ARRIESGADO COLLEGE FOUNDATION, INC.

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Senior High School Department

BASIC CALCULUS
MODULE
S.Y. 2020-2021
Second Semester

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Grade Level/Strand: ____________________________________________________

Subject Teacher: _________________________________________________________

PRE-CALCULUS 0|P a g e
 Unit 2 LIMITS
Date
Lesson/s 1 Limits of Functions
Objectives a. Illustrate the concept of a limit using table of values
b. Distinguish 𝑓(𝑥) and 𝑓(𝑐)
c. Identify limit of function that exist and does not exist.

OVERVIEW

Standing at 829.8 meters, the Burj Khalifa is the tallest man-made structure in the world. This
mega-monument is a living testimony of the nature of humanity to challenge the limit of its capability.
Like Burj Khalifa, necessity and the limitless innovation of human mind created the ideas of Calculus.
While the early development of calculus was not straightforward, the modern way of approaching it
is through the idea of a limiting process. This basic idea is the building block of the other main ideas
in calculus.
The main focus of Calculus is to study how things change. Real-life situations can be modeled
using functions. Calculus provides a way to investigate the effects of these situations which deal with
change. This involves differentiation and integration. The main tool in studying the derivatives is the
concept of limits.
In Algebra, a fundamental problem was finding the value of a function 𝑓 (𝑥 ) 𝑎𝑡 𝑥 = 𝑐. In Calculus,
a basic problem is finding the values of a function 𝑓 (𝑥 ) near 𝑥 = 𝑐. The concept of limits is what
distinguishes Calculus from Algebra.
In this chapter, we shall introduce a naïve concept of limit, that is, explain limit through ordinary
language and demonstrate it with simple examples. We shall also discuss limits on the intuitive level,
and towards the end of the section, prove important theorems about the limit of some trigonometric
functions.

PRE-CALCULUS 1|P a g e
LESSON 1: The Limit of a Function

A. POST UP

We start with a review on graphing functions.

Suppose we want to graph the function 𝑦 = 𝑓(𝑥 ) = 2𝑥 + 1. We use a table of values and include
the intercepts, if there are any, in the table. We illustrate a table of values below.
Table 1.A.

𝒙 −6 −3 −1 1 0 1 1 4 5
−
2 2

𝒚 = 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏 −11 −5 −1 0 1 2 3 9 11

We recall that the function is linear and has a slope of 2. The graph of the function is shown
below in Figure 1.A.

𝟐𝒙𝟐 −𝟗𝒙−𝟓
Now, consider the function 𝒚 = 𝒇(𝒙) = . Examining the given we can already say
𝒙−𝟓

that the value of our 𝒙 should not be equal to 5 (𝒙 ≠ 𝟓), so that the whole function will not be equal
to zero as shown on the solution below.

𝟐𝒙𝟐 −𝟗𝒙−𝟓 𝟐(𝟓)𝟐 −𝟗(𝟓)−𝟓 𝟐(𝟐𝟓)−𝟒𝟓−𝟓 𝟓𝟎−𝟒𝟓−𝟓 𝟓−𝟓 𝟎

𝒚 = 𝒇(𝒙) = = 𝒇(𝟓) = = = = =𝟎=𝟎
𝒙−𝟓 𝟓−𝟓 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎

In order to avoid such result the alternative way to solve this is to factor out the trinomial (if
possible). In this case we obtain,
𝟐𝒙𝟐 −𝟗𝒙−𝟓 (𝟐𝒙+𝟏)(𝒙−𝟓) (𝟐𝒙+𝟏)(𝒙−𝟓)
𝒚 = 𝒇(𝒙) = = = = 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝒙 ≠ 𝟓.
𝒙−𝟓 𝒙−𝟓 𝒙−𝟓

PRE-CALCULUS 2|P a g e
 Note that we can only cancel (𝒙 − 𝟓) in the numerator and in the denominator if we put the

restriction 𝒙 ≠ 𝟓.

