what is
going on around x=a. We keep saying this, but it is a very important concept about limits
that we must always keep in mind. So, we will take every opportunity to remind
ourselves of this idea.

Let’s take a look another example to try and beat this idea into the ground.

Example 8  Estimate the value of the following

1−cos θ
lim
θ→0 θ

Solution 
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First don’t worry about θ in the function. It’s just a letter, just like x ! It’s a Greek letter,
and you will be asked to deal with Greek letters on occasion so it’s a good idea to start
getting used to them at this point.

Now, also notice that if we plug in θ=0 that we will get division by zero and so the
function doesn’t exist at this point. Actually, we get 0/0 at this point, but because of the
division by zero this function does not exist at θ=0.

So, as we did in the first example let’s get a table of values and see what if we can guess
what value the function is heading in towards.

θ f(θ) θ f(θ)

1 0.45969769 -1 -0.45969769

0.1 0.04995835 -0.1 -0.04995835

0.01 0.00499996 -0.01 -0.00499996

0.001 0.00049999 -0.001 -0.00049999

Okay, it looks like the function is moving in towards a value of zero as θ moves in
towards 0, from both sides of course.

Therefore, the we will guess that the limit has the value,

1−cos θ
lim =0
θ→0 θ

So, once again, the limit had a value even though the function didn’t exist at the point we
were interested in.

It’s now time to work a couple of more examples that will lead us into the next idea about
limits that we’re going to want to discuss.

Example 9  Estimate the value of the following limit.

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lim cos
t →0
()
π
t

Solution:

Let’s build up a table of values and see what’s going on with our function in this case.

t f(t) t f(t)

1 -1 -1 -1

0.1 1 -0.1 1

0.01 1 -0.01 1

0.001 1 -0.001 1

Now, if we were to guess the limit from this table we would guess that the limit is 1.
However, if we did make this guess we would be wrong. Consider any of the following
function evaluations.

1
f( 2001 )=−1
2
f( 2001 )=0
4
f( 4001 )=
√2
2

In all three of these function evaluations we evaluated the function at a number that is
less than 0.001 and got three totally different numbers. Recall that the definition of the
limit that we’re working with requires that the function be approaching a single value
(our guess) as t gets closer and closer to the point in question. It doesn’t say that only
some of the function values must be getting closer to the guess. It says that all the
function values must be getting closer and closer to our guess.

To see what’s happening here a graph of the function would be convenient.

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From this graph we can see that as we move in towards t=0 the function starts oscillating
wildly and in fact the oscillations increases in speed the closer to t=0 that we get. Recall
from our definition of the limit that in order for a limit to exist the function must be
settling down in towards a single value as we get closer to the point in question.

This function clearly does not settle in towards a single number and so this limit does not
exist!

Example 10  Estimate the value of the following

t →0 {
lim H (t) where H(t) = 0 if t <0
1if t ≥0

Solution 

This function is often called either the Heaviside or step function. We could use a table

of values to estimate the limit, but it’s probably just as quick in this case to use the graph
so let’s do that. Below is the graph of this function.
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We can see from the graph that if we approach t=0 from the right side the function is
moving in towards a y value of 1. Well actually it’s just staying at 1, but in the
terminology that we’ve been using in this section it’s moving in towards 1…

Also, if we move in towards t=0 from the left the function is moving in towards a y value
of 0.

According to our definition of the limit the function needs to move in towards a single
value as we move in towards t=a (from both sides). This isn’t happening in this case and
so in this example we will also say that the limit doesn’t exist.

Note that the limit in this example is a little different from the previous example. In the
previous example the function did not settle down to a single number as we moved in
towards t=0. In this example however, the function does settle down to a single number
as t=0 on either side. The problem is that the number is different on each side of t=0. This
is an idea that we’ll look at in a little more detail in the next section.

One-Sided Limits

In the final two examples in the previous section we saw two limits that did not exist.
However, the reason for each of the limits not existing was different for each of the
examples.

We saw that
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lim cos
t →0
() π
t

did not exist because the function did not settle down to a single value
as t approached t=0. The closer to t=0 we moved the more wildly the function oscillated
and in order for a limit to exist the function must settle down to a single value.

However, we saw that

t →0 {
lim H (t) where H(t) = 0 if t <0
1if t ≥0

did not exist not because the function didn’t settle down to a single number as we moved
in towards t=0, but instead because it settled into two different numbers depending on
which side of t=0 we were on.

In this case the function was a very well-behaved function, unlike the first function. The
only problem was that, as we approached t=0, the function was moving in towards
different numbers on each side. We would like a way to differentiate between these two
examples.

We do this with one-sided limits. As the name implies, with one-sided limits we will
only be looking at one side of the point in question. Here are the definitions for the two
one sided limits.

Right-hand limit

We say

lim ¿ =L
+¿
x→ a f (x)¿

provided we can make f(x) as close to L as we want for all x sufficiently close

to a with x>a without actually letting x be a.
 24

Left-hand limit

We say

lim ¿ =L
−¿
x→ a f (x)¿

provided we can make f(x) as close to L as we want for all x sufficiently close

to a with x<a without actually letting x be a.

