Student Study Session

Limits, Continuity, and Differentiability Solutions

We have intentionally included more material than can be covered in most Student Study
Sessions to account for groups that are able to answer the questions at a faster rate. Use your
own judgment, based on the group of students, to determine the order and selection of questions
to work in the session. Be sure to include a variety of types of questions (multiple choice, free
response, calculator, and non-calculator) in the time allotted.

Quick Check for Understanding: Student graphs will vary. Sample answers given.
1. Sketch a function with the property that f (a) exists but lim f (x) does not exist.
10 y xa
10 y
8 8
6 6
4 4
2 2
x x
10 8 6 4 2 2 4 6 8 10 10 8 6 4 2 2 4 6 8 10
2 2
4 4
6 6
8 8
10 10
2. Sketch a function with the property that lim f (x) exists but f (a) does not exist.
10 y
xa

2
x
10 8 6 4 2 2 4 6 8 10
2

4

6

8

10
3. Sketch a function with the property that f (a) exists and lim f (x) exists but lim f (x)  f (a) .
xa xa
10 y

2
x
10 8 6 4 2 2 4 6 8 10
2

4

6

8

10

Copyright © 2014 National Math + Science Initiative®, Dallas, TX. All rights reserved. Visit us online at www.nms.org
 Limits, Continuity and Differentiability
Student Study Session
Multiple Choice

1. D (1985 AB5)
Since the limit is taken as n   and the exponents in the numerator and denominator are
4n 2
equal, use the ratio of the leading coefficients to find that the limit is 2  4 .
n
2. B (2008 AB1)
Multiplying in the numerator and denominator yields the equivalent limit:
2 x 2  7 x  3
lim 2  2 .
x  x  2 x  3

3. B (1969 AB6/BC6)
1
This limit represents the definition of the derivative of the function, f ( x)  8 x8 at x  .
2
1 1
f ( x) =64 x 7 ; f    = .
2 2

4. D (1985 BC29 appropriate for AB)

 
sin  x  
  4 sin t
Let x   t . lim  lim  1.
4   t 0 t
x
4 x
4

5. B (1988 AB29)
This limit represents the derivative of the function, f ( x)  tan 3x . Using the chain rule,
f ( x)  3sec 2 (3 x)

6. C (1993 BC2 appropriate for AB)

2 x2  1 1
lim 2
x 0 x2

7. B (1988 AB23)
Since f ( x )  cos x , f ( x )  sin x . Also f (0)  0 , g (0)  0 , and g ( x )  1 , hence
f ( x) sin x
lim  lim  1.
x 0 g ( x ) x 0 x
f ( x) f ( x) f (0) cos 0
Alternatively, by L’Hopital’s rule, lim  lim    1.
x 0 g ( x ) x  0 g ( x ) g (0) 1

8. C (1993 AB29)
1  cos  1  cos  1  cos  1 1
lim  lim  lim  lim  .
x 0 2sin 2  x  0 2(1  cos 2  x 0 2(1  cos  )(1  cos  ) x 0 2(1  cos  ) 4
1  cos  sin  1 1
Alternatively, by L’Hopital’s rule, lim  lim  lim  .
x  0 2sin 2  x  0 4 sin  cos  x  0 4 cos  4
.

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 Limits, Continuity, and Differentiability
Student Study Session
9. E (1985 AB41)
Using the given limit, there is not enough information to establish that f (a) exists, nor that
f ( x) is continuous or defined at x  a , nor that f (a)  L. For example, consider the
function whose graph is the horizontal line y  2 with a hole at x  a . For this function
lim f ( x )  2 and none of the given statements are true
xa

10. E (2003 AB3)

By definition of a horizontal asymptote, E is correct.

11. E (1993 AB35)

Since y  2 is a horizontal asymptote, the ratio of the leading coefficients must be 2;
therefore, a  2. Since there is a vertical asymptote at x  3 , set the denominator, 3  c ,
equal to 0, so c  3 then a  c  2  3  5 .

12. E (1988 AB27)

f (3)  6(3)  9  9
lim x 2  lim 6 x  9  9
x 3 x 3

Since f (3)  lim f ( x ) the function is continuous at x  3

x 3

 2 x, x  3
f ( x)   and lim 2 x  lim 6  6
 6, x  3 x 3 x 3

Since the left and right limits of the derivative of the function are equivalent from either side
of 3, the function is differentiable at x  3 .

