Introduction to Calculus

Calculus is all about changes.

Sam and Alex are travelling in the car ... but the
speedometer is broken.

Alex: "Hey Sam! How fast are we going now?"

Sam: "Wait a minute ..."

"Well in the last minute we went 1.2 km, so we are going:"
1.2 km/minute x 60 minutes in an hour = 72 km/h

Alex: "No, Sam! Not our average for the last minute, or even the last
second, I want to know our speed RIGHT NOW."

Sam: "OK, let us measure it up here ... at this road sign... NOW!"

"OK, we were AT the sign for zero seconds, and the distance
was ... zero meters!"
The speed is 0m / 0s = 0/0 = I Don't Know!
"I can't calculate it Sam! I need to know some distance
over some time, and you are saying the time should be zero? Can't be

done."

That is pretty amazing ... you'd think it is easy to work out the speed of a car at
any point in time, but it isn't.
Even the speedometer of a car (when it works!) just shows us an average of
how fast we were going for the last very short amount of time.

How About Getting Real Close

But our story is not finished yet!
Sam and Alex get out of the car, because they have arrived on location. Sam is
about to do a stunt:

Sam will do a jump off a 20 m building.

Alex, as photographer, asks:
"How fast will you be falling after 1 second?"
Sam uses this simplified formula to find the distance fallen:

d = 5t2

d = distance fallen, in meters

t = time from jump, in seconds

Example: at 1 second Sam has fallen

d = 5t2 = 5 12 = 5 m
But how fast is that? Speed is distance over time:
distance
Speed =
time
So at 1 second:
5m
Speed =

= 5 m/s
1 second

"BUT", says Alex, "again that is an average speed, since you started the jump,
... I want to know the speed at exactly 1 second, so I can set up the camera
properly."

Well ... at exactly 1 second the speed is:

55m
Speed =

0m
=

11s

= ????
0s

So again Sam has a problem.

Think about it ... how do we figure out a speed at an exact instant in time?
What is the distance? What is the time difference?
They are both zero, giving us nothing to calculate with!
But Sam has an idea ... invent a time so short it won't matter.
Sam won't even give it a value, and will just call it "t" (called "delta t").

So Sam works out the difference in distance between t and t+t

At 1 second Sam has fallen
d = 5t2 = 5 (1)2 = 5 m

At (1+t) seconds Sam has fallen

d = 5t2 = 5 (1+t)2 m

We can expand (1+t)2:

(1+t)2

= (1+t)(1+t)
= 1 + 2t + (t)2

And we get:
d

= 5 (1+2t+(t)2) m
= 5 + 10t + 5(t)2 m

So between 1 second and (1+t) seconds the distance fallen is:

Change in d

= (5 + 10t + 5(t)2) 5 m
= 10t + 5(t)2 m

Now divide that distance by time to get the speed:

Speed

= 10t +5(t)2 mt s

= 10 + 5t m/s

So the speed is 10 + 5t m/s, and Sam thinks about that t value ... he
wants t to be so small it won't matter ... so he imagines it shrinking
towards zero and he gets:

Speed = 10 m/s

Wow! Sam got an answer!

Sam: "I will be falling at exactly 10 m/s"
Alex: "I thought you said you couldn't calculate it?"
Sam: "That was before I used Calculus!"

Yes, indeed, that was Calculus.

The word Calculus comes from Latin meaning "small stone".
Because it is like understanding something by looking at small pieces.
Differential Calculus cuts something into small pieces to find how it changes.
Integral Calculus joins (integrates) the small pieces together to find how
much there is.
And Differential Calculus and Integral Calculus are like inverses of each other,
just like multiplication and division are inverses.
Sam used Differential calculus to cut time and distance into such small pieces
that a pure answer came out.
So ... was Sam's result just luck? Does it work for other things?

Let's try doing this for the function y = x3

This is going to be very similar to the previous example, but it will be just a
slope on a graph, no one has to jump for this one!