Now, there are some questions that need to be considered:

 What happens to the y-values as the x-values gets closer to our restriction which 5?
 What is the difference between the graphs of the function 𝑦 = 𝑓 (𝑥 ) = 2𝑥 + 1,
where 𝑥 ≠ 5 and the previous example 𝑦 = 𝑓 (𝑥 ) = 2𝑥 + 1?

To answer these questions, we construct a table of values. We choose x-values near 𝒙 = 𝟓.

Table 2.B.

𝒙 − 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓

𝒙 = 𝟓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕

x 4 4.1 4.5 4.9 4.9 4.999 5 5.000 5.01 5.1 5.5 6

99 99 01

𝒚 = 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏 9 9.2 10 10.8 10.9 10.99 Unde 11.00 11.02 11.2 12 13

𝒙≠𝟓 98 998 -fined 002

𝒙 − 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓

𝒙 = 𝟓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕

As the x-values gets very close to x=5 through numbers both from left and right of 5, the y-values
approaches to 11. The point approach (5, 11) but the point itself is not defined.

𝟐𝒙𝟐 −𝟗𝒙−𝟓
The graph of 𝒚 = 𝒇(𝒙) = is the line 𝒚 = 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏 with the hole at the point
𝒙−𝟓
(5, 11). We sketch the graph in Figure 2.B.

The hole at the point (𝟓, 𝟏𝟏) indicated a break in the line. We note
that the functional value 𝒇(𝟓) is undefined but we can predict what
happens to the 𝒚 − 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔 as 𝒙 − 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔 goes very near towards
𝟐𝒙𝟐 −𝟗𝒙−𝟓
𝒙 = 𝟓. We say that the limit of the function 𝒇(𝒙) = as
𝒙−𝟓
𝒙 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝟓 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝟏𝟏. We denote this as:

𝟐𝒙𝟐 − 𝟗𝒙 − 𝟓
lim = 𝟏𝟏
𝑥→5 𝒙−𝟓
PRE-CALCULUS 3|P a g e
 Definition 1 (Informal)
Let 𝑓(𝑥) be defined for all other 𝑥 in some open interval 𝐼 containing 𝑥. 𝑓(𝑥) may or
may not be defined at 𝑥 = 𝑐. The limit of 𝑓(𝑥) as 𝑥 approaches 𝑐 is equal to the number
𝐿, written as

lim 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝑳𝟏
𝑥→𝑐

if we can make the values of 𝑓(𝑥) arbitrarily close to 𝐿 by taking 𝑥 values sufficiently close
to 𝑐, on either side of 𝑥 = 𝑐, but not equal to 𝑐.

Definition 2 (Informal)
The limit of a function 𝑓(𝑥) as 𝑥 approaches 𝑐 is 𝐿, written as:

lim 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝑳𝟏 ,
𝑥→𝑐

if the values of 𝑓(𝑥) gets closer to 𝐿 as the values of 𝑥 get closer to 𝑐 (both from left to
right of 𝑐).
The number 𝑐 in the definition above may or may not be in the domain of the
function 𝑓(𝑥) while the number 𝐿 is understood to be real number.

Definition (Formal)
Let 𝑓(𝑥) be defined on some open interval containing the number 𝑐, except possibly
at 𝑥 = 𝑐 itself.
Then,

lim 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝑳𝟏 ,
𝑥→𝑐

if for every small number ∈ > 𝟎, we can find a number 𝛿 > 0 such that 0 < |𝑥 − 𝑐 | < 𝛿
implies |𝑓(𝑥) − 𝐿| < ∈, that is, 𝑥 ∈ (𝒙 − 𝛿, 𝒙 + 𝛿) implies 𝑓 (𝑥 ) ∈ (𝑳−∈, 𝑳+∈).

The number 𝑐 in the definition above may or may not be in the domain of the
function 𝑓(𝑥) while the number 𝐿 is understood to be real number.

PRE-CALCULUS 4|P a g e
 Remarks on Limits
 Either side of 𝑥 = 𝑐 means x-values on the left of 𝑐 where 𝑥 < 𝑐 and x-values on
the right of 𝑐 where 𝑥 > 𝑐.