Note that the change in notation is very minor and in fact might be missed if you aren’t
paying attention. The only difference is the bit that is under the “lim” part of the limit.
For the right-handed limit we now have x→a+(note the “+”) which means that we know
will only look at x>a. Likewise, for the left-handed limit we have x→a−(note the “-”)
which means that we will only be looking at x<a.

Also, note that as with the “normal” limit (i.e. the limits from the previous section) we
still need the function to settle down to a single number in order for the limit to exist. The
only difference this time is that the function only needs to settle down to a single number
on either the right side of x=a or the left side of x=a depending on the one-sided limit
we’re dealing with.

So, when we are looking at limits it’s now important to pay very close attention to see
whether we are doing a normal limit or one of the one-sided limits. Let’s now take a look
at the some of the problems from the last section and look at one-sided limits instead of
the normal limit.

Example 11 Estimate the value of the following limits.

t →0 {
lim H (t) where H(t) = 0 if t <0
1if t ≥0

To remind us what this function looks like here’s the graph.

 25

So, we can see that if we stay to the right of t=0 (i.e. t>0) then the function is moving in
towards a value of 1 as we get closer and closer to t=0, but staying to the right. We can
therefore say that the right-handed limit is,

lim ¿=1
+¿
t → 0 H (t)¿

Likewise, if we stay to the left of t=0 (i.e t<0) the function is moving in towards a value
of 0 as we get closer and closer to t=0, but staying to the left. Therefore, the left-handed
limit is,

lim ¿=0
−¿
t → 0 H (t )¿

In this example we do get one-sided limits even though the normal limit itself doesn’t
exist.

Example 12 Estimate the value of the following limits.

lim ¿ lim ¿
and
+¿
t → 0 cos()
π
t
¿
−¿
t → 0 cos()
π
t
¿
 26

From the graph of this function shown below,

we can see that both of the one-sided limits suffer the same problem that the normal limit
did in the previous section. The function does not settle down to a single number on
either side of t=0. Therefore, neither the left-handed nor the right-handed limit will exist
in this case.

So, one-sided limits don’t have to exist just as normal limits aren’t guaranteed to exist.

Let’s take a look at another example from the previous section.

Example 13 Estimate the value of the following limits.

{
x 2 +4 x −12
lim ¿ and lim ¿ if x ≠ 2
+¿
x→ 2 g (x)¿
−¿
x→ 2 g (x)¿
where g(x) = x 2−2 x
6 if x=2

Solution:

So, as we’ve done with the previous two examples, let’s remind ourselves of the graph of
this function.
 27

In this case regardless of which side of x=2 we are on the function is always approaching
a value of 4 and so we get,

lim ¿ = 4 and lim ¿=4

+¿ −¿
x→ 2 g (x)¿ x→ 2 g (x)¿

Note that one-sided limits do not care about what’s happening at the point any more than
normal limits do. They are still only concerned with what is going on around the point.
The only real difference between one-sided limits and normal limits is the range of x’s
that we look at when determining the value of the limit.

Now let’s take a look at the first and last example in this section to get a very nice fact
about the relationship between one-sided limits and normal limits. In the last example the
one-sided limits as well as the normal limit existed and all three had a value of 4. In the
first example the two one-sided limits both existed, but did not have the same value and
the normal limit did not exist.

The relationship between one-sided limits and normal limits can be summarized by the
following fact.

Fact

Given a function f(x) if,

lim ¿ = lim ¿ = L
+¿ −¿
x→ a f (x)¿ x→ a f (x)¿
 28

then the normal limit will exist and

lim f ( x ) = L.
x→ a

Likewise, if

lim f ( x ) = L
x→ a

then,

lim ¿ = lim ¿ = L.
+¿ −¿
x→ a f (x)¿ x→ a f (x)¿

This fact can be turned around to also say that if the two one-sided limits have different
values, i.e.,

lim ¿ ≠ lim ¿
+¿ −¿
x→ a f (x)¿ x→ a f (x)¿

then the normal limit will not exist.

Let’s take a look at one more example to make sure that we’ve got all the ideas
about limits down that we’ve looked at in the last couple of sections.

Example 14 Given the following graph,

 29

compute each of the following.

(a) f(-4)

lim −¿
¿ lim +¿
¿ lim f (x )
x→−4 f ( x)¿ x→−4 f (x)¿ x→−4

(b) f(1)

lim ¿ lim ¿ lim f (x )

−¿ +¿
x→ 1 f (x)¿ x→ 1 f (x)¿ x →1

(c) f(6)

lim ¿ lim ¿ lim f ( x )

−¿ +¿
x→ 6 f (x)¿ x→ 6 f (x)¿ x →6

Solution:

(a) f(-4) doesn’t exist. There is no closed dot for this value of x and so the function
doesn’t exist at this point.
 30

lim ¿=2 The function is approaching a value of 2 as x moves in towards -4 from

−¿
x→−4 f ( x)¿
the left.

lim ¿=2 The function is approaching a value of 2 as x moves in towards -4

+¿
x→−4 f (x)¿
from the right.

lim f (x ) = 2 We can do this one of two ways. Either we can use the fact here and
x→−4
notice that the two one-sided limits are the same and so the normal limit must exist and
have the same value as the one-sided limits or just get the answer from the graph.