Example: What is the slope of the function y = x3 at x=1 ?

At x = 1, y = 13 = 1
At x = (1+x), y = (1+x)3

We can expand (1+x)3 to 1 + 3x + 3(x)2 + (x)3, and we get:

y = 1 + 3x + 3(x)2 + (x)3

And the difference between the y values from x = 1 to x = 1+x is:

Change in y

= 1 + 3x + 3(x)2 + (x)3 1
= 3x + 3(x)2 + (x)3

Now we can calculate slope:

Slope =

3x + 3(x)2 + (x)3x

= 3 + 3x + (x)2

Once again, as x shrinks towards zero we are left with:

Slope = 3

And here we see the graph of y = x3

The slope is continually changing, but at the

point (1,1) we can draw a line tangent to the curve
and find the slope there really is 3.
(Count the squares if you want!)

Question for you: what is the slope at the point (2,8)?

Try It Yourself!
Go to the Slope of a Function page, put in the formula "x^3", then try to find
the slope at the point (1,1).
Zoom in closer and closer and see what value the slope is heading towards.

Conclusion
Calculus is about changes.
Differential calculus cuts something into small pieces to find how it changes.
Integral calculus joins (integrates) the small pieces together to find how much
there is.

 Introduction to Derivatives

It is all about slope!

Slope = Change in YChange in X

We can find an average slope between two points.

But how do we find the slope at a point?

There is nothing to measure!

But with derivatives we use a small difference ...

... then have it shrink towards zero.

 Let us Find a Derivative!

We will use the slope formula:

Slope = Change in YChange in X = yx

to find the derivative of a function y = f(x)

x to x+x
y changes from f(x) to f(x+x)

x changes from

Follow these steps:

Fill in this slope formula: yx = f(x+x) f(x)x

Simplify it as best we can,
Then make x shrink towards zero.
Here we go:

Example: the function f(x) = x2

We know f(x) = x2, and can calculate f(x+x) :

Start with:
Expand (x + x)2:

f(x+x) = (x+x)2
f(x+x) = x2 + 2x x + (x)2

f(x+x) f(x)
The slope formula is:
x
2

x + 2x x + (x)2 x2
Put in f(x+x) and f(x):
x
2x x + (x)2
Simplify (x2 and x2 cancel):

=
x

Simplify more (divide through by x):

= 2x + x

= 2x

And then as x heads towards 0 we get:

Result: the derivative of x2 is 2x

We write dx instead of "x heads towards 0", so "the derivative of" is

commonly written

x2 = 2x

"The derivative of x2 equals 2x"

or simply "d dx of x2 equals 2x"

What does

x2 = 2x mean?

It means that, for the function x2, the slope or "rate of change" at any

point is 2x.
So when x=2 the slope is 2x = 4, as shown here:

Or when x=5 the slope is 2x = 10, and so on.

Note: sometimes

f(x) is also used for "the derivative of":

f(x) = 2x
"The derivative of f(x) equals 2x"

Let's try another example.

Example: What is

x3 ?

We know f(x) = x3, and can calculate f(x+x) :

Start with: f(x+x) = (x+x)3
Expand (x + x)3: f(x+x) = x3 + 3x2 x + 3x (x)2 + (x)3


f(x+x) f(x)
The slope formula:
x
x3 + 3x2 x + 3x (x)2 + (x)3 x3
Put in f(x+x) and f(x):
x
3x2 x + 3x (x)2 + (x)3
Simplify (x3 and x3 cancel):

=
x

Simplify more (divide through by x):

= 3x + 3x x + (x)2

And then as x heads towards 0 we get:

x3 = 3x2

Derivatives as dy/dx

Derivatives are all about change ...

... they show how fast something is changing (called the rate of change) at
any point.

In Introduction to Derivatives (please read it first!) we looked at how to do a

derivative usingdifferences and limits.
Here we look at doing the same thing but using the "dy/dx" notation (also
called Leibniz's notation) instead of limits.

