Math 180 Lecture Sheets

Week 1
1 Module 1 Lecture Sheet Part 1
Keywords: limits, piece-wise function, secant lines, average velocity, instantaneous velocity,
one-sided limits, limit laws

2.1 The Idea of Limits

2.2 Definitions of Limits
2.3 Techniques for Computing Limits

2.1 The Idea of Limits

Recall that the average velocity of an object which has a displacement d over a time
d
period of duration t is vavg = .
t
Question 1 How do you measure velocity? On his last vacation day Sparky D Dragon biked
along the lake. He biked a total of 8 miles in 2 hours. What was his average velocity?

Watch the Video on Average Velocity

Question 2 State the average rate of change for the following scenarios, being sure to in-
clude units.

(a) It rained 4 inches over an 8 hour period.

(b) At 2 PM, the temperature was 82 degrees. At 5 PM the temperature was 76 degrees.

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Question 3 Let’s say you travel 130 miles in 2 hours. What is your average rate of change
(of distance per unit of time), or average velocity?

Is this how fast you drove throughout that entire time?

What do you think the difference between average velocity and instantaneous velocity is?

What is your answer to the last question? In Calculus we are interested in calculating
instantaneous rates of change.
Recall that if you know the position of an object as a function of time f (t), the distance
traveled from time t0 to time t1 can be calculated as f (t1 ) − f (t0 ). This means that average
velocity can be expressed in these terms as

f (t1 ) − f (t0 )
vavg = .
t1 − t0

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Question 4 Sparky D Dragon, like other dragons, is afraid of eels. On his bike ride along
the lake Sparky takes a break. While he is enjoying the view of the city an eel swims right
up next to him and startles him. He gets back on his bike and pedals as fast as he can to
escape the eel. Suppose the distance between Sparky and the eel is given by the function
f (t) = 2t2 + 10 measured in feet, and time in seconds.
Find the average velocity in ft/s between:
(a) t = 0 and t = 4 seconds

(b) t = 1 and t = 2 seconds

(c) t = 1 and t = 1 + h seconds

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What is your best guess of what the instantaneous velocity is at time t = 1 second?
This brings us to our next topic, limits!

Watch the Video on Limits

2.2 Definition of Limits

Definition: We say that a real number L is the limit of f (x) as x approaches a, written
lim f (x) = L, if we can make the values of f (x) arbitrarily close to L by choosing x close
x→a
enough to a (but not necessarily equal to a).

Example 1 Let f (x) = x2 . What is your best guess for the limit:

lim x2 =
x→2

We have the following table of values:

x 2.1 2.01 2.001

f (x) 4.41 4.0401 4.004001

Notice that if the x-value has k zeroes after the decimal point, then the f (x)-value does
as well. Since a large number of zeroes after the decimal point means that the number is very
close to a whole number, we see that by making x arbitrarily close to 2, we get that f (x) is
arbitrarily close to 4 and thus you were correct if you guessed that: lim x2 = 4.
x→2

Question 5 Going back to the previous problem with Sparky D Dragon, the instantaneous
velocity of Sparky at time t = 1 second is given by

lim (4 + 2h) = feet per second.

h→0

We will see later that often we can just plug in our number a for limits of functions that
can be drawn without lifting your pen at a point a (continuous functions).
For example if f (x) = 4 + 2x2 and a = 2, then lim (4 + 2x2 ) = 4 + 2 · 22 = 12
x→2

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Question 6 The graph of a function f is given below.
y
Evaluate:
y = f (x) lim f (x) =
1 x→0

x
−3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5 lim f (x) =
x→1

−1
lim f (x) =
x→3

If the previous question seems odd, this is because f is continuous. In a few weeks we
will see that this is best defined in terms of the value at a point and the limit at a point
being equal.

Question 7 Sketch the graph of f (x) = sin x and g(x) = cos x and by looking at the graphs,
evaluate the following limits.

lim sin x =
x→0

lim sin x =
x→π/2

lim cos x =
x→0

lim cos x =
x→π

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Math 180 Lecture Sheets
Week 1

Watch three Videos on Left and Right Limits

2.3 Techniques for computing Limits

Question 8 The graph of the function g is drawn below. Evaluate the limits.

(a) lim − g(x) (d) lim− g(x)

x→−1 x→1

(b) lim + g(x) (e) lim+ g(x)

x→−1 x→1

(c) lim g(x) (f ) lim g(x)

x→−1 x→1

Properties of Limits: c is a constant, n a natural number, and lim f (x) =

x→a
L & lim g(x) = M .
x→a

(a) lim (mx + b) = ma + b f (x) L

x→a (e) lim = provided M ̸= 0.
x→a g(x) M
(b) lim (f (x) ± g(x)) = L ± M (f) lim (f (x))n = Ln for all natural num-
x→a x→a
(c) lim (cf (x)) = cL bers n, and this will be true for all real num-
x→a
bers n, too, as long as the function [f (x)]n
(d) lim (f (x) · g(x)) = L · M is defined near x = a.
x→a

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Week 1
Question 9 Given lim f (x) = 8, lim g(x) = 3, and lim h(x) = 2. Can you use the properties
x→1 x→1 x→1
above to find the following limits?

f (x)g(x)
(a) lim
x→1 h(x)

p
3
(b) lim f (x)h(x) − 8
x→1

Which rules did you use?

What we learn from the last exercise is that for polynomials or rational functions f , or
powers or roots of those, to find the limit at a point a, we simply plug in a for x into the
function as long as we are not dividing by 0! i.e., limx→a f (x) = f (a)
Now we are going to determine limits analytically. Sometimes we can simply plug the
value in, for example: lim (3x + 2) = (3(3) + 2) = 11
x→3
Other times when there is division by zero we need to use algebra to rewrite the expression
and determine what happens when we get closer and closer to the value.

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Week 1
Question 10 Evaluate the following limits. In both cases we cannot plug in the function
value because this yields a division by 0. In part (a), try factoring, and in part (b), try
rationalizing.

4x2 − 4x − 24
(a) lim
x→−2 x2 − 4

√
x+3−2
(b) lim
x→1 x−1

A quick last note about notation.

(x + 2)(x − 1) (x + 2)(x − 1)
lim = lim (x − 1) but ̸= (x − 1)
x→−2 (x + 2) x→−2 (x + 2)
What is the difference?
(x + 2)(x − 1)
Graphically y = x − 1 is the graph of a line, but y = is the graph of a line
(x + 2)
with a point removed at x = −2.
You will learn that you carry the limit sign until you evaluate the final limit.