Also recall that a limit can exist at a point even if the function doesn’t exist at that point.

(b) f(1) = 4. The function will take on the y value where the closed dot is.

lim ¿ =4 The function is approaching a value of 4 as x moves in towards 1 from

−¿
x→ 1 f (x)¿
the left.

lim
+¿
¿ = -2 The function is approaching a value of -2 as x moves in towards 1 from
x→ 1 f (x)¿
the right. Remember that the limit does NOT care about what the function is actually
doing at the point, it only cares about what the function is doing around the point. In this
case, always staying to the right of x=1, the function is approaching a value of -2 and so
the limit is -2. The limit is not 4, as that is value of the function at the point and again the
limit doesn’t care about that!

lim f ( x ) doesn’t exist. The two one-sided limits both exist, however they are
x →1
different and so the normal limit doesn’t exist.
 31

(c) f(6) = 2 The function will take on the y value where the closed dot is.

lim ¿=5 The function is approaching a value of 5 as x moves in towards 6 from

−¿
x→ 6 f (x)¿
the left.

lim ¿ =5 The function is approaching a value of 5 as x moves in towards 6

+¿
x→ 6 f (x)¿
from the right.

lim f ( x ) = 5 Again, we can use either the graph or the fact to get this.
x →6

Also, once more remember that the limit doesn’t care what is happening at the point and
so it’s possible for the limit to have a different value than the function at a point. When
dealing with limits we’ve always got to remember that limits simply do not care about
what the function is doing at the point in question. Limits are only concerned with what
the function is doing around the point.

Limit Properties

The time has almost come for us to actually compute some limits. However, before we do
that we will need some properties of limits that will make the computation somewhat
easier. So, let’s take a look at those first.

Properties

First, we will assume that lim

x→ a
f ( x ) and lim f (x ) exist and that c is any constant. Then,
x→ a

1. lim
x→ a
cf ( x ) = clim f (x )
x→ a

In other words, we can “factor” a multiplicative constant out of a limit.

2. lim
x→ a
[f (x )¿± g (x)]¿ = lim f (x ) ± lim g (x)
x→ a x→ a

So, to take the limit of a sum or difference all we need to do is take the limit of
the individual parts and then put them back together with the appropriate sign.
 32

This is also not limited to two functions. This fact will work no matter how many
functions we’ve got separated by “+” or “-”.

3. lim f ( x ) g( x ) = lim f ( x ). lim g ( x)

x→ a x→ a x→ a

We take the limits of products in the same way that we can take the limit of sums
or differences. Just take the limit of the pieces and then put them back together.
Also, as with sums or differences, this fact is not limited to just two functions.

lim f (x)
f ( x) x →a
4. lim ⁡ = , provided lim g (x)≠ 0
x →a g (x) lim g(x ) x→ a
x→a

As noted in the statement we only need to worry about the limit in the
denominator being zero when we do the limit of a quotient. If it were zero we
would end up with a division by zero error and we need to avoid that.
n
5. lim [ f ( x ) ] =¿ ¿, where n is any real number
x→ a

In this property, n can be any real number (positive, negative, integer, fraction,
irrational, zero, etc.). In the case that n is an integer this rule can be thought of as
an extended case of 3.

For example, consider the case of n=2.

2
lim [ f ( x ) ] =lim f ( x). lim f ( x ), i.e. using property 3.
x→ a x→a x→ a

√ f (x) = √ lim f (x)

n n
6. lim
x→ a x→ a

This is just a special case of the previous example.

1 1

x→ a
n
[
lim [ f ( x ) ] = lim f (x ) n
x→ a ]
7. lim
x→ a
c=c ,  c is any real number
 33

In other words, the limit of a constant is just the constant.

n
8. lim
x→ a
x = an

Let’s compute a limit or two using these properties. The next couple of examples will
lead us to some truly useful facts about limits that we will use on a continual basis.

Example 15 Compute the value of the following limit.

lim ( 3 x 2+5 x−9 )

x→−2

Solution:

This first time through we will use only the properties above to compute the limit.

First, we will use property 2 to break up the limit into three separate limits. We will then
use property 1 to bring the constants out of the first two limits. Doing this gives us,

lim ( 3 x +5 x−9 )= lim 3 x + lim 5 x− lim 9

2 2

x→−2 x→−2 x→−2 x →−2

lim x 2 + 5 lim x - lim 9

= 3 x→−2 x→−2 x→−2

We can now use properties 7 through 9 to actually compute the limit.

lim ( 3 x +5 x−9 ) =3(−2 )2+5(−2)−9=−7

2

x→−2

Now, let’s notice that if we had defined

p(x) = 3x2+5x−9

then the proceeding example would have been,

lim p ( x ) = lim 3 x2 +5 x−9 = 3(−2 )2+ 5(-2) – 9 = p(-2) = -7

x→−2 x→−2
 34

In other words, in this case we see that the limit is the same value that we’d get by just
evaluating the function at the point in question.