We start by calling the function "y":

y = f(x)

1. Add x
When x increases by x, then y increases by y

y + y = f(x + x)

2. Subtract the Two Formulas

From:

Subtract:

y + y = f(x + x)

y = f(x)

To Get:

Simplify:

y + y - y = f(x + x) - f(x)

y = f(x + x) - f(x)

3. Rate of Change
To work out how fast (called the rate of change) we divide by x:

4. Reduce x close to 0
We can't let x become 0 (because that would be dividing by 0), but we can
make it head towards zero and call it "dx":

dx

You can also think of "dx" as being infinitesimal, or infinitely small.

Likewise y becomes very small and we call it "dy", to give us:

Try It On A Function
Let's try f(x) = x2

f(x) = x2
Expand (x+dx)2
Simplify (x2-x2=0)
Simplify fraction
dx goes towards 0

Derivative Rules
The Derivative tells us the slope of a function at any point.
The derivatives of many functions are well known. Here are some useful rules to
help you work out the derivatives of more complicated functions (with examples
below). Note: the little mark means "Derivative of".

Common Functions

Function

Derivative

Square

x2

2x

Square Root

()x-

Exponential

ex

ex

Constant

ax

ax(ln a)

ln(x)

1/x

loga(x)

1 / (x ln(a))

sin(x)

cos(x)

cos(x)

sin(x)

tan(x)

sec2(x)

sin-1(x)

1/(1x2)

cos-1(x)

1/(1x2)

tan-1(x)

1/(1+x2)

Function

Derivative

Multiplication by constant

cf

cf

Power Rule

xn

nxn1

Sum Rule

f+g

f + g

Difference Rule

f-g

f g

Product Rule

fg

f g + f g

Quotient Rule

f/g

(f g g f )/g2

Reciprocal Rule

1/f

f/f2

Chain Rule
(as "Composition of Functions")

fg

(f g) g

f(g(x))

f(g(x))g(x)

Logarithms

Trigonometry (x is in radians)

Inverse Trigonometry

Rules

Chain Rule (using )

Chain Rule (using ddx )

dydx = dydududx

"The derivative of" is also written ddx

So ddxsin(x) and sin(x) are the same thing, just written differently

Examples
Example: what is the derivative of sin(x) ?
From the table above it is listed as being cos(x)
It can be written as:

sin(x) = cos(x)
Or:

sin(x) = cos(x)

Power Rule
Example: What is

x3 ?

The question is asking "what is the derivative of x3?"

We can use the Power Rule, where n=3:

xn = nxn1
x3 = 3x31 = 3x2

Example: What is

(1/x) ?

1/x is also x-1

We can use the Power Rule, where n = 1:

xn = nxn1

x1 = 1x11 = x2

Multiplication by constant
Example: What is

5x3 ?
the derivative of cf = cf
the derivative of 5f = 5f

We know (from the Power Rule):

x3 = 3x31 = 3x2
So:

5x3 = 5

x3 = 5 3x2 = 15x2

Sum Rule
Example: What is the derivative of x2+x3 ?
The Sum Rule says:

the derivative of f + g = f + g
So we can work out each derivative separately and then add them.
Using the Power Rule:

x2 = 2x

x3 = 3x2

And so:

the derivative of x2 + x3 = 2x + 3x2

Difference Rule
It doesn't have to be x, we can differentiate with respect to, for example, v:

Example: What is

(v3v4) ?

