WUC 112 University

Mathematics

Unit 2
Limits and Continuity
By
KOH YOU BENG

Koh you beng

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 1
 Contact Information
1) Contact number:
012-6721632

2) Email address:
[email protected]
/[email protected]

3) Time available for telephone tutoring:

weekdays: 6.00 pm – 8.00 pm

Please contact me at least once every 3

weeks.

Koh you beng

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 2
 Objectives
• Understand the idea of the limit of a function.
• Determine the existence of a limit of a point by looking at
the right-hand limit and the left-hand limit of the point.
• Apply the limit theorems on the sum, product and
quotient of functions.
• Understand the concept of continuity at a point of a
particular function.
• Apply the theorems on continuity.
• Understand the idea of continuity from the left and
continuity from the right.
• Apply the pinching theorem on some simple
trigonometric limits.
• Understand and apply the intermediate value theorem
and the extreme value theorem.
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 3
 What is a limits?

Imprecise definition
Limit is a value of f(x) when x closer to a
certain number.
For example

What is the limit of f(x) = 2x+1 when x is

tend/closer to 0?
By substitute x = 0 into f(x), we found that
the limit of f(x) = 2x+1 is 1 when x tend 0.
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 4
 Limits can be found by

 The informal definition

 Numerically
 Graphically
 The formal definition

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 5
 Informal Definition

 Let f(x) be a function defined on an

open interval about c, except possibly
at c itself and if f(x) get arbitrary close
to unique number L for all x sufficiently
close to c, then we say that f(x)
approaches the limit L as x approaches
c and we write

lim f  x   L
x c
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 6
Koh you beng
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 7
Koh you beng
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 8
 One-Sided Limits
You need one-sided limits when you
encounter a piecewise function (a
function where each part of the
domain has its own function to
evaluate) as seen below…
Limit Limit
from from
the the
left right
(x<c) (x>c)
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 9
 One-Sided Limits

 Left-hand limit
 If f(x) approaches L1 as x approaches c from
the left, then L1 is the left-hand limit of f(x).
Mathematically:
lim f  x   L1
x c

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 10
 One-Sided Limits

 Right-hand limit
 If f(x) approaches L2 as x approaches c from
the right, then L2 is the right-hand limit of
f(x). Mathematically:
lim f  x   L2
x c

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 11
 Theorem

 lim f  x   L exist if and only if

x c
lim f  x   lim f  x   L
x c x c

| x| | x| x
lim ? lim  lim  lim  1  1
x 0 x x 0 x x  0 x x 0

 x, x  0 lim
|x| x
 lim  lim 1  1
| x | 
  x, x  0
x 0 x x 0 x x  0
| x| | x| | x|
lim  lim  lim does not exist
Koh you beng
x 0 x x 0 x x 0 x
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 12
 Theorem

 lim f  x   L exist if and only if

x c
lim f  x   lim f  x   L
x c x c

lim[ x]  ? lim  x   lim 0  0

x 1 x 1 x 1

 1, x  [1, 2) lim  x   lim1 1

 x    0, x  [0,1) x 1 
x 1

lim  x   lim  x   lim  x  does not exist
x 1 x 1 x 1
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 13
 Numerically
x3  8
 Look at the function f  x 
x2
 What happens to f(x) as x approaches 2?
 Notice from the table that, the closer x gets to
2 from either side, the closer f(x) gets to 12.
 the limit of f(x), as x approaches 2, is 12.

x approaching 2 from the left 2 x approaching 2 from the right

x 1.9 1.99 1.999 1.999 2.0001 2.001 2.01 2.1

f(x) 11.41 11.9401 11.9940 11.9994 12.0006 12.0060 12.0601 12.61

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 14
 Graphically
 Look at the following graph of the function f.
 What is the limit of f(x) as x approaches –2 ?
 What is the limit of f(x) as x approaches 1?
 What is the limit of f(x) as x approaches 0?

x  2, f  x   2

x  1, f  x   1

x  0, f  x  does not exist

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 15
 Main Methods of Limit
Computations
If the function, for which the limit needs to be computed, is
1
defined by an algebraic expression, which takes a finite value
at the limit point, then this finite value is the limit value.
lim  2 x  1  2  2   1  5
x 2

If the function, for which the limit needs to be computed,

2 cannot be evaluated at the limit point (i.e. the value is an
undefined expression like in (3)), then find a rewriting of the
function to a form which can be evaluated at the limit point.