 The values of 𝑓(𝑥) as it gets closer and closer to the number 𝐿 as x-values get closer
and closer to the number 𝑐.

 In taking the limit of a function as x approaches c, we want to determine the

behavior of the function near c. As such, we can actually see where the y-values
are converging to, even if 𝑓(𝑐) is undefined.

 The limit of a function does not depend on how the function is defined at 𝑥 = 𝑐.

 A function may fail to have a limit at a number in its domain.

 Some limits may exist only through 𝑥 − 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 on the right of c or on the left of
c. We call these as “one-sided limits”.

“Functional evaluation and limit evaluation are two different processes. The value 𝑓(𝑐)
finds the value of the function when 𝑥 = 𝑐 , whereas the value of lim 𝑓(𝑥) ,
𝑥→𝑐
evaluates 𝑓(𝑥) when 𝒙 is near but not equal to 𝒄”


ONE-SIDED LIMITS

Let us begin by considering the function defined by

𝒙𝟐 − 𝟗
𝒇(𝒙) =
𝒙+𝟑

Figure 3.C. illustrates the graph of this function. The graph is a straight line but excludes the

point(−3, −6). The function has no value at 𝑥 = −3 as this leads to division by zero. However, if we

look at the value of the function in the immediate neighborhood of 𝑥 = −3, these values get closer

to 𝑦 = −6 as x gets closer to -3. Table 3.C. lists the sequence of function values as x approaches −3.

The first two columns show the values taken by the function as 𝑥 approaches −3 from the left of
the real number line. The third and the fourth columns show the values taken by the function as 𝑥
approaches −3 from the right. Even though we cannot directly evaluate the function at 𝑥 = −3,
because the function is undefined on it, as 𝑥 approaches −3 the function approaches the value 𝑦 =
−6.

PRE-CALCULUS 5|P a g e
 At this point we shall use convenient notations to illustrate what we mean by

𝑥 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟. The phrase 𝑥 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 − 3 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 is indicated by the symbol 𝑥 →

−3−. The phrase 𝑥 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 − 3 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 is indicated by the symbol 𝑥 → −3+. From Table

3.C., you can see that the values of 𝑓 (𝑥 ) as 𝑥 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 −3 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ − 6. This is

written as:

𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒇(𝒙) = −𝟔
𝒙→−𝟑−

In a similar manner, but starting from the right side of 𝑥 = −3 , the values of 𝑓(𝑥) as
𝑥 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 − 3 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 − 6. This is written as:

𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒇(𝒙) = −𝟔
𝒙→−𝟑+

The expression 𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒇(𝒙) and 𝐥𝐢𝐦− 𝒇(𝒙) are called one-sided limits. In this example both
𝒙→−𝟑+ 𝒙→−𝟑

𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒇(𝒙) and 𝐥𝐢𝐦− 𝒇(𝒙) equals -6. They have the same one-sided limits. It is important to take
𝒙→−𝟑+ 𝒙→−𝟑

note of this because when the one-sided limits are equal to a real number 𝑳, the limit of the function
as 𝑥 → 𝑎 is said to exist.

x approaches -3 from the left x approaches -3 from the right

PRE-CALCULUS 6|P a g e
 Theorem 1.1. Existence of Limit

The limit of a function 𝑓(𝑥) exists if and only if the one-sided limits of the function
are equal.

𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝑳 if and only if 𝐥𝐢𝐦− 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝐥𝐢𝐦+ 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝑳

𝒙→𝒂 𝒙→𝒂 𝒙→𝒂

where 𝑳 is a real number.

