Week 4

Topic 2. Limit Laws (Stewart, pp. 62 – 72)

1 Limit laws

Theorem 1. Suppose that c is a constant and f and g are functions such that the following
limits exists:

L = lim f (x) en K = lim g(x)

x→a x→a

Then



(a) lim f (x) + g(x) = L + K (b) lim f (x) − g(x) = L − K
x→a x→a

f (x) L
(c) lim f (x)g(x) = L · K (d) lim = mits K ̸= 0
x→a x→a g(x) K
(e) lim cf (x) = cL
x→a

Remark. This theorem is also valid for one-sided limits.

Example 2. Use the limit laws and the graph of f and g to determine the limits, if they exist.

(a) lim f (x) + 5g(x)
x→−2

(b) lim f (x)g(x)

x→1

f (x)
(c) lim
x→2 g(x)

Solution:
(a) First note that

lim f (x) = 1 en lim g(x) = −1

x→−2 x→−2

With our limit laws, we have

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

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 (b) Notice that

lim f (x) = 2 maar lim g(x) = −2 ̸= −1 = lim g(x)

x→1 x→1− x→1+

Since the limit of g at x = 1 does not exists, we cannot apply the theorem above. But we
can still apply the limit to one-sided limits:

lim f (x)g(x) = lim f (x) · lim g(x) = 2 · (−2) = −4

x→1− x→1− x→1−
lim f (x)g(x) = lim f (x) · lim g(x) = 2 · (−1) = −2
x→1+ x→1+ x→1+

Since the left and right limits are not equal, the limit of f · g at x = 1 does not exist.
(c) Notice that

1 < lim f (x) < 2, but lim g(x) = 0

x→2 x→2

Since the limit of the denominator is 0, we cannot apply our limit laws.
We could still argue that

f (x) f (x) f (x)

lim = −∞; lim = +∞ =⇒ lim does not exist
x→2− g(x) x→2+ g(x) x→2 g(x)

Theorem 3. Suppose c is a constant, r ∈ R, and the limit

L = lim f (x)
x→a

exists. Then

r
(a) lim c = c (b) lim x = a (c) lim xr = ar , pro- (d) lim f (x) = Lr ,
x→a x→a x→a x→a
vided aq exists provided Lr exists

Note, we will later formally define general powers of real number powers.
Example 4. Determine the following limits.
x3 + 2x2 − 1
(a) lim 2x2 − 3x + 4


(b) lim
x→5 x→−2 5 − 3x

Solution:
(a) lim 2x2 − 3x + 4 = lim 2x2 − lim 3x + lim 4 = 2 lim x2 − 3 lim x + lim 4


x→5 x→5 x→5 x→5 x→5 x→5 x→5
= 2 · (5)2 − 3 · 5 + 4 = 39
lim x3 + 2x2 − 1


3 2
x + 2x − 1 (−2)3 + 2 · (−2)2 − 1 1
x→−2
(b) lim = = =−
x→−2 5 − 3x lim (5 − 3x) 5 − 3 · (−2) 11
x→−2

2
 Theorem 5. If f is a polynomial or rational function and a is in the domain of f , then
lim f (x) = f (a)
x→a

0
2 Indeterminate forms of 0
Here we consider limits of the form
f (x)
lim
x→a g(x)

If the limit of g is 0, our limit laws are not relevant anymore. If the limit of f is a non-zero constant,
we already know how to handle such limits. But if both the limits of f and g are 0, then the limit
is in an indeterminate form of 00 . We will not be able to immediately determine the limit; we
should first do some extra effort.
Example 6. Determine

x2 − 1
lim
x→1 x − 1

Solution: Here our limit is in an indeterminate form of 00 . We try the following

x2 − 1 (x + 1)(x − 1)
lim = lim
x→1 x − 1 x→1 x−1
Notice that x is close to 1 but not equal to 1. Thus x − 1 ̸= 0 and we may cancel it out, which
gives us a simpler limit:

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

√
t2 + 9 − 3
Example 7. Determine lim
t→0 t2

Solution: Here the limit is again in the indeterminate form of 00 . A method is to first rationalize
the numerator:
√ √ √
t2 + 9 − 3 t2 + 9 − 3 t2 + 9 + 3
lim = lim · √
t→0 t2 t→0 t2 t2 + 9 + 3
2


t +9 −9 t2
= lim √  = lim √ 
t→0 2 t→0 2
t t2 + 9 + 3 t t2 + 9 + 3
1 1 1
= lim √ = =
t→0 t2 +9+3 3+3 6

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3 Squeeze Theorem
Theorem 8. If f (x) ≤ g(x) when x is close to a and the limits of f and g exists at x = a, then

lim f (x) ≤ lim g(x)

x→a x→a

Theorem 9 (Squeeze Theorem). If f (x) ≤ g(x) ≤ h(x) when x is close to a and

lim f (x) = lim h(x) = L

x→a x→a

then lim g(x) = L

x→a

Illustration of Squeeze Theorem.

