4

APPLICATIONS OF DIFFERENTIATION
APPLICATIONS OF DIFFERENTIATION

In Sections 2.2 and 2.4, we

investigated infinite limits and
vertical asymptotes.

 There, we let x approach a number.

 The result was that the values of y became

arbitrarily large (positive or negative).
APPLICATIONS OF DIFFERENTIATION

In this section, we let become x

arbitrarily large (positive or negative)
and see what happens to y.

 We will find it very useful to consider this

so-called end behavior when sketching graphs.
APPLICATIONS OF DIFFERENTIATION

4.4
Limits at Infinity;
Horizontal Asymptotes
January 4, 2010
In this section, we will learn about:
Various aspects of horizontal asymptotes.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES

Let’s begin by investigating the behavior

of the function f defined by
x 1
2
f ( x)  2
x 1
as x becomes large.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES

As x grows larger and larger,

you can see that the values of
f(x) get closer and closer to 1.
 It seems that we can make the
values of f(x) as close as we like
to 1 by taking x sufficiently large.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES

This situation is expressed symbolically

by writing lim x  1  1
2

x  x 2  1

In general, we use the notation

lim f ( x)  L
x 

to indicate that the values of f(x) become

closer and closer to L as x becomes larger
and larger.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES 1. Definition

Let f be a function defined on some

interval (a, ) .
Then,
lim f ( x)  L
x 

means that the values of f(x) can be

made arbitrarily close to L by taking x
sufficiently large.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES

Another notation for lim f ( x)  L is

x 
f ( x)  L as x  
 The symbol  does not represent a number.
 Nonetheless, the expression lim f ( x)  L is often read
x 
as:
“the limit of f(x), as x approaches infinity, is L”
or “the limit of f(x), as x becomes infinite, is L”
or “the limit of f(x), as x increases without bound, is L”
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES

Geometric illustrations of Definition 1

are shown in the figures.
 Notice that there are many ways for the graph of f to
approach the line y = L (which is called a horizontal
asymptote) as we look to the far right of each graph.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES

Referring to the earlier figure, we see that,

for numerically large negative values of x,
the values of f(x) are close to 1.
 By letting x decrease through negative values without
bound, we can make f(x) as close as we like to 1.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES

This is expressed by writing

x 1
2
lim 2 1
x  x  1

The general definition is as follows.

HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES 2. Definition

Let f be a function defined on some

interval (, a) .
Then,
lim f ( x)  L
x 

means that the values of f(x) can be

made arbitrarily close to L by taking x
sufficiently large negative.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES

Again, the symbol  does not

represent a number.
However, the expression xlim f ( x)  L

is often read as:
“the limit of f(x), as x approaches
negative infinity, is L”
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES

Definition 2
is illustrated in
the figure.
 Notice that the graph
approaches the line
y = L as we look to
the far left of each
graph.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES 3. Definition

The line y = L is called a horizontal

asymptote of the curve y = f(x) if either

lim f ( x)  L or lim f ( x)  L
x  x 
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES 3. Definition

For instance, the curve illustrated in

the earlier figure has the line y = 1 as
a horizontal asymptote because
x 1
2
lim 2 1
x  x  1
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES

The curve y = f(x) sketched here has both

y = -1 and y = 2 as horizontal asymptotes.

 This is because:
lim f  x   1 and lim f  x   2
x  x 
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 1

Find the infinite limits, limits at infinity,

and asymptotes for the function f whose
graph is shown in the figure.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 1

We see that the values of f(x) become

large as x  1 from both sides.

 So, lim f (x)  

x1
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 1

Notice that f(x) becomes large negative

as x approaches 2 from the left, but large
positive as x approaches 2 from the right.
 So, lim f ( x)   and lim f ( x)  
x 2 x 2

 Thus, both the lines

x = -1 and x = 2 are
vertical asymptotes.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 1

As x becomes large, it appears that f(x)

approaches 4.
However, as x decreases through negative
values, f(x) approaches 2.
 So, lim f ( x)  4
x 

and xlim f ( x)  2


 This means that both

y = 4 and y = 2 are
horizontal asymptotes.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 2
1 1
Find lim and lim
x  x x  x

 Observe that, when x is large, 1/x is small.