B. GEAR UP

Example #1: Use tabular method to find the limit of the given limits of function below. (Use only 5
x-values for both left and right side)

𝒙𝟐 +𝒙−𝟔 𝑥
A. lim 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 B. lim C. lim |𝑥|
𝑥→2 𝑥→2 𝒙−𝟐 𝑥→0

Solution:

A. lim 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 REMEMBER OUR RESTRICTION IS 𝒙 ≠ −𝟏

𝑥→−1
So, we need to find x-values that are near to -1 but equal to -1

𝒙 − 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓

𝒙 = −𝟏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕

x -1.5 -1.25 -1.10 -1.0001 -1.00001 -1

𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 𝟐. 𝟔𝟐𝟓 𝟑. 𝟓𝟓𝟒𝟔 𝟑. 𝟖𝟔𝟗 𝟑. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 𝟑. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 Undefined

𝟖𝟕𝟓 𝟖𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟕 𝟖𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟕
𝒙 ≠ −𝟏

𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝟒

𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 = (−𝟏. 𝟓)𝟑 − 𝟐(−𝟏. 𝟓) + 𝟑 = −𝟑. 𝟑𝟕𝟓 + 𝟑 + 𝟑 = 𝟐. 𝟔𝟐𝟓

𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 = (−𝟏. 𝟐𝟓)𝟑 − 𝟐(−𝟏. 𝟐𝟓) + 𝟑 = −𝟏. 𝟗𝟓𝟑𝟏𝟐𝟓 + 𝟐. 𝟓 + 𝟑 = 𝟑. 𝟓𝟓𝟒𝟔𝟖𝟕𝟓

𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 = (−𝟏. 𝟏𝟎)𝟑 − 𝟐(−𝟏. 𝟏𝟎) + 𝟑 = −𝟏. 𝟑𝟑𝟏 + 𝟐. 𝟐 + 𝟑 = 𝟑. 𝟖𝟔𝟗

PRE-CALCULUS 7|P a g e
𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 = (−𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏)𝟑 − 𝟐(−𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏) + 𝟑 = −𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟑𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟑 + 𝟐. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟐 + 𝟑
= 𝟑. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟖𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟕

𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 = (−𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏)𝟑 − 𝟐(−𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏) + 𝟑 = −𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟑𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟑 + 𝟐. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟐 + 𝟑

= 𝟑. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟖𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟕

𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝟒

x -1 -0.9999 -0.99 -0.95 -0.50 -0.25

𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 Undefined 𝟒. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝟒. 𝟎𝟎𝟗𝟕 𝟒. 𝟎𝟒𝟐𝟔 𝟑. 𝟖𝟕𝟓 𝟑. 𝟒𝟖𝟒𝟑

9997 01 25 75
𝒙 ≠ −𝟏

𝒙 − 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓

𝒙 = −𝟏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕

𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 = (−𝟎. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗)𝟑 − 𝟐(−𝟎. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗) + 𝟑 = −𝟎. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟕𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟑 + 𝟏. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟖 + 𝟑

= 𝟒. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟕

𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 = (−𝟎. 𝟗𝟗)𝟑 − 𝟐(−𝟎. 𝟗𝟗𝟗) + 𝟑 = −𝟎. 𝟗𝟕𝟎𝟐𝟗𝟗 + 𝟏. 𝟗𝟖 + 𝟑 = 𝟒. 𝟎𝟎𝟗𝟕𝟎𝟏

𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 = (−𝟎. 𝟗𝟓)𝟑 − 𝟐(−𝟎. 𝟗𝟓) + 𝟑 = −𝟎. 𝟖𝟓𝟕𝟑𝟕𝟓 + 𝟏. 𝟗 + 𝟑 = 𝟒. 𝟎𝟒𝟐𝟔𝟐𝟓

𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 = (−𝟎. 𝟓𝟎)𝟑 − 𝟐(−𝟎. 𝟓𝟎) + 𝟑 = −𝟎. 𝟏𝟐𝟓 + 𝟏 + 𝟑 = 𝟑. 𝟖𝟕𝟓

𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 = (−𝟎. 𝟐𝟓)𝟑 − 𝟐(−𝟎. 𝟐𝟓) + 𝟑 = −𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟓𝟔𝟐𝟓 + 𝟎. 𝟓 + 𝟑 = 𝟑. 𝟒𝟖𝟒𝟑𝟕𝟓

Since, lim 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 = lim 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 = 4, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡.