Fact

If p(x) is a polynomial then,

lim p ( x )= p(a)
x→ a

By the end of this section we will generalize this out considerably to most of the
functions that we’ll be seeing throughout this course.

Let’s take a look at another example.

Example 16  Evaluate the following limit.

2
6−3 z +10 z
lim 4 3
z → 1 −2 z +7 z +1

Solution 

First notice that we can use property 4 to write the limit as,

2
2 lim 6−3 z +10 z
6−3 z +10 z z→1
lim 4 3 = 4 3
z → 1 −2 z +7 z +1 lim −2 z +7 z +1
z →1

Actually, we should be a little careful. We can do that provided the limit of the
denominator isn’t zero. As we will see however, it isn’t in this case so we’re okay.

Now, both the numerator and denominator are polynomials so we can use the fact above
to compute the limits of the numerator and the denominator and hence the limit itself.
 35

2
6−3 z +10 z 2 6−3 ( 1 )+10 ( 1 ) 13
lim = =
4 3
z → 1 −2 z +7 z +1
4 3
−2 ( 1 ) + 7 ( 1 ) +1 6

Example 17  Evaluate the following limit.

lim ¿ ¿
x →3

Solution:

This is a combination of several of the functions listed above and none of the restrictions
are violated so all we need to do is plug in x=3 into the function to get the limit.

3
lim ¿ ¿ = (-√5 3 + e
+ sin (3) cos (3)
x →3
1+ ln 3

= 8.185427271

Computing Limits

In the previous section we saw that there is a large class of functions that allows us to use

lim f ( x ) = f(a)
x→ a

to compute limits. However, there are also many limits for which this won’t work easily.
The purpose of this section is to develop techniques for dealing with some of these limits
that will not allow us to just use this fact.

Let’s first go back and take a look at one of the first limits that we looked at and compute
its exact value and verify our guess for the limit.

Example18  Evaluate the following

 36

x 2+ 4 x−12
lim 2
x →2 x −2 x

Solution 

First let’s notice that if we try to plug in x=2 we get,

2
x + 4 x−12 0
lim =
x →2
2
x −2 x 0

So, we can’t just plug in x=2 to evaluate the limit. So, we’re going to have to do
something else.

The first thing that we should always do when evaluating limits is to simplify the
function as much as possible. In this case that means factoring both the numerator and
denominator. Doing this gives,
2
x + 4 x−12 ( x−2 ) ( x+ 6 )
lim = lim
x →2
2
x −2 x x →2 x ( x−2 )
x +6
= lim
x →2 x
So, upon factoring we saw that we could cancel an x−2 from both the numerator and the
denominator. Upon doing this we now have a new rational expression that we can
plug x=2 into because we lost the division by zero problem. Therefore, the limit is,

x 2+ 4 x−12 x +6 8
lim = lim = = 4.
x →2
2
x −2 x x →2 x 2

Before leaving this example let’s discuss the fact that we couldn’t plug x=2 into our
original limit but once we did the simplification we just plugged in x=2 to get the answer.
At first glance this may appear to be a contradiction.

In the original limit we couldn’t plug in x=2 because that gave us the 0/0 situation that we
couldn’t do anything with. Upon doing the simplification we can note that,
 37

x2 + 4 x−12 x+6
= provided x≠2
x2−2 x x

In other words, the two equations give identical values except at x=2 and because limits
are only concerned with that is going on around the point x=2 the limit of the two
equations will be equal.

On a side note, the 0/0 we initially got in the previous example is called
an indeterminate form. This means that we don’t really know what it will be until we do
some more work. Typically, zero in the denominator means it’s undefined. However, that
will only be true if the numerator isn’t also zero. Also, zero in the numerator usually
means that the fraction is zero, unless the denominator is also zero.

There are many more kinds of indeterminate forms and we will be discussing
indeterminate forms at length.

Let’s take a look at a couple of more examples.

Example 19  Evaluate the following

2
2 (−3+h ) −18
lim
h→ 0 h

Solution 

In this case we also get 0/0 and factoring is not really an option. However, there is still
some simplification that we can do.

2 (−3+h )2 −18 2 ( 9−6 h+h 2) −18

lim = lim
h→ 0 h h→ 0 h

18−12h+ 2h 2−18
=lim
h→ 0 h
2
−12 h+2 h
= lim
h→ 0 h

So, upon multiplying out the first term we get a little cancellation and now notice that we
can factor an h out of both terms in the numerator which will cancel against the h in the
 38

denominator and the division by zero problem goes away and we can then evaluate the
limit.
2
2 (−3+h ) −18 −12 h+2 h2
lim = lim
h→ 0 h h→ 0 h

h (−12+ 2 h)
= lim
h→ 0 h
lim
= h→ 0 (−12+2 h) = -12

Example 20  Evaluate the following:

t−√ 3 t+ 4
lim
t→4 4−t

Solution 

This limit is going to be a little more work than the previous two. Once again however
note that we get the indeterminate form 0/0 if we try to just evaluate the limit. Also note
that neither of the two examples will be of any help here, at least initially. We can’t factor
the equation and we can’t just multiply something out to get the equation to simplify.