The Difference Rule says

the derivative of f g = f g
So we can work out each derivative separately and then subtract them.
Using the Power Rule:

v3 = 3v2

v4 = 4v3

And so:

the derivative of v3 v4 = 3v2 4v3

Sum, Difference, Constant Multiplication And Power Rules

Example: What is
Using the Power Rule:

z2 = 2z

z3 = 3z2

(5z2 + z3 7z4) ?

z4 = 4z3

And so:

(5z2 + z3 7z4) = 5 2z + 3z2 7 4z3 = 10z + 3z2 28z3

Product Rule
Example: What is the derivative of cos(x)sin(x) ?
The Product Rule says:

the derivative of fg = f g + f g
In our case:

f = cos

g = sin

We know (from the table above):

cos(x) = sin(x)

sin(x) = cos(x)

So:

the derivative of cos(x)sin(x) = cos(x)cos(x) sin(x)sin(x)

= cos2(x) sin2(x)

Reciprocal Rule
Example: What is

(1/x) ?

The Reciprocal Rule says:

the derivative of 1/f = f/f2

With f(x)= x, we know that f(x) = 1
So:

the derivative of 1/x = 1/x2

Which is the same result we got above using the Power Rule.

Chain Rule
Example: What is ddxsin(x2) ?
sin(x2) is made up of sin() and x2:

f(g) = sin(g)

g(x) = x2

The Chain Rule says:

the derivative of f(g(x)) = f'(g(x))g'(x)

The individual derivatives are:

So:

f'(g) = cos(g)

g'(x) = 2x

ddxsin(x2) = cos(g(x)) (2x)

= 2x cos(x2)
Another way of writing the Chain Rule is: dydx = dydududx
Let's do the previous example again using that formula:

Example: What is ddxsin(x2) ?

dydx = dydududx

Have u = x2, so y = sin(u):

ddx sin(x2) = ddusin(u)ddxx2

Differentiate each:
ddx sin(x2) = cos(u) (2x)

Substitue back u = x2 and simplify:

ddx sin(x2) = 2x cos(x2)
Same result as before (thank goodness!)
Another couple of examples of the Chain Rule:

Example: What is

(1/sin(x)) ?

1/sin(x) is made up of 1/g and sin():

f(g) = 1/g

g(x) = sin(x)

The Chain Rule says:

the derivative of f(g(x)) = f(g(x))g(x)

The individual derivatives are:

f'(g) = 1/(g2)

g'(x) = cos(x)

So:

(1/sin(x)) = 1/(g(x))2 cos(x)

= cos(x)/sin2(x)

Example: What is

(5x2)3 ?

The Chain Rule says:

the derivative of f(g(x)) = f(g(x))g(x)

(5x-2)3 is made up of g3 and 5x-2:

f(g) = g3

g(x) = 5x2

The individual derivatives are:

f'(g) = 3g2 (by the Power Rule)

g'(x) = 5

So:

(5x2)3 = 3g(x)2 5 = 15(5x2)2

Limits (An Introduction)

Approaching ...
Sometimes we can't work something out directly ... but we can see what it
should be as we get closer and closer!

Example:
(x2 1)(x 1)
Let's work it out for x=1:
(12 1)(1 1) = (1 1)(1 1) = 00
Now 0/0 is a difficulty! We don't really know the value of 0/0 (it is
"indeterminate"), so we need another way of answering this.
So instead of trying to work it out for x=1 let's try approaching it closer and
closer:

Example Continued:
x

(x2 1)(x 1)

0.5

1.50000

0.9

1.90000

0.99

1.99000

0.999

1.99900

0.9999

1.99990

0.99999

1.99999

...

...

Now we see that as x gets close to 1, then (x21)(x1) gets close to 2

We are now faced with an interesting situation:

When x=1 we don't know the answer (it is indeterminate)

But we can see that it is going to be 2

We want to give the answer "2" but can't, so instead mathematicians say
exactly what is going on by using the special word "limit"

The limit of (x21)(x1) as x approaches 1 is 2

And it is written in symbols as:

So it is a special way of saying, "ignoring what happens when we get there, but
as we get closer and closer the answer gets closer and closer to 2"

As a graph it looks like this:

So, in truth, we cannot say what the value at x=1 is.
But we can say that as we approach 1, the limit is 2.

