Chapter Two

Limits and Derivatives

( )
 General Definition
We write lim f x L if we can make the
xa
values of f(x) arbitrarily close to L
(as close to L as we like)
by taking x to be sufficiently close to a
(on either side of a)
but not equal to a .
We also write
f x L as x a
Three Functions (contd)
Three Functions (contd)
Three Functions (contd)
 Example
x 1
Guess the value of lim .
x1 x 1
2

Solution Note that f x

x 1
is not
x 1
2

defined when x = 1 , but that does not

matter when finding limits.
Example
(contd)
 One-Sided Limits (contd)
The relationship between limits and one-
sided limits is given by the following:

As an example, the graph of a function g

is shown on the next slide. We will use
this graph to find various limits and one-
sided limits.
One-Sided Limits (contd)
Further Properties (contd)
 Additional Properties of Limits
The following can be proved if a more
precise definition of limit is used:
 Example
Show that lim x 2 sin 1 0 .
x0 x
Solution First we note that we cannot use

1 1
lim x sin 0 lim x lim sin
2 2
x0 x x0 x0 x

1
because lim sin does not exist.
x0 x
 Example (contd)
However, since we have
1
1 sin 1
x
1
x x sin x (as the next slide shows).
2 2 2

x
x0

We know that lim x 2 lim x 2 0
x0
2 2
Taking f(x) = - x , g(x) = x sin(1/x) ,
2
and h(x) = x in the Squeeze Theorem,
we find 1
lim x sin 0
2
x0 x
 Definition
We noticed in the preceding section that
the limit of a function as x approaches a
can often be found simply by
calculating the value of the function at a .
Functions with this property are called
continuous at a :
 Definition (contd)
This definition implicitly requires three
things if f is continuous at a :
1. f(a) is defined
That is, a is in the domain of f
2. f(x) has a limit as x approaches a
3. This limit is actually equal to f(a) .
The definition is illustrated on the next
slide:
Example (contd)
 Example
Where are each of the following functions
discontinuous?

1 if x 0
2
x x2 2
( a) f x ( b) f x x
x2 1 if x 0
x x 2
2
if x 2
(c) f x x 2 ( d) f x x
1 if x 2
Graphs
Graphs (contd)
 Types of Discontinuity
The four functions just discussed are
discontinuous in different ways:
In (a) and (c) the discontinuity is removable
because we could remove the discontinuity by
redefining f at just the single number 2 .
The discontinuity in (b) is called infinite.
The discontinuities in (d) are jump
discontinuities because the function jumps
from one value to another.
 One-Sided Continuity
Continuity can occur from just one side:

For example, f x x is continuous

from the right but discontinuous from the
left.
 Continuity on an Interval
So far continuity has been defined to
occur (or not) one point at a time.
We can also consider continuity over an
entire interval at a time:
Polynomials and Rational
Functions
 Types of Continuous Function
We can prove the following theorem:
 Composition
The following theorems say, loosely, that
a continuous function of a continuous
function is continuous:
 Intermediate Value Theorem
This important property of continuous
functions is proved in advanced courses:
Intermediate Value (contd)
 Application
Show that there is a root of the equation
3 2
f(x) = 4x - 6x + 3x - 2 = 0
between 1 and 2 .
Solution We note that
f is a polynomial function, and so is
continuous everywhere;
f(1) = -1 < 0 ;
f(2) = 12 > 0 .
 Application (contd)
Solution (contd)
Thus by the Intermediate Value Theorem there
exists a number c in the interval (1, 2) such
that f(c) = 0 .
In other words, f has at least one root c in
the interval (1, 2) .
The next slide shows graphs of f near the
root we have found.
The second graph is a zoom in on the first:
Application (contd)
 Infinite Limit As x a
The next slide shows the graph of

2
y = 1/x , which has no limit as x 0 .
2
The values of the function 1/x can be made
arbitrarily large (and positive) by taking x
close enough to 0 .
We indicate this behavior by writing
1
lim 2
x0 x
Infinite Limit (contd)
 Infinite Limit (contd)

We similarly define lim f x

x a
Both of these are illustrated on the next
slide:
Infinite Limit (contd)
One-Sided (contd)
One-Sided (contd)
 Vertical Asymptotes
We start with this definition:

Thus, the y-axis is a vertical asymptote of

2
the curve y = 1/x , for example.
 Limits At Infinity
Here we also begin with a definition:

This is illustrated in the graphs on the next

two slides:
Limits At Infinity (contd)
 Horizontal Asymptotes
This leads to the following definition:

Thus the function f x x 1

2

x 1
2
has the line y=1 as a horizontal asymptote.
 Example
A curve with two horizontal asymptotes is
-1
y = tan x , since

1
lim tan x
x 2
and

1
lim tan x :
x 2
 Limit Laws
The Limit Laws of the preceding section
carry forward to limits at infinity
However we have a new limit law for this
type of limit:
 Tangents (contd)

On the next two slides we illustrate this

definition:
 Example
Find an equation of the tangent line to the
2
parabola y = x at the point P(1, 1) .
 Example (contd)
Using the point-slope form of the equation
of a line, we find that an equation of the
tangent line at (1, 1) is
y - 1 = 2(x - 1) or y = 2x - 1
The next three slides show a zoom in on
the parabola toward the point (1, 1) .
 Velocity
Suppose an object moves
along a straight line, and
according to an equation of motion s = f(t) ,
where
s is the displacement (directed distance) of
the object from the origin at time t .
The function f that describes the motion
is called the position function of the object.
 Velocity (contd)
In the time interval from t = a to t = a + h
the change in position is f(a + h) - f(a) ,
as illustrated on the next slide.
The average velocity over this time interval
equals the slope of the secant line PQ
(shown on the subsequent slide):
Velocity (contd)
 Instantaneous Velocity (contd)