When there is a square root in the numerator or denominator we can try to rationalize and
see if that helps. Recall that rationalizing makes use of the fact that

(a+b)(a−b)=a2−b2

So, if either the first and/or the second term have a square root in them the rationalizing
will eliminate the root(s). This might help in evaluating the limit.

Let’s try rationalizing the numerator in this case.

t−√ 3 t+ 4 t−√ 3 t+ 4 t+ √ 3 t+ 4
lim = lim .
t→4 4−t t→4 4−t t+ √ 3 t+ 4

Remember that to rationalize we just take the numerator (since that’s what we’re
rationalizing), change the sign on the second term and multiply the numerator and
denominator by this new term.
 39

Next, we multiply the numerator out being careful to watch minus signs.

2
t−√ 3 t+ 4 t −(3 t+ 4)
lim = lim
t→4 4−t t → 4 (4−t) ( t + √ 3 t +4 )

2
t −3t−4
= lim
t→4 (4−t) ( t+ √3 t +4 )

Notice that we didn’t multiply the denominator out as well. Most students come out of an
Algebra class having it beaten into their heads to always multiply this stuff out. However,
in this case multiplying out will make the problem very difficult and in the end you’ll just
end up factoring it back out anyway.

At this stage we are almost done. Notice that we can factor the numerator so let’s do that.

t−√ 3 t+ 4 lim (t−4 )( t +1 )

lim =
t→4 4−t t → 4 (4−t) ( t + √ 3 t +4 )

t−√ 3 t+ 4 lim ( t−4 )( t +1 )

lim =
t→4 4−t t → 4 −(t−4 ) ( t + √ 3t +4 )

t−√ 3 t+ 4 lim ( t+ 1 ) 5
lim = = - .
t→4 4−t t → 4 −( t + √ 3 t+ 4 ) 8

Note that if we had multiplied the denominator out we would not have been able to do
this canceling and in all likelihood would not have even seen that some canceling could
have been done.

Infinite Limits
In this section we will take a look at limits whose value is infinity or minus infinity.
These kinds of limit will show up fairly regularly in later sections and in other courses
and so you’ll need to be able to deal with them when you run across them.

The first thing we should probably do here is to define just what we mean when we say
that a limit has a value of infinity or minus infinity.

Definition
 40

We say

lim f ( x ) = ∞
x→ a

if we can make f(x) arbitrarily large for all x sufficiently close to x=a, from both sides,
without actually letting x=a.

We say

lim f ( x ) = −∞
x→ a

if we can make f(x) arbitrarily large and negative for all x sufficiently close to x=a, from
both sides, without actually letting x=a.

Let’s start off with a fairly typical example illustrating infinite limits.

Example 21 Evaluate each of the following limits.

lim ¿ lim ¿ 1
1 1 lim
x
+¿ −¿
x→ 0 ¿ x→ 0 ¿ x →0
x x

Solution 

So, we’re going to work on one-sided limits as well as the normal limit here. In all three
cases notice that we can’t just plug in x=0. If we did we would get division by zero.

Now, there are several ways we could proceed here to get values for these limits. One
way is to plug in some points and see what value the function is approaching. In the
preceding section we said that we were no longer going to do this, but in this case it is a
good way to illustrate just what’s going on with this function.

So, here is a table of values of x’s from both the left and the right. Using these values
we’ll be able to estimate the value of the two one-sided limits and once we have that done
we can use the fact that the normal limit will exist only if the two one-sided limits exist
and have the same value.
 41

1 1
x x
x x

-0.1 -10 0.1 10

-0.01 -100 0.01 100

-0.001 -1000 0.001 1000

-0.0001 -10000 0.0001 10000

1
From this table we can see that as we make x smaller and smaller the function   gets
x
larger and larger and will retain the same sign that x originally had. It should make sense
that this trend will continue for any smaller value of x that we chose to use. The function
is a constant (one in this case) divided by an increasingly small number. The resulting
fraction should be an increasingly large number and as noted above the fraction will
retain the same sign as x.

We can make the function as large and positive as we want for all x’s sufficiently close to
zero while staying positive (i.e. on the right). Likewise, we can make the function as
large and negative as we want for all x’s sufficiently close to zero while staying negative
(i.e. on the left). So, from our definition above it looks like we should have the following
values for the two one sided limits.

lim ¿ lim ¿
x→ 0
+¿ 1
¿
=∞ −¿
x→ 0
1
¿
= -∞
x x

Another way to see the values of the two one sided limits here is to graph the function.
So, here is a quick sketch of the graph.
 42

So, we can see from this graph that the function does behave much as we predicted that it
would from our table values. The closer x gets to zero from the right the larger (in the
positive sense) the function gets, while the closer x gets to zero from the left the larger (in
the negative sense) the function gets.

Finally, the normal limit, in this case, will not exist since the two one-sided limits have
different values.