Example 10. Show that lim x2 sin x1 = 0

x→0

Solution: Notice that

−1 ≤ sin x1 ≤ 1 =⇒ −x2 ≤ x2 sin x1 ≤ x2 , since x2 > 0

Since lim ±x2 = 0, by the Squeeze Theorem, lim x2 sin x1 = 0

x→0 x→0

Illustration

y = x2

y = x2 sin x1

y = −x2

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4 Further examples
Example 11. Determine
√
x2 + x − 2 t−3
(a) lim 2 (b) lim
x→−2 x + 5x + 6 t→9 t2 − 81

Solution:
(a) Since

x2 + 5x + 6 = (−2)2 +5(−2)+6 = 0 x2 + x − 2 = (−2)2 +(−2)−2 = 0

lim en lim
x→−2 x→−2

our limit is in the indeterminate form 00 .

We try the following, factorize top and bottom and cancel common factors out:

x2 + x − 2 (x + 2)(x − 1) x−1 −2 − 1
lim = lim = lim = = −3
x→−2 x2 + 5x + 6 x→−2 (x + 2)(x + 3) x→−2 x + 3 −2 + 3

(b) Since both the limits of the top and bottom are 0, and there is a square root, we first
rationalize the fraction and factorize:
√ √ √
t−3 t−3 t+3
lim = lim ·√
t→9 t2 − 81 t→9 (t + 9)(t − 9) t+3
t−9
= lim √

t→9 (t + 9)(t − 9) t+3
1 1 1
= lim √
= =
t→9 (t + 9) t+3 (9 + 9)(3 + 3) 108

sin x
Theorem 12. lim =1
x→0 x

Example 13. Determine

sin(πt)
lim
t→0 t

Solution: Make a substitution of x = πt.

Note that if t → 0, then x → 0. Thus, our limit becomes

sin(πt) sin x sin x

lim = lim = π lim =π·1=π
t→0 t x→0 x/π x→0 x

sin(x − 1)
Example 14. Determine lim
x→1 x3 − 1

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Solution:
sin(x − 1) sin(x − 1)
lim 3
= lim
x→1 x − 1 x→1 (x − 1)(x2 + x + 1)

Notice that if a = x − 1, then a → 0 as x → 1, thus

sin(x − 1) sin a
lim = lim =1
x→1 x−1 a→0 a

With this in mind, we get

sin(x − 1) 1 1
lim =1· 2 =
x→1 (x − 1)(x2 + x + 1) 1 +1+1 3

An alternative approach would have been to do substitution with a = x − 1 with the entire fraction:

sin(x − 1) sin a sin a sin a 1 1 1

lim 3
= lim 3
= lim 3 2
= lim · 2 =1· =
x→1 x − 1 a→0 (a + 1) − 1 a→0 a + 3a + 3a a→0 a a + 3a + 3 3 3

Example 15. Determine lim f (x) where

x→2
(
4 − x2 as x≤2
f (x) =
x−4 as x>2

Solution: Determine first the one-sided limits:

lim f (x) = lim 4 − x2 = 4 − (2)2 = 0

x→2− x→2−
lim f (x) = lim (x − 4) = 2 − 4 = −2
x→2+ x→2+

Since the two one-sided limits are not equal, the limit lim f (x) does not exist.
x→2

Illustration of the previous example:

4

2 4
−2

Example 16. Determine

 
1 1 2 − |x|
(a) lim − (b) lim
x→0 x |x| x→−2 2+x

Solution:

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 (
x as x≥0
(a) Notice that |x| =
−x as x<0
Consider the two one-sided limits around 0:
   
1 1 1 1
lim − = lim − = lim 0 = 0
x→0+ x |x| x→0+ x x x→0+
   
1 1 1 1 2
lim − = lim + = lim = −∞
x→0 − x |x| x→0 − x x x→0 − x
Since the two one-sided limits are not equal, the initial limit does not exist.
(b) Notice that close to the point x = −2 all x values are negative on both sides. Thus
2 − |x| 2 − (−x)
lim = lim = lim 1 = 1
x→−2 2 + x x→−2 2 + x x→−2

5 Trigonometric limit proof

This section is optional. We will prove Theorem 12 here. We do not expect that you should know
this proof.
sin x
Theorem 12. lim =1
x→0 x

Proof: Consider the sketch, with θ in the first quadrant,

By comparing areas, we get

A triangle AOB ≤ circle sector AOD ≤ triangle COD

tan θ

1
With formulas,
sin θ
1
θ 2 sin θ ≤ 21 θ ≤ 1
2 tan θ

O B D = (1, 0)

Since sin θ is positive in the first quadrant, we have

sin θ cos θ 1 1 sin θ
sin θ ≤ θ ≤ ⇐⇒ ≤ ≤ ⇐⇒ cos θ ≤ ≤1
cos θ sin θ θ sin θ θ
The last inequality is
valid for
0 < θ < π2 , but since all the functions are even, the inequality is also
valid for θ ∈ − π2 , 0 ∪ 0, π2 .
With squeeze theorem and lim cos θ = 1, follows
θ→0

sin θ
lim =1
θ→0 θ