2.

3 Lecture Notes
Brody Lynch
September 9, 2024

1 Properties of Limits

Theorem 1.1 (Limit Laws). Suppose that c is a real number, n is a positive integer and
lim f (x) and lim g(x) exist. Then
x→a x→a

1. lim [f (x) + g(x)] = lim f (x) + lim g(x)

x→a x→a x→a

2. lim [f (x) − g(x)] = lim f (x) − lim g(x)

x→a x→a x→a

3. lim [cf (x)] = c lim f (x)

x→a x→a

4. lim [f (x)g(x)] = lim f (x) lim g(x)

x→a x→a x→a

  lim f (x)
f (x)
5. lim = x→a
x→a g(x) lim g(x)
x→a
 n
n
6. lim [f (x) ] = lim f (x)
x→a x→a
p q
7. lim [ n f (x)] = n lim f (x)
x→a x→a

Theorem 1.2 (Special Limits). Let c be a real number. Then

1. lim x = a
x→a

2. lim c = c
x→a

1
 These results may not be particularly surprising, but they are helpful. In section 2.4 we
will give more formal justification for why they are true (although generally this is not a
course that focuses on “proofs”).
For now, we can use these laws to calculate many limits.

Example 1.3. Evaluate the following limits

a. lim 3x2 − 2x + 1
x→2

We solve the following using the limit laws as follows. We will not always have to show
as many steps as this, but it is good do see that it can be rigorously done.

 2
lim 3x2 − 2x + 1 = 3 lim x − 2 lim x + lim 1
x→2 x→2 x→2 x→2

= 3(2)2 − 2(2) + 1

= 12 − 4 + 1

= 9.

x−1
b. lim (To be done in groups).
x→−1 x2 + 4

Again, we use the limit laws to solve this.

x−1 lim x − lim 1

x→2 x→2
lim 2
= 2
x→2 x + 4 (lim x) + lim 4
x→2 x→2
−1 − 1
=
1+4
−2
=
5

2 Evaluation by Direct Substitution

In “nice” cases, we can solve limits with a little less work.

2
Theorem 2.1. If f is a polynomial or rational function and a is in the domain of f , then

lim f (x) = f (a).

x→a

More generally, we can do direct substitution for any “continuous” function, which we
will define in section 2.5.

Example 2.2. This makes some of the previous limit computations simpler.

lim 3x2 − 2x + 1 = 3(2)2 − 2(2) + 1 = 12 − 4 + 1 = 9.

x→2

x2 − 1
Example 2.3. lim .
x→1 x − 1

For this case, we cannot use direct substitution because 1 is not in the domain of the
function. Plugging in gives 00 , which is undefined. However, we can first simplify the fraction
and then use direct substitution.

x2 − 1 (x + 1)(x − 1)
lim = lim = lim x + 1 = 2.
x→1 x − 1 x→1 x−1 x→1

This “simplification” of the function is allowed because of the following result.

Theorem 2.4. If f (x) = g(x) when x ̸= a, then

lim f (x) = lim g(x).

x→a x→a

This theorem formalizes the idea that limits only care about what is happening around
a, not what is happening at a.

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Example 2.5. Compute lim f (x) for
x→3


x2 + 5 x ̸= 3


f (x) =

x − 1
 x = 3.

Using the previous theorem, let g(x) = x2 + 5. Then

lim f (x) = lim g(x) = 32 + 5 = 14.

x→3 x→3

x2
Example 2.6. Compute lim √ .
x→0 x2 + 4 − 2
If we tried plugging in x = 0 we would have 0 in the denominator, which is bad. Instead,
we rationalize the denominator and then solve. We use the identity (a − b)(a + b) = a2 − b2 .

√ !
x2 x2 x2 + 4 + 2
lim √ = lim √ √
x→0 x2 + 4 − 2 x→0 x2 + 4 − 2 x2 + 4 + 2
√
x2 ( x2 + 4 + 2)
= lim
x→0 (x2 + 4) − 4
√
x2 ( x2 + 4 + 2)
= lim
x→0 x2
√
= lim x2 + 4 + 2 = 4.
x→0

Example 2.7. In groups, compute the following limit.