So, in summary here are the values of the three limits for this example.

lim ¿ lim ¿ 1
1 =∞ 1 = -∞ lim doesn't exist
x
+¿ −¿
x→ 0 ¿ x→ 0 ¿ x →0
x x

For most of the remaining examples in this section we’ll see if we can analyze what
should happen to the function as we get very close to the point in question without
actually plugging in any values into the function. For most of the following examples this
kind of analysis shouldn’t be all that difficult to do. We’ll also verify our analysis with a
quick graph.

So, let’s do a couple more examples.

Example 22  Evaluate each of the following

lim ¿ lim ¿ 6
+¿ 6 −¿ 6 lim 2
x→ 0
x2
¿ x→ 0
x2
¿ x →0 x
Solution: 
 43

As with the previous example let’s start off by looking at the two one-sided limits.

So, let’s take a look at the right-hand limit first and let’s see if we can figure out what
each limit will be doing without actually plugging in any values of x into the function. As
we take smaller and smaller values of x, while staying positive, squaring them will only
make them smaller (recall squaring a number between zero and one will make it smaller)
and of course it will stay positive. So, we have a positive constant divided by an
increasingly small positive number. The result should then be an increasingly large
positive number. It looks like we should have the following value for the right-hand limit
in this case,

lim ¿
x→ 0
+¿ 6
¿
=∞
x2

Now, let’s take a look at the left-hand limit. In this case we’re going to take smaller and
smaller values of x, while staying negative this time. When we square them they’ll get
smaller, but upon squaring the result is now positive. So, we have a positive constant
divided by an increasingly small positive number. The result, as with the right-hand limit,
will be an increasingly large positive number and so the left-hand limit will be,

lim ¿
−¿
x→ 0
6
¿
=∞
x2

In this example, unlike the first one, the normal limit will exist and be infinity since the
two one-sided limits both exist and have the same value.

lim ¿ lim ¿ 6
6 =∞ 6 =∞ lim =∞
x2
+¿ −¿
x→ 0 2 ¿ x→ 0 2 ¿ x →0
x x
 44

With this next example we’ll move away from just an x in the denominator, but as we’ll
see in our next examples they work the same way.

Example 23  Evaluate each of the following

lim ¿ lim ¿ −4
−4 −4 lim
x +2
+¿ −¿
x→−2 ¿ x→−2 ¿ x→−2
x +2 x+2

Solution 

Let’s again start with the right-hand limit. With the right-hand limit we know that we
have,

x>−2 ⇒ x+2>0

Also, as x gets closer and closer to -2 then x+2 will be getting closer and closer to zero,
while staying positive as noted above. So, for the right-hand limit, we’ll have a negative
constant divided by an increasingly small positive number. The result will be an
increasingly large and negative number. So, it looks like the right-hand limit will be
negative infinity.

For the left-hand limit we have,

x<−2 ⇒ x+2<0

and x+2 will get closer and closer to zero (and be negative) as x gets closer and closer to -
2. In this case then we’ll have a negative constant divided by an increasingly small
 45

negative number. The result will then be an increasingly large positive number and so it
looks like the left-hand limit will be positive infinity.

Finally, since two one sided limits are not the same the normal limit won’t exist.

lim ¿ lim ¿ −4
−4 = -∞ −4 =∞ lim doesn't exist
x +2
+¿ −¿
x→−2 ¿ x→−2 ¿ x→−2
x +2 x+2

At this point we should briefly acknowledge the idea of vertical asymptotes. Each of the
three previous graphs have had one. Recall from an Algebra class that a vertical
asymptote is a vertical line (the dashed line at x=−2 in the previous example) in which
the graph will go towards infinity and/or minus infinity on one or both sides of the line.

In an Algebra class they are a little difficult to define other than to say what we just said.
Now that we have infinite limits we can easily define a vertical asymptote as follows,

Definition

The function f(x) will have a vertical asymptote at x=a if we have any of the following
limits at x=a.

lim ¿ = ±∞ lim ¿ = ±∞ lim f ( x ) = ± ∞

−¿ +¿
x→ a f (x)¿ x→ a f (x)¿ x→ a
 46

Note that it only requires one of the above limits for a function to have a vertical
asymptote at x=a.

Using this definition we can see that the first two examples had vertical asymptotes
at x=0 while the third example had a vertical asymptote at x=−2.

We aren’t really going to do a lot with vertical asymptotes here but wanted to mention
them at this point since we’d reached a good point to do that.

Example 24  Evaluate each of the following limits.

lim ¿ lim ¿ 3
3 3 lim
( 4− x )3
+¿ −¿
x→ 4 ¿ x→ 4 ¿ x→ 4
( 4−x )3 ( 4−x )3

Solution 

Let’s start with the right-hand limit. For this limit we have,

x>4 ⇒ 4−x<0 ⇒ (4−x)3<0

also, 4−x→0 as x→4. So, we have a positive constant divided by an increasingly small

negative number. The results will be an increasingly large negative number and so it
looks like the right-hand limit will be negative infinity.