3 The following undefined quantities cause problems:

0 
00 , , ,   , 0 , 0.
0 

4 In the evaluation of expressions, use the rules

a 
 0,  ,    negative number   .
 positive number
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 16
 Limits by Rewriting

x 2  3x  2
Problem 1 lim
x 2 x 2

x 2  3 x  2  x  1  x  2 
Solution Rewrite   x  1.
x 2 x 2
x 2  3x  2
Hence lim  lim  x  1  1.
x 2 x 2 x 2

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 17
 Limits by Rewriting

Problem 2
x2  x
lim
x  3 x 2  5 x  2

Solution

1
1
x2  x x 1
   x   .
3x  5x  2 3  5  2
2
3
x x2

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 18
 Limits by Rewriting
Problem 3 lim x 2  1  x 2  1
x 

Solution Rewrite

x 1 x
2 2
1 
 x2  1  x2  1  x2  1  x2  1 
x2  1  x2  1

   
2 2


x 1 
2
x 1
2


 x 2
 
 1  x2  1  2
x2  1  x2  1 x2  1  x2  1 x2  1  x2  1

2
Hence lim x  1  x  1  lim 2 2
 0.
x  x 
x 1 x 1
2 2

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 19
 Limits by Rewriting
Problem 4 lim x 2  x  1  x 2  x  1
x 

Solution Rewrite

x2  x  1  x2  x  1 

 x  x 1 x  x 1
2 2
 x2  x  1  x2  x  1
x2  x  1  x2  x  1


 x 2
  
 x  1  x2  x  1 2x  2
x2  x  1  x2  x  1 x2  x  1  x2  x  1
2
2 Next divide by x.
 x   x  1
1 1 1 1
1  2  1  2
x x x x
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 20
 Formal Definition

 Let f(x) be a function defined on an

open interval about c, except possibly
at c itself. We say that f(x) approaches
the limit L as x approaches c and write
lim f  x   L
x c
If, for every number   0, there exists a
corresponding number   0 such that
for all x,
0 | x  c |   f  x   L  
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 21
Koh you beng
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 22
Koh you beng
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 23
 2x  8 2
Verify the limit lim  8 by formal definition
x 2 x  2
Step 1
2 x2  8
let   0,   0 such that 0< x  2    8  
x2
2 x2  8 2  x  2  x  2
8    8  
x2 x2
 2  x  2  8  
 2x  4   
thus, we can take  =
 2
Step 2  2 x2   x2 
 2
If 0  x  2  , then
2
2 x2  8 2  x  2  x  2
8   8  2x  4  8
x2 x2
 
 2 x  2  2  
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 24
 One-Sided Limits
Left-hand limit
 Let f be a function defined at least on an
interval on the left of c ( interval of the
form (c – p, c), with p > 0. Then xlim f  x  L

c
if for each   0 , there exists a   0 such
that if c    x  c then

f  x  L  

Koh you beng

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 25
 One-Sided Limits
Right-hand limit
 Let f be a function defined at least on an
interval on the right of c ( interval of the
form (c , c+ p), with p > 0. Then xlim f  x  L

c
if for each   0 , there exists a   0 such
that if c  x  c   then

f  x  L  

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 26
 1
What is the limit of lim 2
x 0 x

1 1 1 1
lim 2   lim 2  
 0   0
2 2
x 0 x x 0 x

1 1
lim 2 = lim 2  
x 0 x x 0 x

1
But lim 2 does not exist
x 0 x

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 27
 Some limit theorems
1 The uniqueness of a limit
If lim f  x   L and lim f  x   M , then L  M
x c x c

2 If lim f  x   L and lim g  x   M , then

x c x c

(i) lim  f  x   g  x    lim f  x   lim g  x   L  M

x c x c x c

(ii) lim   f  x     lim  f  x     L

x c x c

(iii) lim  f  x  g  x    lim f  x   lim g  x   LM

x c x c x c

1 1 1
(iv) lim   ,L  0
x c f  x  lim f  x  L
x c

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 28
 Continuity at a point

 A function f(x) is continuous at x = c if

and only if it meets the following three
conditions
 f(x) exists (c lies in the domain of f )

 lim f  x  exits ( f has a limit as x  c )

x c

 lim f  x   f  c  (the limit equals the function

x c
value)
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 29
 Three types of discontinuities

