Limit (mathematics)/Limits

Limits of Functions

Basics

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What are limits?

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Limits are a way to calculate the value that a function approaches. For instance, we could calculate the value of the function f(x) as x approaches 2. Just as easily we can calculate the value of f(x) as x approaches 20, -2, π, 0, or even ∞.

Why would anyone need limits?

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There are a number of reasons that someone might want to use limits:

1. To find the values of functions with asymptotes or missing points
2. To calculate the slope of a point in calculus
3. To prove derivatives in calculus

Notation

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The notation of a limit function is fairly simple:

 

This says limit (lim) of f(x) as x approaches p is L.

Usually f(x) is substituted with the contents of the function like so:

 

Properties

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Sample Problem Set #1

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Let's say we have the function  . If we want to find the limit as x approaches 4, then:

 

Using two properties of limits:

 

and

 

Our problem becomes:

 

If we think about the graph of y=b, then we know that the y value never changes. Which means that at any point on that line, we can expect y to be equal to b. So, for any number b:

 

For us, this means that:

 

See Also

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Wikipedia: Limit of a function