For the left-handed limit we have,

x<4 ⇒ 4−x>0 ⇒ (4−x)3>0

and we still have, 4−x→0 as x→4. In this case we have a positive constant divided by an

increasingly small positive number. The results will be an increasingly large positive
number and so it looks like the left-hand limit will be positive infinity.

The normal limit will not exist since the two one-sided limits are not the same. The
official answers to this example are then,

lim ¿ lim ¿ 3
3 = -∞ 3 =∞ lim doesn’t exist
( 4− x )3
+¿ −¿
x→ 4 3
¿ x→ 4 3
¿ x→ 4
( 4−x ) ( 4−x )
 47

Here is a quick sketch to verify our limits.

Limits At Infinity

In the previous section we saw limits that were infinity and it’s now time to take a look at
limits at infinity. By limits at infinity we mean one of the following two limits.

lim f (x) lim f ( x)

x→ ∞ x→−∞

In other words, we are going to be looking at what happens to a function if we let x get

very large in either the positive or negative sense. Also, as we’ll soon see, these limits
may also have infinity as a value.
First, let’s note that the set of facts from the Infinite Limit section also hold if we replace
lim ❑  with  lim ❑ or lim ❑. In fact, in many of the limits that we’re going to be
x →c x→ ∞ x→−∞
looking at we will need the following two facts.

Fact 1

c
1. If r is a positive rational number and c is any real number, then lim
r = 0.
x→ ∞ x

2. If r is a positive rational number, c is any real number and xr is defined

c
for x<0, then lim r = 0.
x→−∞ x
 48

Example 25  Evaluate each of the following limits.

a. lim (2 x 4 −x 2−8 x)
x→ ∞

b. lim
t →−∞
( 13 t + 2t −t + 8)
5 3 2

a.   lim (2 x 4 −x 2−8 x)
x→ ∞

Solution 

If we just plug in infinity to the polynomial and “evaluate” each term to determine the
value of the limit we get the following,

lim (2 x 4 −x 2−8 x) = ∞−∞−∞

x→ ∞

We are probably tempted to say that the answer is zero (because we have an infinity
minus an infinity) or maybe −∞−∞(because we’re subtracting two infinities from one
infinity). However, in both cases we’d be wrong because this is one of
those indeterminate forms that we first started seeing in a previous section.

Infinities just don’t always behave as real numbers do when it comes to arithmetic. What
we’ll do here is factor the largest power of x out of the whole polynomial as follows,

4 2
[
lim (2 x −x −8 x)= lim x 2−
x→ ∞ x →∞
4
( 1 8
−
x2 x3 )]
If you haven’t really been asked to do this kind of factoring prior to this then recall that to
check all you need to do is multiply the x4 back through the parenthesis to verify it was
done correctly.

Now for each of the terms we have,

lim x 4 = ∞
x→ ∞
lim 2−
x→ ∞ ( 1 8
−
)
x2 x3
=2

The first limit is clearly infinity and for the second limit we’ll use the fact above on the
last two terms. Therefore using Fact 2 from the previous section we see value of the limit
will be,
 49

x→ ∞ x →∞
4

x→ ∞ x x (
lim (2 x −x −8 x)= lim x . lim 2− 12 − 83 by property 3
4 2
)
= ∞ .2

= ∞

b. lim
t →−∞
( 13 t + 2t −t + 8)
5 3 2

Solution 

All we need to do is factor out the largest power of t to get the following,

lim
t →−∞
( 13 t + 2t −t + 8)= lim [ t ( 13 + t2 − t1 + t8 )]
5 3 2

t →−∞
5
2 3 5

Now all we need to do is take the limit of the two terms. In the first don’t forget that since
we’re going out towards −∞ and we’re raising t to the 5th power that the limit will be
negative (negative number raised to an odd power is still negative). In the second term
we’ll again make use of the fact above to see that is a finite number.

Therefore, using a modification of the facts from the previous section the value of the
limit is,

lim
t →−∞
( 13 t + 2t −t + 8) = -∞.
5 3 2

In this section we also would want to take a look at some other types of functions that
often show up in limits at infinity. The functions we’ll be looking at here are those
involving exponentials and natural logarithms.

Example 26  Evaluate each of the following

lim e x lim e x lim e− x lim e− x

x→ ∞ x→−∞ x→ ∞ x→−∞
 50

Solution 

There are really just restatements of facts given in the basic exponential section of the
review so we’ll leave it to you to go back and verify these.

lim e x = ∞ lim e x = 0 lim e− x = 0 lim e− x ¿ ∞

x→ ∞ x→−∞ x→ ∞ x→−∞

The main point of this example was to point out that if the exponent of an exponential
goes to infinity in the limit then the exponential function will also go to infinity in the
limit. Likewise, if the exponent goes to minus infinity in the limit then the exponential
will go to zero in the limit.

