L I M I T S

Francine Beatriz DG. Pradez

STEM – 1

Limits are….

 the backbone of calculus and calculus is called the Mathematics of change.

 a point or value that a sequence, function, or sum of a series can be made to
approach progressively, until it is as close to the point or value as desired.

Studying limits are important because…

 it is necessary in studying change in great detail. The evaluation of a particular limit

is what underlies the formulation of the derivative and the integral of a function.

Real Life application of Limits

 Imagine that you are going to watch a basketball game. When you choose seats, you
would want to be as close to the action as possible. You would want to be as close to
the players as possible and have the best view of the game, as if you were in the
basketball court yourself. Take note that you cannot actually be in the court and join
the players, but you will be close enough to describe clearly what is happening in
the game. This is how it is with limits of functions. We will consider functions of a
single variable and study the behavior of the function as its variable approaches a
particular value (a constant). The variable can only take values very, very close to
the constant, but it cannot equal the constant itself. However, the limit will be able
to describe clearly what is happening to the function near that constant.
 We could have a chemical reaction in a beaker start with two chemicals that form a
new compound over time. The amount of the new compound is the limit of a
function as it approaches infinity.
 If you drop an ice cube in a glass of warm water and measure the temperature with
time, the temperature eventually approaches the room temperature where the glass
is stored. Measuring the temperature is a limit again as time approaches infinity.
 Limits are also used as real – life approximations to calculating derivatives. It is very
difficult to calculate a derivative of complicated motions in real – life situations. So,
to make calculations, engineers will approximate a function using small difference in
a function and then try and calculate the derivative of the function by having smaller
and smaller spacing in the function sample intervals. For example, when designing
the engine of a new car , an engineer may model the gasoline through the car’s
engine with small intervals called a mesh, since the geometry of the engine is too
complicated to get accurately with simple functions such as polynomials. Thus,
these approximations use limits.
 continuity
Francine Beatriz de Guzman Pradez
STEM – 1

What are continuities?

In calculus, a function is continuous at x = a if - and only if - all three of the following

conditions are met:

1. The function is defined at x = a; that is, f(a) equals a real number

2. The limit of the function as x approaches a exists
3. The limit of the function as x approaches a is equal to the function value at x = a

There are three basic types of discontinuities:

1. Removable (point) discontinuity - the graph has a hole at a single x-value. Imagine
you're walking down the road, and someone has removed a manhole cover (Careful!
Don't fall in!). This function will satisfy condition #2 (limit exists) but fail condition
#3 (limit does not equal function value).
2. Infinite discontinuity - the function goes toward positive or negative infinity.
Imagine a road getting closer and closer to a river with no bridge to the other side
3. Jump discontinuity - the graph jumps from one place to another. Imagine a
superhero going for a walk: he reaches a dead end and, because he can, flies to
another road.

How important are continuities?

 At the basic level, teachers tend to describe continuous functions as those whose
graphs can be traced without lifting your pencil. While it is generally true that
continuous functions have such graphs, this is not a very precise or practical way to
define continuity. Many graphs and functions are continuous, or connected, in some
places, and discontinuous, or broken, in other places. There are even functions
containing too many variables to be graphed by hand. Therefore, it's necessary to
 have a more precise definition of continuity, one that doesn't rely on our ability to
graph and trace a function.
 Continuity in calculus is more or less just a guarantee that the function behaves
nicely in a few respects (especially concerning limits)
 The importance of continuity is easiest explained by the Intermediate Value
theorem : It says that, if a continuous function takes a positive value at one point,
and a negative value at another point, then it must take the value zero somewhere in
between.
One striking example of this fact is the following : Find the temperature at the
south and north pole, and take their difference (call is αα). Then move from the
north pole to the south pole, and at each point take the difference between the
temperatures at that point and at the "diametrically opposite" point on the earth.
When you finally reach the south pole, this difference will be −α−α).
The Intermediate Value theorem now tells you that there must exist two
diametrically opposite points on the earth with equal temperature.
Another "mathematical" example is that any polynomial of odd degree must
have a (real) root; because as you go to −∞−∞, it must become negative, and as you
go to +∞+∞, it must become positive eventually (Think about why this must
happen)