√
x2 + 8 − 3
lim
x→−1 x+1

We cannot just plug in x = −1 because then the denominator would be zero. Instead, we

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 √
first multiply both the numerator and denominator by x2 + 8 + 3 to get

√ √ √ !
x2 + 8 − 3 x2 + 8 − 3 x2 + 8 + 3 x2 − 1
lim = lim √ = lim √ .
x→−1 x+1 x→−1 x+1 x2 + 8 + 3 x→−1 (x + 1)( x2 + 8 + 3)

Next, we factor our numerator and cancel terms to get

x2 − 1 (x + 1)(x − 1) x−1
lim √ = lim √ = lim √ .
x→−1 (x + 1)( x2 + 8 + 3) x→−1 (x + 1)( x2 + 8 + 3) x→−1 x2 + 8 + 3

Now, we can substitute in x = −1 to get that

x−1 −1 − 1 −2 1
lim √ =p = =− .
x→−1 x2 + 8 + 3 (−1)2 + 8 + 3 6 3

Therefore, we conclude that √

x2 + 8 − 3 1
lim =− .
x→−1 x+1 3

Example 2.8. Compute the following limit

1
x+5
− 15
lim .
x→0 x

Again, we cannot just plug in x = 0, so we must first do some algebraic simplification by

finding a common denominator.

5
 1 1 5 x+5
x+5
− 5 5(x+5)
− 5(x+5)
lim = lim
x→0 x x→0 x
−x
5(x+5)
= lim
x→0 x
−x
= lim
x→0 5(x + 5)x

−1
= lim
x→0 5(x + 5)

1
=− .
25

3 Using one-sided Limits

All limit laws from Theorem 1.1 will work for one-sided limits as well. We also have the
following theorem mentioned in section 2.2.

Theorem 3.1. lim f (x) = L if and only if lim− f (x) = lim+ f (x) = L. If the left-hand and
x→a x→a x→a
right-hand limits differ, then the limit does not exist.

Example 3.2. Show that lim |x| = 0.

x→0

For x > 0, |x| = x so

lim |x| = lim+ x = 0.
x→0+ x→0

For x < 0, |x| = −x so

lim |x| = lim− −x = 0.
x→0− x→0

Since lim− |x| = lim+ |x| = 0, it is also true that lim |x| = 0.
x→0 x→0 x→0

|x|
Example 3.3. Show that lim does not exist.
x→0 x
|x| x |x| −x
lim+ = lim+ = lim+ 1 = 1 and lim− = lim− = lim− −1 = −1.
x→0 x x→0 x x→0 x→0 x x→0 x x→0

Since the left-hand and right-hand limits do not agree, the limit does not exist.

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The Squeeze Theorem

Theorem 3.4. If f (x) ≤ g(x) when x is near a (except possibly at x = a) and the limits of
f and g both exist at a, then
lim f (x) ≤ lim g(x).
x→a x→a

Theorem 3.5 (Squeeze Theorem). If f (x) ≤ g(x) ≤ h(x) when x is near a (except possibly
at x = a) and
lim f (x) = L = lim h(x),
x→a x→a

then
lim g(x) = L.
x→a

Proof sketch. By the previous theorem, applied to both f and g and to g and h, we have
that lim g(x) ≤ L and lim g(x) ≥ L. Therefore, lim g(x) = L
x→a x→a x→a
 
2 1
Example 3.6. Show that lim x sin = 0.
x→0 x
Note first that we cannot just plug in x = 0 because then we would have a 10 . The function
sin x1 oscillates rapidly as x goes to 0, but we know that −1 ≤ sin x1 ≤ 1. Using this, we

have that
   
2 1
2 2 2 2 1
(−1)x ≤ x sin ≤ (1)x =⇒ −x ≤ x sin ≤ x2 .
x x
 
2 2 2 1
Since lim −x = 0 = lim x , we find that lim x sin = 0 by the Squeeze theorem.
x→0 x→0 x→0 x

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Limit tools

1. Direct substitution

2. Factor and cancel

3. Rationalize denominator/numerator (for square roots)

4. Common denominator (for fractions in fractions)

5. One-sided limits (for piecewise functions)

6. Squeeze theorem (for complicated, but easily bounded functions like trig functions)