Example 27  Evaluate each of the following limits

2
2−4 x−8 x
a) lim e
x→ ∞

4 2
t −5 t +1
b) lim e
t →−∞

lim ¿
c) +¿
1
z →0 e z ¿

Solutions:

2
2−4 x−8 x
a) lim e
x→ ∞

So, the exponent goes to minus infinity in the limit and so the exponential must go to zero
in the limit using the ideas from the previous set of examples. So, the answer here is,
2

lim e 2−4 x−8 x = 0

x→ ∞
 51

4 2
t −5 t +1
b) lim e
t →−∞

The exponent goes to infinity in the limit and so the exponential will also need to go to
infinity in the limit. Or,
4 2
t −5 t +1
lim e =∞
t →−∞

lim ¿
c) +¿
1
z →0 e z ¿

So, let’s first note that using the idea from the previous section we have,

lim ¿
z →0
+¿ 1
¿
=∞
z

Remember that in order to do this limit here we do need to do a right-hand limit.

So, the exponent goes to infinity in the limit and so the exponential must also go to
infinity.

lim ¿
Hence, +¿
1 = ∞.
z →0 e z ¿

Continuity

Definition

A function f(x) is said to be continuous at x=a if

lim f ( x )= f(a)
x→ a
 52

A function is said to be continuous on the interval [a,b] if it is continuous at each point in

the interval.

Note that this definition is also implicitly assuming that both f(a) and lim

x→ a
f ( x ) exist. If
either of these do not exist the function will not be continuous at x=a.

This definition can be turned around into the following fact.

Fact I

If f(x)f(x) is continuous at x=a then,

lim f ( x ) = f(a)
x→ a

lim ¿ = f(a)
+¿
x→ a f (x)¿

lim ¿ = f(a)
−¿
x→ a f (x)¿

Example 28  Given the graph of f(x), shown below, determine if f(x) is continuous
at x=−2, x=0, and x=3.

Solution 

To answer the question for each point we’ll need to get both the limit at that point and the
function value at that point. If they are equal the function is continuous at that point and if
they aren’t equal the function isn’t continuous at that point.
 53

First x=−2.

f(-2) = 2 lim f ( x) doesn’t exist

x→−2

The function value and the limit aren’t the same and so the function is not continuous at
this point. This kind of discontinuity in a graph is called a jump discontinuity. Jump
discontinuities occur where the graph has a break in it as this graph does and the values
of the function to either side of the break are finite (i.e. the function doesn’t go to
infinity).

Now x=0.

f(0) = 1 lim f (x ) = 1
x →0

The function is continuous at this point since the function and limit have the same value.

Finally, x=3.

f(3)=−1 lim f (x ) = 0
x→ a

The function is not continuous at this point. This kind of discontinuity is called
a removable discontinuity. Removable discontinuities are those where there is a hole in
the graph as there is in this case.
 54

Assessment Tasks 1

1. Find the domain and range of the given function

a. f(t) = 3t2−2t+1

b. g(x) = -3√ 2+ x

2. The volume of air in a balloon is given by V(t) = 64t+1. Compute (accurate to at least
8 decimal places) the average rate of change of the volume of air in the balloon between t
= 0.25 and t = 1.
3. Below is the graph of f(x). For each of the given points determine the value
of f(a),  lim ¿, lim ¿and  lim f ( x ). If any of the quantities do not exist clearly
−¿
x→ a f (x)¿
+¿
x→ a f (x)¿ x→ a
explain why.

a. a = −4

b. a = −1
 55

4. Below is the graph of f(x). For each of the given points determine the value
of f(a) and lim f ( x ) . If any of the quantities do not exist clearly explain why.
x→ a

a. a=−3

b. a=−1

5. For each of the following limits use the limit properties given in this section to
compute the limit. At each step clearly indicate the property being used. If it is not
possible to compute any of the limits clearly explain why not.

a . lim ¿
t →−2
x+7
b. lim ⁡ 2
x →−5 x +3 x−10
 56

6. Evaluate the limit, if it exists.

x 2−25
a. lim
x→−5 x 2 +2 x−15

b. lim
√ z−2
z→4 z −4

7. For f(x)=4x7−18x3+9 evaluate each of the following limits.

a . lim f ( x)
x →−∞

b. lim
x→ ∞
f (x)

lim f ( x ) and (b)  lim f ( x ) .

 8. Evaluate (a) x→−∞ x→ ∞

3
f(x) =e 8+2 x−x

9. The graph of f(x)f(x) is given below. Based on this graph determine where the
function is discontinuous.

10. Determine where the given function is discontinuous.

x 2−9
f(x) = 2
3 x +2 x−8
 57

References
1. Love and Rainville. Differential and Integral Calculus 6th Ed. Copyright 1962. Macmillan
Publishing Co., Inc
Ayres and Mendelson.Theory and Problems of Differential Calculus 3rd ed,
2. Peterson. Calculus with Analytic Geometry
3. Smith, R.T. & Minton, R.B. Calculus 3rd ed. Copyright 2007. McGraw-Hill Co., Inc.
4. Tan, J. & Reyes, F. Elements of Differential and Integral Calculus. Copyright 1997. UST
Publishing House
5. Masaoy, EJ et al. Calculus with Analytic Geometry Part 1. Copyright 1986. National Book
Store, Inc.
 58

Prepared by:

Sharon M. Galicha, LPT, MS MATH ED

Professor