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MAT1320C, Note 3, Filled

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13 views8 pages

MAT1320C, Note 3, Filled

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whoami.10101010101
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Example 3.2. Recall the height function h(t) = 4.

9t2 + v0 t + h0 of an object thrown with


initial upwards velocity v0 , from an initial height h0 , t seconds after being thrown.
A ball is thrown up with an initial velocity of 10 m/s from the upper observation deck of the
CN Tower, 450 m above the ground. What is the average velocity of the ball over the time
interval [3, 4] ? Estimate the instantaneous velocity of the ball 3 seconds after being thrown.
How could you improve your estimate?

S LOPE OF A S ECANT — AVERAGE R ATE OF C HANGE O VER AN I NTERVAL

Let f be a function that is “continuous” (to be defined precisely later) on an interval [a, b].
Then

2
S LOPE OF TANGENT — I NSTANTANEOUS R ATE OF C HANGE AT A P OINT

Goal: We want the instantaneous rate of change of f (x) at a point x = a.


In this case, the “interval” we are interested in is [a, a]. That is, we only care what happens
when x is exactly equal to a.
Obstacle: The formula for the average rate of change of f on the interval [a, a] does not work —
we get the indeterminate form 00 .

Observation: If h > 0, then we can calculate the average rate of change over the interval
[a, a + h], even when h is extremely tiny.

So, h can approach 0, written h ! 0, without ever actually equalling zero. At the same time, if
the average rate of change of f over the interval [a, a + h] approaches a particular number, then
that number is called the instantaneous rate of change of f at x = a.
We need to formalize the idea of h ! 0. In fact, we will develop a framework for evaluating
limits in general, not just those for instantaneous rates of change.
3
L IMITS : T HE I NTUITIVE D EFINITION

Suppose f (x) is defined when x is “near” a number a (this means that f is defined on some
open interval that contains the number a, except possibly at a itself; a might not be in the
domain of f , but at all other points in the neighbourhood of this open interval, f is defined).
I If we can make the values f (x) arbitrarily close to a unique real number L by restricting
x (on either side of a) to be sufficiently close to a but not equal to a, then

[read: “the limit of f (x), as x approaches a, exists and equals L”]


Informally, we can guarantee that f (x) gets arbitrarily close to a unique real number L
as long as we make sure that x is close enough to a (without actually letting x equal a).
I If there is no such unique real number L, then the limit of f (x) as x approaches a does
not exist (DNE).

2x2 2x
Example 3.3. Consider the rational function f (x) = and the limit lim f (x).
x 1 x!1

⇧ What happens if we just plug in x = 1 to f (x) ?

⇧ Test how f (x) behaves for values of x near x = 1 by filling in the chart:

(from the left x ! 1 ) (1 x from the right)


x 0.5 0.75 0.9 0.99 0.999 1 1.001 1.01 1.1 1.25 1.5
0
f (x) 0
eek!

⇧ As x approaches 1, does f (x) seem to be approaching a specific number?

⇧ If x is any number other than 1, what does the graph of f look like?

⇧ Use the graph of f to evaluate the limit: lim f (x) =


x!1

4
Example 3.6. For all x 2 , the ceiling function dxe is defined as dxe = min{n 2 : x  n}.

lim dxe
x!2

I Since dxe approaches different real numbers as x ! 2 from either side, this limit DNE.

O NE - SIDED L IMITS

⇧ As in Example 3.6, as x ! a, the values of f (x) may behave differently from one side
than the other.
⇧ For some functions, a limit as x ! a only makes sense if x approaches a from one side:

To distinguish from which side x approaches a, we use the following notation for one-sided
limits:

By definition, we can say

lim f (x) = L if and only if both lim f (x) = L and lim f (x) = L
x!a x!a x!a+

6
E VALUATING L IMITS

I numerically: guessing by plugging in nearby values of x


I graphically: eyeballing the limit by looking at the graph
I using the Limit Laws:
Let k be a constant real number, and suppose that the limits lim f (x) and lim g(x) both
x!a x!a
exist. Then

⇥ ⇤ h i h i
lim f (x) ± g(x) = lim f (x) ± lim g(x)
x!a x!a x!a

⇥ ⇤ h i
lim kf (x) = k lim f (x)
x!a x!a

⇥ ⇤ h i h i
lim f (x)g(x) = lim f (x) · lim g(x)
x!a x!a x!a

h i
 lim f (x)
f (x)
lim = hx!a i if lim g(x) 6= 0.
x!a g(x) x!a
lim g(x)
x!a

I using direct substitution:


If f is a polynomial or a rational function and a is in the domain of f , then
lim f (x) = f (a) .
x!a

I using algebraic tricks:


If f (x) = g(x) everywhere except when x = a, then
lim f (x) = lim g(x) provided the limit exists.
x!a x!a

The above observation allows us to use algebraic tricks (such as the following) to
evaluate limits:
| factoring and cancelling common factors
~ rationalizing the numerator or denominator
 dividing all terms by a common expression
} adding/subtracting fractional expressions on a common denominator

7
p
t2 + 9 3
Example 3.7. lim
t!0 t2

✓ ◆
1 1
Example 3.8. lim
x!1 x 1 x2 x

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