 A removable discontinuity at x = c if
 lim f  x  exist but f  c   lim f  x 
x c x c
 Only this type of discontinuity can be remove by
redefining f at c
 A jump discontinuity at x = c if
 lim f  x  and lim f  x  exist but lim f  x   lim f  x 
x c x c x c x c
 An infinite discontinuity at x = c if

lim f  x    or lim f  x    or lim f  x    or lim f  x   
x c  x c x c x c

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 30
  2x  9 x  2
Determine the discontinuities of  x 2  1 2  x  1

f  x  
the following functions:  3x  1 1  x  3
 x  6 x3
Removable
lim f  x   5, lim f  x   5, but f  2  undefined
x 2 x 2 discontinuity
lim f  x   2, lim f  x   2, f  1  12  1  2 continuous
x 1 x 1

lim f  x   8, lim f  x   9, f  3  3  6  9
x 3 x 3 Jump discontinuity
f is continuous at every point in the open interval  ,   except
x  2 and x  3
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 31
 Continuity on interval
 Open interval
 Let (a, b) be an open interval with a < b. A function f
is continuous on the interval (a, b) if f(x) is
continuous at every point in (a, b).
 Close interval
 f is continuous on the interval [a, b] if f(x) is
 Continuous at every point in (a, b)
 Continuous from the right at a, xlim f  x  f  a and
a 
 Continuous from the left at b xlim f  x  f  b
b 

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

continuous at every point in the interval.
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 32
 The pinching theorem
 Suppose that g  x   f  x   h  x  for all x in some
open interval containing c, except possibly at x
= c itself. Suppose also that
lim g  x   lim h  x   L
x c x c

Then lim f  x  L
x c

Prove g  x  f  x  h x
 lim g  x   lim f  x   lim h  x 
x c x c x c

 L  lim f  x   L
x c
lim f  x   L
x c
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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 33
 Limits Involving Trigonometric
Function
 Some element limit of trigonometric function
lim sin x  sin c lim sin x  0
x c x 0

lim cos x  cos c lim cos x  1

x c x 0

 Two important limits that we cannot evaluate

by substitution are
sin x 1  cos x
lim 1 lim 0
x 0 x x 0 x

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 34
 Limits Involving Trigonometric
Function
lim
sin  3 x 
x 0 6x

sin   
Use the fact that lim  1.
 0 
sin  3 x  1 sin  3 x 
Rewrite 
6x 2 3x

sin  3 x  sin  3 x  1
Since lim  1, we conclude that lim  .
x 0 3x x 0 6x 2

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 35
 sin  sin  x  
lim
x 0 x

Rewrite:

sin  sin  x   sin  sin  x   sin  x 

   x 0 1
x sin  x  x
sin   
since lim  1. In the above, that fact

 0

was applied first by substituting   sin  x  .

sin  sin  x  
Hence lim  1.
x 0 sin  x 

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 36
 Intermediate value theorem
 If f is continuous in a closed interval [a, b]
and k is any number between f(a) and f(b)
inclusively, then there exists at least one
number c in the interval [a, b] such that
f(c) = k

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 37
 Corollary
 If f is continuous on [a, b] and f  a   0  f  b  or
f  b  0  f  a
, then there exists at least one
number c in the interval [a, b] such that f(c) = 0.
(c is a root if the equation f(c) = 0).

Koh you beng

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 38
 Example
Show that the equation  x  0 has at least
3
 x
one solution in the interval [-2,2]
 let f  x   x 3  x and we found that f  2   6 and f  2   6
 There is an change of sign and f  x  is continuous on  -2,2 .
By intermediate value theorem, there is at
least one solution in [-2,2]
 1
Now let f  x   ,find f  1 and f  1
x
 f  1  1 and f  1  1 . Although there is change of
sign for f(x). But why there is not have any solution
on the interval [-1,1] based on intermediate value
theorem?

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 39
 Extreme value theorem
 If f is continuous on a closed interval [a, b], there
exists c ∈ [a, b] such that f(c) ≥ f(x),
∀ x ∈ [a, b]. Then M = f(c) ≥ f(x) is an absolute
maximum value.
 There also exists d ∈ [a, b] such that f(d) ≤ f(x),
∀ x ∈ [a, b]. Then m = f(d) ≤ f(x) is an absolute
minimum value on the interval [a, b].

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 40
 Thank you

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 41
 Prove that lim  x  x  5   7
2
x 3
Step 1
let   0,   0 such that 0< x  3    x 2  x  5  7  
x 2  x  5  7  x 2  x  12  x  3 x  4
If make   1. We get x  3  1 and x  4  x  3  7  x  3  7  1  7  8

x  3    x  3 x  4   x  4  8     
8
 
Choose   min  1, 
 8
Step 2
 
If 0  x  3   , and   min  1,  then
 8

x 2  x  5  7  x 2  x  12  x  3 x  4   8  
8

Koh you beng

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Friday, October 17, 2008 Limits and Continuity 42