Test Both Sides!

It is like running up a hill and then finding the path is magically "not there"...
... but if we only check one side, who knows what happens?
So we need to test it from both directions to be sure where it "should be"!

Example Continued
So, let's try from the other side:

(x2 1)(x 1)

1.5

2.50000

1.1

2.10000

1.01

2.01000

1.001

2.00100

1.0001

2.00010

1.00001

2.00001

...

...

Also heading for 2, so that's OK

When it is different from different sides

How about a function f(x) with a "break" in it like this:

The limit does not exist at "a"

We can't say what the value at "a" is, because there are two competing
answers:

3.8 from the left, and

1.3 from the right

But we can use the special "" or "+" signs (as shown) to define one sided
limits:

the left-hand limit () is 3.8

the right-hand limit (+) is 1.3

And the ordinary limit "does not exist"

Are limits only for difficult functions?

Limits can be used even when we know the value when we get there!
Nobody said they are only for difficult functions.

Example:

We know perfectly well that 10/2 = 5, but limits can still be used (if we want!)

Approaching Infinity
Infinity is a very special idea. We know we can't reach it,
but we can still try to work out the value of functions
that have infinity in them.

Let's start with an interesting example.

Question: What is the value of 1 ?

Answer: We don't know!

Why don't We know?

The simplest reason is that Infinity is not a number, it is an idea.
So 1 is a bit like saying 1beauty or 1tall.
Maybe we could say that 1= 0, ... but that is a problem too, because if we
divide 1 into infinite pieces and they end up 0 each, what happened to the 1?
In fact 1 is known to be undefined.

But We Can Approach It!

So instead of trying to work it out for infinity (because we can't get a sensible
answer), let's try larger and larger values of x:
x

1x

1.00000

0.50000

0.25000

10

0.10000

100

0.01000

1,000

0.00100

10,000

0.00010

Now we can see that as x gets larger, 1x tends towards 0

We are now faced with an interesting situation:

We can't say what happens when x gets to infinity

But we can see that 1x is going towards 0

We want to give the answer "0" but can't, so instead mathematicians say
exactly what is going on by using the special word "limit"

The limit of 1x as x approaches Infinity is 0

And write it like this:

In other words:

As x approaches infinity, then 1x approaches 0

When you see "limit", think "approaching"

It is a mathematical way of saying "we are not talking about when x=, but we
know as x gets bigger, the answer gets closer and closer to 0"..

Solving!
We have been a little lazy so far, and just said that a limit equals some value
because it looked like it was going to.
That is not really good enough!

Limits to Infinity
Infinity is a very special idea. We know we can't reach it,
but we can still try to work out the value of functions
that have infinity in them.

One Divided By Infinity

Let's start with an interesting example.

Question: What is the value of 1 ?

Answer: We don't know!

Why don't We know?

The simplest reason is that Infinity is not a number, it is an idea.
So 1 is a bit like saying 1beauty or 1tall.
Maybe we could say that 1= 0, ... but that is a problem too, because if we
divide 1 into infinite pieces and they end up 0 each, what happened to the 1?
In fact 1 is known to be undefined.

But We Can Approach It!

So instead of trying to work it out for infinity (because we can't get a sensible
answer), let's try larger and larger values of x:
x

1x

1.00000

0.50000

0.25000

10

0.10000

100

0.01000

1,000

0.00100

10,000

0.00010

Now we can see that as x gets larger, 1x tends towards 0

We are now faced with an interesting situation:

We can't say what happens when x gets to infinity

But we can see that 1x is going towards 0

We want to give the answer "0" but can't, so instead mathematicians say
exactly what is going on by using the special word "limit"

The limit of 1x as x approaches Infinity is 0

And write it like this:

In other words:

As x approaches infinity, then 1x approaches 0

When you see "limit", think "approaching"

It is a mathematical way of saying "we are not talking about when x=, but we
know as x gets bigger, the answer gets closer and closer to 0".

