Math 124: Limits at infinity & Horizontal Asymptotes

A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is

and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself.
The larger the denominator the smaller the fraction.
Lev Tolstoy (1828-1920)

1. Definition: We say that ( ) if the values of ( ) get arbitrarily close to L as gets larger and larger.

2. Important Fact:

(as we divide 1 by larger and larger values, the quotient gets smaller, getting arbitrarily close to zero)

More generally: If
( )
then

( )

Short-hand Notation for this fact:

3. Computing limits as is tricky, because most such limits are indeterminate types.

NOTE: We call certain limit types “indeterminate” because, a limit of that type may be anything: finite, zero, infinity,
or DNE – and the answer cannot be figured out from the limit type alone.

For example, a limit of the type “ is determinate, because it’s always zero.
But limits of the form: are indeterminate. For instance, all of the following limits are of the
type initially, but, once we simplify them, we see that they each equal something different:
COMPUTING LIMITS AT INFINITY :

a) A most useful technique in computing limits as when the expression inside the limit is a quotient
involving powers of is the following:
 divide each term in both the numerator (top) and denominator (bottom) of the fraction by to the
highest power of that occurs in the denominator, then
 use the limit laws and the important fact from (2) above

√ ( )
√
( ) ( ) ( √ ) √
( )
( )

( ) ( )

**Note: ( ) is of the type , so it’s indeterminate, but we can compute it by factoring it out:
( ) [ ( )]

( √ )
This limit is indeterminate of type “∞-∞”, and it’s not easy to factor like the one above.
We can rationalize it first, and make it into a quotient:

( √ )( √ )
( √ ) ( )
( √ ) √

Now we have a limit of the form “∞/∞”, so we can use the technique above. We divide the top and bottom by the
highest power in the denominator, which is :

( )
√ √
√ √
( ) ( )

b) Sometimes there’s nothing to compute, you just need to know your basic functions and their behavior or
values as . In particular, you should know their graphs (without using a graphing calculator!)

( ) ( )

( )

( ) ( ( ) ( ))
4. APPLICATIONS. By computing limits at infinity, we can determine:

a) Long-term behavior of functions (some examples appear in your homework)

b) The HORIZOTAL ASYMPTOTES (“HA”) of a function.

Def: A function f has a horizontal asymptote if and only if ( ) ( ) .

Remark: A function can have no HA (ex: ), only one HA in one direction (ex: ), the same HA in both
directions (ex: ), or two distinct HA (ex: ( )). It can never have more than two HA’s!
x2  9
Example: Let’s find all the asymptotes for the function f ( x) 
x 2  2x  3

a) HAs: to determine if the function has any horizontal asymptotes, we need to check the limits of this function
as and –∞. Note: You must show the limit computations on exams in order to receive full credit.

x2  9
Similarly, check that lim  1.
x  x 2  2 x  3

Answer: this function has the same horizontal asymptote, , at both  .

b) VAs:
Recall that vertical asymptotes are vertical lines such that ( ) or ( )
NOTE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO TYPES OF ASYMPTOTES!

A rational function may only have infinite limits at the zeroes of the denominator. But the zeroes of the denominator
might not actually correspond to a VA. So we must check carefully by computing the limits!!
First, factor the denominator: x 2  2 x  3  ( x  3)( x  1) . So the possible VAs to check are: and :

x2  9 x3
 lim 2  lim  3/ 2
x 3 x  2 x  3 x 3 x  1

Since the limit as is not infinite, the line is not a vertical asymptote (rather, the function has a removable
discontinuity at )

2
x2  9 x3 0
 lim 2  lim  DNE
x  1 x  2 x  3 x  1 x  1
2 2
x 92
x3 0 x 9 2
x3 0
( lim  lim    lim 2  lim   )
x  1 x  2x  3
2 x  1 x 1 , x  1 x  2 x  3 x  1 x  1

Since at least one of the one-sided limits as is infinite, we can comclude that is a vertical asymptote.

Answer: It has one VA, namely .