13. D (2003 AB20)

Using substitution, the one sided limits as x  3 are both equal to 5; therefore, I and II are
true. f is not differentiable at x  3 since f (3)  1 for x  3 and f (3)  4 for x  3 .

14. A (2008 AB6/BC6)

Use the top piece of the piecewise function for the limit since the bottom piece gives the
x2  4 ( x  2)( x  2)
value of f (2) . Using factoring, lim  lim  lim x  2  4. Since this
x 2 x  2 x 2 x2 x2

limit does not equal f (2) =1, the function f is not continuous or differentiable at x  2 .

15. C (1988 BC5 appropriate for AB)

lim f ( x)  f ( a ) for all values of a except 2. lim f ( x )  lim ( x  3)  0  1  f (2) .
xa x2 x2

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 Limits, Continuity, and Differentiability
Student Study Session
16. E (1969 AB18/BC18)
Thinking graphically, the absolute value function will have a sharp corner at 3, thus the
derivative does not exist at that point. The question can also be worked algebraically as
follows:
The one sided limits are not equal:
f ( x)  f (3) 2  x  3  2
lim   1
x 3 x 3 x 3
f ( x)  f (3) 2  x  3  2
lim  1.
x 3 x3 x3
Therefore, the value of f (3) does not exist.

17. A (1993 AB5)

Consider f ( a )  lim f ( x )
xa

Use factoring to simplify the function and then substitute for x :

x2  4 ( x  2)( x  2)
lim  lim  x  2 ; therefore, f (2)  4 .
x 2 x  2 x 2 x2

18. B (1997 AB15)

The left and right limits as x  a are both equal to 2. The limit as x  b does not exist
since the one-sided limits are not equivalent; therefore, A, C and D cannot be true either.

19. A (2003 AB13/BC13)

The graph of f is continuous at x  a ; however, since the graph has a sharp turn at x  a ,
the function is not differentiable at x  a .

20. D (2003 AB79)

The one-sided limits as x  4 are equivalent for the graphs of f in I and II but not for III.

21. C (2008 AB77)

lim f ( x ) and lim f ( x ) exist; however, since they are not equivalent, the lim f ( x) does not
x2 x2 x 2
exist.

22. A (2003 BC81 appropriate for AB)

sin(2)  0.9093

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 Limits, Continuity, and Differentiability
Student Study Session
Free Response
23. 2009B AB3abc/BC3abc
(a)
f ( h)  f (0) 2 1: sets up difference quotient at
lim  2
x 0 h 3 x0
f ( h)  f (0) 1: answer with justification
lim 0
x 0 h
Since the one-sided limits do not agree f is
not differentiable at x  0 .

24. 2003 AB6ac

(a) f is continuous at x  3 because 1: answer “yes” and equates the
lim f  x   lim f  x   2. 2
values of the left- and right-
x3 x3
hand limits
Therefore, lim f  x   2  f  3 . 1: explanation involving limits
x3

(c) Since g is continuous at x  3, 1: 2k  3m  2

2k  3m  2. 1:
k
m
 k 4
 ; 0 x3 3
g  x    2 x  1 1: values for k and m
 m ; 3 x 5

k
lim g   x   and lim g   x   m
x 3 4 x3

Since these two limits exist and g is

differentiable at x  3, the two limits are
k
equal. Thus  m.
4
2 8
8m  3m  2; m  and k 
5 5

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 Limits, Continuity, and Differentiability
Student Study Session
25. 2011 AB6ab
(a) lim 1  2sin x   1 2: analysis
x0

lim e 4 x  1
x0

f  0  1
So, lim f  x   f  0  .
x 0

Therefore f is continuous at x  0.

2cos x for x  0 2: f  x
(b) f  x   4 x 3
 4e for x  0 1: value of x
2cos x  3 for all values of x  0.
1 3
4e 4 x  3 when x   ln    0.
4 4
1 3
Therefore f   x   3 for x   ln   .
4 4

26. 2012 AB 4c

(c) 2 1: considers one-sided limits

1: answer with explanation

Therefore,

So,

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