Summary
So, sometimes Infinity cannot be used directly, but we can use a limit.
What happens at

is undefined ...

... but we do know that 1/x approaches 0

as x approaches infinity

1x

Limits Approaching Infinity

What is the limit of this function as x approaches infinity?

y = 2x
Obviously as "x" gets larger, so does "2x":
x

y=2x

10

20

100

200

...

...

So as "x" approaches infinity, then "2x" also approaches infinity. We write this:

But don't be fooled by the "=". We cannot

actually get to infinity, but in "limit" language the limit
is infinity (which is really saying the function is
limitless).

Infinity and Degree

We have seen two examples, one went to 0, the other went to infinity.
In fact many infinite limits are actually quite easy to work out, when we figure
out "which way it is going", like this
Functions like 1/x approach 0 as x approaches infinity.
This is also true for 1/x2 etc

A function such as x will approach infinity, as well as 2x,

or x/9 and so on. Likewise functions with x2 or x3 etc
will also approach infinity.
But be careful, a function like "x" will approach
"infinity", so we have to look at the signs of x.
Example: 2x25x

2x2 will head towards +infinity

5x will head towards -infinity

But x2 grows more rapidly than x, so 2x25x will head towards

+infinity

In fact, when we look at the Degree of the function (the highest exponent in the
function) we can tell what is going to happen:
When the Degree of the function is:

greater than 0, the limit is infinity (or infinity)

less than 0, the limit is 0

But if the Degree is 0 or unknown then we need to work a bit harder to find a
limit.

Rational Functions
A Rational Function is one that is the ratio of two polynomials:

For example, here P(x) = x3 + 2x 1, and Q(x) = 6x2:

Following on from our idea of the Degree of the Equation, the first step to find
the limit is to ...

Compare the Degree of P(x) to the Degree of Q(x):

If the Degree of P is less than the Degree of Q ...
... the limit is 0.

If the Degree of P and Q are the same ...

... divide the coefficients of the terms with the largest exponent, like this:
(note that the largest exponents will be equal, as the degree is equal)

If the Degree of P is greater than the Degree of Q ...

... then the limit is positive infinity ...

... or maybe negative infinity. We need to look at the

signs!
We can work out the sign (positive or negative) by looking at the signs of
the terms with the largest exponent, just like how we found the coefficients
above:

For example this will go to positive infinity, because both ...

x3 (the term with the largest exponent in the top) and

6x2 (the term with the largest exponent in the bottom)

... are positive.

But this will head for negative infinity, because 2/5 is negative.

A Harder Example: Working Out "e"

There is a formula for the value of e (Euler's number) based on infinity and
this formula:

(1+ 1/n)n

At Infinity:

(1+1/) = ??? ... we don't know!

So instead of trying to work it out for infinity (because we can't get a sensible
answer), let's try larger and larger values of n:

(1 + 1/n)n
1

2.00000

2.25000

2.48832

10

2.59374

100

2.70481

1,000

2.71692

10,000

2.71815

100,000

2.71827

It is heading towards the value 2.71828... which is the magic number e

(Euler's Number).
So again we have an odd situation:

We don't know what the value is when n=infinity

But we can see that it settles towards 2.71828...

So we use limits to write the answer like this:

It is a mathematical way of saying "we are not talking about when n=, but we
know as n gets bigger, the answer gets closer and closer to the value of e".

Don't Do It The Wrong Way ... !

We can see by the graph and the table that as n get larger the function
approaches 2.71828....
But trying to use infinity as a "very large real number" (it isn't!) would give
this:

(1+1/) = (1+0) = (1) = 1

So, don't try to use Infinity as a real number, you will get wrong answers!
Limits are the right way to go.

Evaluating Limits
I have taken a gentle approach to limits so far, and shown tables and graphs to
illustrate the points.
But to "evaluate" (in other words calculate) the value of a limit can take a bit
more effort. Find out more at Evaluating Limits.

