The Limit Definition

8-29-2005
The Limit Denition

Having discussed how you can compute limits, I want to examine the denition of a limit in more detail.
Example. Why is it necessary to be careful? Suppose youre trying to compute lim
x0
1 cos(x
8
)
x
16
. You might
think of drawing a graph; many graphing calculators, for instance, produce a graph like the one below:
-3 -2 -1 1 2 3
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
(I produced the graph using a program called Mathematica.)
It looks as though the graph is dropping down to 0 near x = 0. You might guess that the limit is 0. In
fact,
lim
x0
1 cos(x
8
)
x
16
=
1
2
.
Its possible to justify this algebraically once you know a little about limits of trig functions.
Pictures can be helpful; so can experimenting with numbers. In many cases, pictures and numeri-
cal experiments are inconclusive or even misleading; at best, they suggest rather than prove. Sometimes
understanding requires more precision.
Informally,
lim
xc
f(x) = L
means that f(x) can be made arbitrarily close to L for all xs suciently close to c.
This statement is like a guarantee. Think of making parts in a factory. Your customers wont buy your
parts unless they meet certain specications. So you might guarantee that your parts will be within 0.01 of
the customers specication.
Likewise, to say that lim
xc
f(x) = L you must be able to guarantee that you can make f(x) fall within
(say) 0.01 of L. But you have to do more: You have to be able to make f(x) fall within any positive tolerance
of L 0.0001, 0.0000004, and so on, no matter how small.
Another way to think of this is as meeting a challenge:
Challenge: I challenge you to make f(x) fall within 0.0005 of L.
Your response: I guarantee that every x within 0.003 of c (except perhaps c itself) will give an f(x)
that is within 0.0005 of L.
To prove that lim
xc
f(x) = L, you must be able to meet the challenge no matter what positive number is
used in place of 0.0005.
1
By the way, notice that x = c is excluded in my guarantee. Reason: As I noted earlier, in computing
lim
xc
f(x), you only consider what happens as x approaches c, not what f(c) is.
Example. You can see by plugging in that
lim
x4
(3x 5) = 7.
How close should x be to 4 to guarantee that 3x 5 is within 0.01 of 7?
Remember that
|BLIP BLAP| = (the distance from BLIP to BLAP).
I want 3x 5 to be within 0.01 of 7. This means
|(3x 5) 7| < 0.01, or |3x 12| < 0.01.
So
3|x 4| < 0.01, |x 4| <
0.01
3
.
The last inequality says that the distance from x to 4 should be less than
0.01
3
. So if x lies within
0.01
3
of 4, I can guarantee that 3x 5 will be within 0.01 of 7.
Can you see that if Im challenged to make 3x 5 lie within 0.00001 of 7, I should make x lie within
0.00001
3
of 4? Just replace 0.01 with 0.00001 in the discussion above.
And similarly, I can make 3x 5 lie within any tolerance FOO of 7 by making x lie within
FOO
3
of 4.
This shows that I can meet any challenge, since I can just take the challenge tolerance and plug it in
for FOO. This proves that
lim
x4
(3x 5) = 7.
Example. The graph of a function y = f(x) is shown below.
3.5
3
2.5
4
I claim that lim
x4
f(x) = 3. Suppose Im challenged to make f(x) fall within 0.5 of 3. That is, I want
my y-values to fall within the grey strip in the picture.
2
On the right side of 4, the graph stays within the grey strip as far as 4.25; on the left side of 4, the
graph stays within the grey strip as far as 3.
3.5
3
2.5
4
Ill use the closer of the two values, which is 4.25. Now 4.25 is 0.25 units from 4, so my answer is: If x
is within 0.25 of 4, then f(x) will be within 0.5 of 3.
If I can meet such a challenge with any positive number in place of 0.5, then I will have proved that
lim
x4
f(x) = 3.
Example. (Disproving a limit) Consider the function y = f(x) whose graph is show below.
4
3
Suppose that Calvin Butterball thinks that lim
x3
f(x) = 4. I can use the limit denition to disprove it;
to do so, Ill make a challenge that Calvin cant meet.
I challenge Calvin to make f(x) fall within 0.5 of 4. This means that he must nd a range of xs around
3 so that the corresponding part of the graph lies within the grey strip shown below:
3
4
3
You can see that theres no way to do this. (Note: Hes not allowed to use x = 3 alone. Remember that
what the function does at x = 3 has no bearing on the value of the limit.)
Since this challenge cant be met, lim
x3
f(x) = 4. In fact, lim
x3
f(x) is undened.
Example. Suppose
f(x) =
5 2x if x < 1
4x 1 if x 1
.
It is true that lim
x1
f(x) = 3. How close should x be to 1 in order to guarantee that f(x) will be within
0.0008 of 3?
From the left side, Id need
|(5 2x) 3| < 0.0008, or |2 2x| < 0.0008.
This is the same as |2x 2| < 0.0008, or |x 1| < 0.0004. The last inequality says that x should be
within 0.0004 of 1.
From the right side, Id need
|(4x 1) 3| < 0.0008, or |4x 4| < 0.0008.
This gives |x 1| < 0.0002, which means that x should be within 0.0002 of 1.
To satisfy the two requirements at the same time, Ill use the smaller of the two numbers. Thus, if x is
within 0.0002 of 1, then f(x) will be within 0.0008 of 3.
c 2005 by Bruce Ikenaga 4

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8-29-2005

The Limit Denition

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