This means that the

velocity at time t = a is equal to the
slope of the tangent line at P .
 Introduction
In the preceding section we defined the
slope of the tangent to a curve with
equation y = f(x) at x = a to be
f a h f a
m lim
h0 h
We also saw that the velocity of an object
with position function s = f(t) at t = a is
f a h f a
v a lim
h0 h
 The Derivative

If we write x = a + h , then
h = x - a and
h approaches 0 if and only if x approaches
a.
Slope of Tangent (contd)
 Slope of Tangent (contd)
Using the point-slope form of the equation
of a line, we can write an equation of the
tangent line to the curve y = f(x) at the
point (a, f(a)) :
y - f(a) = f (a)(x - a)
 Example
3
For the function f(x) = x - x ,
Find a formula for f (x)
Compare the graphs of f and f
Solution On the
2
a) next slide, we show that f (x) = 3x - 1 ;
b) following slide, we give the graphs of f and
f side-by-side:
Solution (contd)
 Solution (contd)
Notice that f (x) is
zero when f has horizontal tangents, and
positive when the tangents have positive slope:
 Other Notations
Here are common alternative notations for
the derivative:

The symbols D and d/dx are called

differentiation operators because they
indicate the operation of differentiation,
the process of calculating a derivative.
 Differentiability
We begin with this definition:

This definition captures the fact that some

functions have derivatives only at some
values of x , not all.
 Example
Where is the function f(x) = |x|
differentiable?
Solution If x > 0 , then
|x| = x and we can choose h small enough

that x + h > 0 , so that |x + h| = x + h

Therefore
xh x x h x h
f x lim lim lim 1
h0 h h0 h h0 h
 Solution (contd)
We can give a formula for f (x) :

Also, on the next slide we graph f and

f side-by-side:
Solution (contd)
 Differentiability and Continuity
Th. If f is differentiable at a, then f is
Continuous at a.
Proof.
 Differentiability and Continuity
We can show that if f is differentiable at
a , then f is continuous at a .
However, as our preceding example shows,
the converse is false:
The function f(x) = |x|
is continuous everywhere, but
is not differentiable at x = 0 .
 Failure of Differentiability
A function can fail to be differentiable at
x = a in three different ways:
The graph of f can have a corner at x = a

as does the graph of f(x) = |x| ;
f can be discontinuous at x = a ;
The graph of f can have a vertical tangent
line at x = a .
This means that f is continuous at a but
|f (x)| has an infinite limit as x a .
We illustrate each of these possibilities:
Corner at x = a
Discontinuity at x = a
Vertical Tangent at x = a
 The Second Derivative
If f is a differentiable function, then
its derivative f is also a function, so
f may have a derivative of its own, denoted

by (f ) = f , and called the second

derivative of f .
In Leibniz notation the second derivative of
y = f(x) is written
2
d dy d y
2
dx dx dx
 Solution (contd)
On the next slide are the graphs of f , f ,
and f .
We can interpret f (x) as the slope of the
curve y = f (x) at the point (x , f (x)) .
That is, f (x) is the rate of change of the
slope of the original curve y = f(x) .
Notice in Fig. 11 that
f (x) < 0 when y = f (x) has a negative
slope;
f (x) > 0 when y = f (x) has a positive
slope.
Solution (contd)
 Higher-Order Derivatives
The process can be continued:
(4)
The fourth derivative
f is denoted by f .

In general, the nth derivative of f is

(n)
denoted by f and
obtained from f by differentiating n times.

If y = f(x) , then we write

Introduction (contd)
 In General
What we observed in the preceding
example is true in general:

As an example, the next slide shows the

graph of the derivative f .
What can we say about f ?
If f(0) = 0 , then draw a possible graph of f .
Graph of f
 Solution
We note that
f (x) is negative when -1 < x < 1 ,
so f must be decreasing on the interval (-1, 1) .
f (x) is positive for x < -1 and x > 1,
so f must be increasing on (-, -1) and (1,
) .
Also f (-1) = f (1) = 0 ,
so f has horizontal tangents at x = 1.
A possible sketch of f , given that f(0) =
0 , appears on the next slide:
Solution (contd)
What does f Say About f ?

We know that if f is positive, then f is

an increasing function.
This means that the slopes of the tangent
lines of the curve y = f(x) increase from
left to right.
The next slide illustrates this behavior:
What does f Say? (contd)
 What does f Say? (contd)
The slope of this curve becomes
progressively larger as x increases, and
so the curve bends upward.
Such a curve is called concave upward.
On the next slide, however, f (x) is
negative, which means that f (x) is
decreasing.
This curve is called concave downward.
What does f Say? (contd)
 In General
Our work so far leads to the following
conclusions:

Also, an inflection point is a point where a

curve changes its direction of concavity.
 Antiderivatives
Often, rather than find the derivative of a
function, we want to find a function F
whose derivative f is given.
If such a function F exists, we call it an
antiderivative of f .
Thus, F is a function such that F = f .
The preceding example consisted of sketching
an antiderviative of the given function f .