Limits (Evaluating)
You should read Limits (An Introduction) first

Quick Summary of Limits

Sometimes we can't work something out directly ... but we can see what it
should be as we get closer and closer!

Example:
(x2 1)(x 1)
Let's work it out for x=1:
(12 1)(1 1) = (1 1)(1 1) = 00
Now 0/0 is a difficulty! We don't really know the value of 0/0 (it is
"indeterminate"), so we need another way of answering this.
So instead of trying to work it out for x=1 let's try approaching it closer and
closer:

Example Continued:
x

(x2 1)(x 1)

0.5

1.50000

0.9

1.90000

0.99

1.99000

0.999

1.99900

0.9999

1.99990

0.99999

1.99999

...

...

Now we see that as x gets close to 1, then (x21)(x1) gets close to 2

We are now faced with an interesting situation:

When x=1 we don't know the answer (it is indeterminate)

But we can see that it is going to be 2

We want to give the answer "2" but can't, so instead mathematicians say
exactly what is going on by using the special word "limit"

The limit of (x21)(x1) as x approaches 1 is 2

And it is written in symbols as:

So it is a special way of saying, "ignoring what happens when we get there, but
as we get closer and closer the answer gets closer and closer to 2"

As a graph it looks like this:

So, in truth, we cannot say what the value at x=1 is.
But we can say that as we approach 1, the limit is 2.

Evaluating Limits
"Evaluating" means to find the value of (think e-"value"-ating)

In the example above we said the limit was 2 because it looked like it was
going to be. But that is not really good enough!
In fact there are many ways to get an accurate answer. Let's look at some:

1. Just Put The Value In

The first thing to try is just putting the value of the limit in, and see if it works
(in other wordssubstitution).
Let's try some examples:

Example

Substitute Value

Works?

(11)/(11) = 0/0

10/2 = 5
It didn't work with the first one (we knew that!), but the second example gave
us a quick and easy answer.

2. Factors
We can try factoring.

Example:
By factoring (x21) into (x1)(x+1) we get:

Now we can just substitiute x=1 to get the limit:

3. Conjugate
When it's a fraction, multiplying top and bottom by a conjugate might help.
The conjugate is where we change
the sign in the middle of 2 terms like this:

Here is an example where it will help us find a limit:

Evaluating this at x=4 gives 0/0, which is not a good answer!

So, let's try some rearranging:
Multiply top and bottom by the conjugate of
the top:

Simplify top using

Simplify top further:

Cancel (4x) from top and bottom:

So, now we have:

Done!

4. Infinite Limits and Rational Functions

A Rational Function is one that is the ratio of two polynomials:

For example, here P(x) = x3 + 2x 1, and Q(x) = 6x2:

By finding the overall Degree of the Function we can find out whether the
function's limit is 0, Infinity, -Infinity, or easily calculated from the coefficients.

5. Formal Method
The formal method sets about proving that we can get as close as we want to
the answer by making "x" close to "a".

Limits (Formal Definition)

Approaching ...

Sometimes we can't work something out directly ... but we can see what it
should be as we get closer and closer!

Example:
(x2 1)(x 1)
Let's work it out for x=1:
(12 1)(1 1) = (1 1)(1 1) = 00
Now 0/0 is a difficulty! We don't really know the value of 0/0 (it is
"indeterminate"), so we need another way of answering this.
So instead of trying to work it out for x=1 let's try approaching it closer and
closer:

Example Continued:
x

(x2 1)(x 1)

0.5

1.50000

0.9

1.90000

0.99

1.99000

0.999

1.99900

0.9999

1.99990

0.99999

1.99999

...

...

