Math 2114 Practice Exam for Test 1 (2.2-2.

8)

Remember to show your work and justify your answers completely. You will not receive credit if answers are not
justified! You should be able to do this in approximately 50 minutes without using any references.

1. For f (x) shown at right, find the following. Use + , − ,

(a) lim− f ( x) (b) lim+ f ( x)

(c) lim f ( x) (d) f (3)

(e) f (2)

(f) List all x − values where f is discontinuous.

2. Evaluate the following limits, with justification. Use + , − , and DNE as appropriate.
x2 x+7 −3 | x−4|
(a) lim− 2 (b) lim (c) lim−
x → −3 x + 4 x + 3 x→2 x−2 x →4 2x − 8

x 1 + x3
3. If we know that  f ( x )  for x near 0, x  0, find lim f ( x) . Justify your answer
x 2 + 3x 3 cos 2 (x ) x→0

appropriately.

4. Show that the equation x 5 = cos( 2 x ) must have a solution. Justify your answer appropriately.

3x 2 + 2, for x  −1
5. For g ( x) = 
7 x − 4, for x  −1

(a) Find lim g ( x) (b) Determine if g (x) is continuous at x = −1. (You may find the 3-step test for
x →−1
continuity helpful here.) Justify your answer appropriately.

6. If lim f ( x ) = +, find lim e − f ( x ) . What property of the exponential function are you using here?
x →0 x →0

5x + 4
7. Evaluate lim
x → −
7 x 2 − 3x + 2

10
8. (a) Use the limit definition to find the derivative of f ( x ) =
2x − 1
10
(b) Use part (a) to find the equation of the tangent line to f ( x ) = at x = 3.
2x − 1
Solutions:

1. (a) +  (b) 1 (c) DNE (d) 5 (e) 1 (f) x = −1, 3

2(a) Note this is of the form 9/0, so the limit is infinite. When we plug in a value to the left of − 3 (for instance,
x = −3.1) we get a positive number. Thus the limit is + .
(b)
x+7 −3 x+7 +3 ( x + 7) − 9 x−2 1 1 1
lim  = lim = lim = lim = =
x→2 x−2 x + 7 + 3 x→2 ( x − 2)( x + 7 + 3) x→2 ( x − 2)( x + 7 + 3) x→2 x + 7 + 3 2+7 +3 6

− ( x − 4) −1 1
(c) Note for x  4 we know | x − 4 |= −( x − 4). Thus the limit is lim− = lim− =−
x →4 2( x − 4) x→4 2 2
1 + x3 1 + 03 1
3. We use the Squeeze Theorem. Notice that by direct substitution lim = = . Also,
x → 0 3 cos 2 (x ) 3(cos 0) 2
3
x x 1 1 1 1
lim 2 = lim = lim = = . Since both outside functions approach and f (x) is between
x → 0 x + 3x x → 0 x ( x + 3) x →0 x + 3 0+3 3 3
1
these functions for x near 0, by the Squeeze Theorem lim f ( x) = .
x →0 3
4. We use the Intermediate Value Theorem to show x − cos( 2 x ) = 0 has a solution. First note that
5

f ( x ) = x 5 − cos( 2 x ) is continuous for all x, because it is the difference of a polynomial and a cosine function that is
defined and continuous everywhere. Also, note that 0 is between f (0) = −1 and f (1) = 1 − cos 2  1.41. Thus by
the IVT, f must have a zero between 0 and 1, and this solves the equation.

5. We calculate the one-sided limits. Notice that lim− g ( x) = lim− 3x 2 + 2 = 3(−1) 2 + 2 = 5 and
x →−1 x →−1

lim+ g ( x) = lim+ 7 x − 4 = 7(−1) − 4 = −11. Because the one-sided limits disagree, lim g ( x) does not exist.
x →−1 x →−1 x →−1

Since lim g ( x) DNE, the function cannot be continuous at x = −1.

6. Because e − u approaches 0 as u → +, lim e − f ( x ) = 0. We are using the continuity of the exponential function
x→0
here.

5x 4
+
5x + 4 1/ x x x
7. lim  (because x = − x 2 for negative x ) gives lim
x → −
7 x 2 − 3x + 2 − 1 / x 2 x → −
7 x 2 3x 2
− − 2 + 2
x2 x x
4
5+
x 5+0 5
= lim = =−
x → −
3 2 − 7−0+0 7
− 7− + 2
x x
8. (a)
10 10 10 10
− −
2( x + h ) − 1 2 x − 1 ( 2 x + 2h − 1)( 2 x − 1)
f ( x ) = lim = lim 2 x + 2h − 1 2 x − 1 
h →0 h h → 0 h ( 2 x + 2h − 1)( 2 x − 1)
10(2 x − 1) − 10(2 x + 2h − 1) 20 x − 10 − 20 x − 20h + 10 − 20h
= lim = lim = lim
h →0 h(2 x − 1)(2 x + 2h − 1) h → 0 h(2 x − 1)(2 x + 2h − 1) h → 0 h(2 x − 1)(2 x + 2h − 1)
− 20 − 20 − 20
= lim = =
h →0 ( 2 x − 1)( 2 x + 2h − 1) (2 x − 1)(2 x + 0 − 1) (2 x − 1) 2

− 20 4
(b) The point is (3, 2) because f (3) = 10 / 5 = 2. The slope is f (3) = 2
= − . The equation is therefore
5 5
y − 2 = − 45 ( x − 3), which simplifies to y = − 45 x + 225 .