One-Sided Limits: (MAT060 - Calculus With Analytic Geometry I)

1.
3 One-Sided Limits
(MAT060 - Calculus with Analytic Geometry I)
RAYLEE J. GASPARIN, PhD
Mathematics Department
Mindanao State University Main Campus
Marawi City
gasparin.raylee@msumain.edu.ph
One-Sided Limits
To say that a function f has a limit L as x approaches a means that f must be

dened on both sides of a, and its values f (x) must approach L as x approaches
a from either side. For this reason, ordinary limits are also called two-sided
limits.
In this section we extend the concept of limit to one-sided limits, which are limits
as x approaches a from the left-hand side or the right-hand side only.
Right-Hand Limit
Let f (x) be dened on an open interval (a, b) where a < b . If f (x)
approaches arbitrarily close to L as x approaches a from within the interval
(a, b), then we say that f has right-hand limit L at a, and we write
lim f (x) = L.
x→a+
Note: The notation lim+ is read, "x approaches a from the right" which means
x→a
that x approaches a through numbers that are greater than a.
Left-Hand Limit
Let f (x) be dened on an open interval (c, a) where c < a. If f (x)
approaches arbitrarily close to M as x approaches a from within the interval
(c, a), then we say that f has left-hand limit M at a, and we write
lim f (x) = M.
x→a−
Note: The notation lim− is read, "x approaches a from the left" which means
x→a
that x approaches a through numbers that are less than a.
Remark. The limit theorems discussed in Section 1.2 still hold if ”x → a” is
replaced with ”x → a+ ” or ”x → a− ”.
Example 1. √
Let f (x) = 4 − x 2 . The domain of f is [−2, 2] and its graph is the
semi-circle shown in the next gure. We have
p p p p
lim + 4 − x 2 = 4 − 02 = 0 and lim− 4 − x 2 = 4 − 02 = 0.
x→ −2 x→ 2
Note that the function does not have a left-hand limit at x = −2 or a

right-hand limit at x = 2.
y
2
√
y= 4 − x2
•
0
• x
-2 2
√
Figure: y = 4 − x2
Theorem 1.7 (One-sided vs. Two-sided Limits)
lim f (x) exists and is equal to L if and only if
x→a
lim f (x) = L and lim f (x) = L.

x→a− x→a+
In other words, a function f (x) has a limit L as x approaches a if and only if the
left-hand and right-hand limits both exist and these one-sided limits are both
equal to L.
√
Example 2. Evaluate lim− 1 − x , if it exists.
x→ 1
√
Solution: When x < 1, 1 − x is a real number, hence we can nd the left-hand
√
limit of 1 − x at x = 1.
Now, √ √ √
lim− 1 − x = 1 − 1 = 0 = 0.
x→ 1
√
x +1−1
Example 3. Evaluate lim + , if it exists.
x→ −1 x
Solution : For x > −1,

√ √ √
x +1−1 −1 + 1 − 1 0−1
lim + = = = 1.
x→ −1 x −1 −1
x −4
Example 4. Evaluate lim+ √ , if it exists.
x→ 4 x −4
Solution : For x > 4, direct substitution yields 00 . Rationalizing the denominator

gives √ √
x −4 x −4 (x − 4) x − 4 √
√ ·√ = = x − 4.
x −4 x −4 x −4
Therefore,
x −4 √ √
lim+ √ = lim+ x − 4 = 4 − 4 = 0.
x→ 4 x − 4 x→ 4
Recall: For any real number x , the absolute value of x is dened as,
x, if x ≥ 0

|x| =
−x, if x < 0
|x|
Example 5. Does lim exist?
x→ 0 x
Solution: Direct substitution yields 00 . Note that we cannot factor nor rationalize
the given expression. But since the expression involves absolute value, we apply
one-sided limits. Computing the right-hand limit, we have
|x| x
lim+ = lim+ = lim+ 1 = 1.
x→ 0 x x→ 0 x x→0
While the left-hand limit yields
|x| −x
lim− = lim+ = lim+ (−1) = −1.
x→0 x x→0 x x→0
Since
|x| |x|
lim+ 6= lim− ,
x→0 x x→0 x
|x|
we conclude that lim does not exist.
x→0 x
Example 6. Dene function h(x) as follows:
3x, if x ≤ 2

h(x) = 2
10 − x , if x > 2
Does lim h(x) exist?

x→ 2
Solution: Since the domain of the function is cut at x = 2, we evaluate the limit
using one-sided limit. Thus, we have
lim h(x) = lim+ (10 − x 2 ) = 10 − 22 = 10 − 4 = 6,

x→ 2+ x→ 2
and
lim h(x) = lim− 3x = 3(2) = 6.

x→ 2− x→ 2
Since lim+ h(x) = 6 = lim− h(x),

x→ 2 x→ 2
lim h(x) = 6.
x→ 2
For practice. Evaluate the following limits, if it exist.
6 − 2x
(1) lim− 2
x→3 x − 2x − 3
√
x
(2) lim+
x→0 x
1 − 2x, x ≤ −2

(3) lim F (x), where F (x) = ,
x→−2 3 − x, x > −2
x −2
(4) lim
x→2 |2 − x|

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1.

RAYLEE J. GASPARIN, PhD

To say that a function f has a limit L as x approaches a means that f must be

Note that the function does not have a left-hand limit at x = −2 or a

lim f (x) = L and lim f (x) = L.

Solution : For x > −1,

Solution : For x > 4, direct substitution yields 00 . Rationalizing the denominator

Does lim h(x) exist?

lim h(x) = lim+ (10 − x 2 ) = 10 − 22 = 10 − 4 = 6,

lim h(x) = lim− 3x = 3(2) = 6.

Since lim+ h(x) = 6 = lim− h(x),

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