Now we see that as x gets close to 1, then (x21)(x1) gets close to 2

We are now faced with an interesting situation:

When x=1 we don't know the answer (it is indeterminate)

But we can see that it is going to be 2

We want to give the answer "2" but can't, so instead mathematicians say
exactly what is going on by using the special word "limit"

The limit of (x21)(x1) as x approaches 1 is 2

And it is written in symbols as:

So it is a special way of saying, "ignoring what happens when we get there, but
as we get closer and closer the answer gets closer and closer to 2"

As a graph it looks like this:

So, in truth, we cannot say what the value at x=1 is.
But we can say that as we approach 1, the limit is 2.

More Formal
But instead of saying a limit equals some value because it looked like it was
going to, we can have a more formal definition.
So let's start with the general idea.

From English to Mathematics

Let's say it in English first:

"f(x) gets close to some limit as x gets close to some value"

When we call the Limit "L", and the value that x gets close to "a" we can say

"f(x) gets close to L as x gets close to a"

Calculating "Close"
Now, what is a mathematical way of saying "close" ... could we subtract one
value from the other?
Example 1: 4.01 4 = 0.01
Example 2: 3.8 4 = 0.2
Hmmm ... negatively close? That doesn't work ... we really need to say "I
don't care about positive or negative, I just want to know how far" which is
the absolute value.

"How Close" = |ab|

Example 1: |4.014| = 0.01
Example 2: |3.84| = 0.2
And when |ab| is small we know we are close, so we write:

"|f(x)L| is small when |xa| is small"

And this animation shows what happens with the function

f(x) = (x21)(x1)
2015 MathsIsFun.com v0.77

f(x) approaches L=2 as x approaches a=1,

so |f(x)2| is small when |x1| is small.

Delta and Epsilon

But "small" is still English and not "Mathematical-ish".
Let's choose two values to be smaller than:
that |xa| must be smaller than
that |f(x)L| must be smaller than
(Note: Those two greek letters, is "delta" and is "epsilon", are often
used for this, leading to the phrase "delta-epsilon")
And we have:

"|f(x)L|<

when |xa|<

"

That actually says it! So if you understand that you understand limits ...
... but to be absolutely precise we need to add these conditions:

1)

2)

it is true for any

>0

3)
x not equal to a means 0<|
xa|

exists, and is
>0

And this is what we get:

"for any

>0, there is a

>0 so that |f(x)L|<

xa|<

when 0<|

"

That is the formal definition. It actually looks pretty scary, doesn't it!

But in essence it still says something simple: when x gets close to a then f(x)
gets close to L.

How to Use it in a Proof

To use this definition in a proof, we want to go
From:

To:

|f(x)L|<

0<|xa|<
This usually means finding a formula for

(in terms of

How do we find such a formula?

Guess and Test!

That's right, we can:

Play around till we find a formula that might work

Test to see if that formula works.

Example: Let's try to show that

Using the letters we talked about above:

The value that x approaches, "a", is 3

The Limit "L" is 10

So we want to know:

) that works.

How do we go from:

to

0<|x3|<

|(2x+4)10|<

Step 1: Play around till you find a formula that might work
Start with:

|(2x+4)10|<

Simplify:

|2x6|<

Move 2 outside:

2|x3|<

Move 2 across:
So we can now guess that

|x3|<

/2

/2 might work

Step 2: Test to see if that formula works.

So, can we get from 0<|x3|<

to |(2x+4)10|<

... ?

Let's see ...

Start with:
Replace

0<|x3|<

0<|x3|<

Move 2 across:

0<2|x3|<

Move 2 inside:

0<|2x6|<

Replace "6" with "+410"

Yes! We can go from 0<|x3|<
/2

/2

0<|(2x+4)10|<
to |(2x+4)10|<

by choosing

DONE!
We have seen then that given

we can find a

, so it is true that:

"for any

, there is a

so that |f(x)L|<

when 0<|xa|<

"

And we have proved that

Conclusion
That was a fairly simple proof, but it hopefully explains the strange "there is
a ... " wording, and it does show you a good way of approaching these kind of
proofs.