 For instance,
1 1 1
 0.01 ,  0.0001 ,  0.000001
100 10,000 1,000,000
 In fact, by taking x large enough, we can make 1/x as
close to 0 as we please.
1
 Therefore, according to Definition 1, we have lim 0
x  x
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 2

Similar reasoning shows that, when x

is large negative, 1/x is small negative.
1
 So, we also have xlim 0
 x
 It follows that the line y = 0 (the x-axis) is a horizontal
asymptote of the curve y = 1/x.
 This is an equilateral hyperbola.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES

Most of the Limit Laws given

in Section 2.3 also hold for limits
at infinity.
 It can be proved that the Limit Laws (with the exception
of Laws 9 and 10) are also valid if x  a is replaced by
x   or x   .
 In particular, if we combine Laws 6 and 11 with the
results of Example 2, we obtain the following important
rule for calculating limits.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES 5. Theorem

If r > 0 is a rational number, then

1
lim r  0
x  x

If r > 0 is a rational number such that xr

is defined for all x, then
1
lim r  0
x  x
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 3

Evaluate lim 3x  x  2
2

x  5 x 2  4 x  1

and indicate which properties of limits

are used at each stage.
 As x becomes large, both numerator and denominator
become large.
 So, it isn’t obvious what happens to their ratio.
 We need to do some preliminary algebra.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 3

In this case, the highest power of x in the

denominator is x2. So, we have:
3x  x  2
2
1 2
3 
3x  x  2
2 2
x 2
lim 2  lim 2 x  lim x
x  5 x  4 x  1 x  5 x  4 x  1 x  4 1
2
5   2
x x x
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 3
 1 2 
lim  3   

x 
 x x2 
(by Limit Law 5)
 4 1 
lim  5   
x 
 x x2 
1 1
lim 3  lim  2 lim 2
x  x  x x  x
 (by Limit Laws 1, 2, and 3)
1 1
lim 5  4 lim  lim 2
x  x  x x  x

300
 (by Limit Law 7 and Theoreom 5)
500
3

5
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 3

A similar calculation shows that the limit

3
as x   is also
5
 The figure illustrates the results of these calculations
by showing how the graph
of the given rational function
approaches the horizontal
asymptote y  3
5
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 4

Find the horizontal and vertical

asymptotes of the graph of the
function
2x 1
2
f ( x) 
3x  5
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 4

Dividing both numerator and denominator

by x and using the properties of limits,
we have:
1
2 2
2x  1
2
x
lim  lim (since x 2  x for x  0)
x  3 x  5 x  5
3
x
1 1
lim 2  2 lim 2  lim 2
x  x x  x  x 20 2
   
 5 1 3  5.0 3
lim  3   lim 3  5 lim
x 
 x x  x  x
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 4

Therefore, the line y  2 / 3 is

a horizontal asymptote of the graph of f.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 4

In computing the limit as x   ,

we must remember that, for x < 0,
we have x  x   x
2

 So, when we divide the numerator by x, for x < 0,

we get 1 1 1
2x 1  
2
2x 1   2  2
2

x x 2 x
 Therefore,
1 1
 2  2  2  lim 2
2x 2  1 x x x 2
lim  lim  
x 3x  5 x  5 1 3
 3 x  3 5 lim
x x
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 4

Thus, the line y   2 is also

3
a horizontal asymptote.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES

 
Example 5

Compute lim x 1  x
2
x 

 As both x 2  1 and x are large when x is large,

it’s difficult to see what happens to their difference.
 So, we use algebra to rewrite the function.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 5

The figure illustrates this

result.
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 6
1
Evaluate lim sin x
x 

 If we let t = 1/x, then t  0 as x   .

1
 Therefore, lim sin  lim sin t  0.
x  x t 0
HORIZONTAL ASYMPTOTES Example 7

Evaluate lim sin x

x 
 As x increases, the values of sin x oscillate between
1 and -1 infinitely often.
 So, they don’t approach any definite number.
 Thus, lim sin x does not exist.
x 
INFINITE LIMITS AT INFINITY Example 8
3 3
Find lim x and lim x
x  x 
 When x becomes large, x3 also becomes large.

 For instance,
103  1,000 1003  1,000,000 1,0003  1,000,000,000
 In fact, we can make x3 as big as we like by taking
x large enough.

 Therefore, we can write lim x  

3
x 
INFINITE LIMITS AT INFINITY Example 8
 Similarly, when x is large negative, so is x3.
 Thus, lim x3  
x 

 These limit statements can also be seen from the

graph of y = x3 in the figure.
INFINITE LIMITS AT INFINITY Example 9

Find lim( x  x) 2
x 
 It would be wrong to write
lim( x2  x)  lim x 2  lim x    
x  x  x 

 The Limit Laws can’t be applied to infinite limits

because  is not a number (    can’t be defined).
 However, we can write
lim( x 2  x)  lim x( x  1)  
x  x 

 This is because both x and x - 1 become arbitrarily

large and so their product does too.
INFINITE LIMITS AT INFINITY Example 10

Find lim x  x 2

x  3  x

 As in Example 3, we divide the numerator

and denominator by the highest power of x
in the denominator, which is just x:
x2  x x 1
lim  lim  
x  3  x x  3
1
x
because x  1   and 3 x  1  1 as x  