𝑥→−1− 𝑥→−1+

PRE-CALCULUS 8|P a g e
B.
𝒙𝟐 +𝒙−𝟔
lim 𝒙−𝟐 REMEMBER OUR RESTRICTION IS 𝒙≠𝟐
𝑥→2
So, we need to find x-values that are near to 2 but equal to 2

𝒙 − 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓

𝒙 = 𝟐 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕

x 2 2.00001 2.0001 2.10 2.25 2.50

𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟔 Undefined 𝟓. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 𝟓. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 𝟓. 𝟏 𝟓. 𝟐𝟓 𝟓. 𝟓

𝒇 (𝒙 ) =
𝒙−𝟐
𝒙≠𝟐

𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝟓

𝟐
𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟔 (𝟐. 𝟓𝟎) + 𝟐. 𝟓𝟎 − 𝟔 𝟔. 𝟐𝟓 + 𝟐. 𝟓𝟎 − 𝟔 𝟐. 𝟕𝟓
𝒇(𝒙) = = = = = 𝟓. 𝟓
𝒙−𝟐 𝟐. 𝟓𝟎 − 𝟐 . 𝟓𝟎 . 𝟓𝟎

𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟔 (𝟐. 𝟐𝟓)𝟐 + 𝟐. 𝟐𝟓 − 𝟔 𝟓. 𝟎𝟔𝟐𝟓 + 𝟐. 𝟐𝟓 − 𝟔 𝟏. 𝟑𝟏𝟐𝟓

𝒇 (𝒙 ) = = = = = 𝟓. 𝟐𝟓
𝒙−𝟐 𝟐. 𝟐𝟓 − 𝟐 . 𝟐𝟓 . 𝟐𝟓

𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟔 (𝟐. 𝟏𝟎)𝟐 + 𝟐. 𝟏𝟎 − 𝟔 𝟒. 𝟒𝟏 + 𝟐. 𝟏𝟎 − 𝟔 𝟎. 𝟓𝟏
𝒇 (𝒙 ) = = = = = 𝟓. 𝟏
𝒙−𝟐 𝟐. 𝟏𝟎 − 𝟐 . 𝟏𝟎 . 𝟏𝟎

𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟔 (𝟐. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏)𝟐 + 𝟐. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 − 𝟔 𝟒. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟒𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 + 𝟐. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 − 𝟔 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏

𝒇 (𝒙 ) = = = =
𝒙−𝟐 𝟐. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 − 𝟐 . 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 . 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏
= 𝟓. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏

𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟔 (𝟐. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏)𝟐 + 𝟐. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 − 𝟔 𝟔. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 + 𝟐. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 − 𝟔

𝒇 (𝒙 ) = = =
𝒙−𝟐 𝟐. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 − 𝟐 . 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏
𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏
= = 𝟓. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏
. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏

𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝟓

x 1.25 1.50 1.95 1.9999 1.999999 2

𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟔 𝟒. 𝟐𝟓 𝟒. 𝟓𝟎 𝟒. 𝟗𝟓 𝟒. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 𝟓 Undefined
𝒇 (𝒙 ) =
𝒙−𝟐
𝒙≠𝟐

𝒙 − 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓

𝒙 = 𝟐 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕
PRE-CALCULUS 9|P a g e
 𝟐
𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟔 (𝟏. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗) + 𝟏. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 − 𝟔 𝟑. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟔𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 + 𝟏. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 − 𝟔 −𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟓
𝒇(𝒙) = = = =
𝒙−𝟐 𝟏. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 − 𝟐 −𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 −𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏
= 𝟓

𝟐
𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟔 (𝟏. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗) + 𝟏. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 − 𝟔 𝟑. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟔𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 + 𝟏. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 − 𝟔 −𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟒𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗
𝒇(𝒙) = = = =
𝒙−𝟐 𝟏. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 − 𝟐 −𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 −𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏
= 𝟒. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗

𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟔 (𝟏. 𝟗𝟓)𝟐 + 𝟏. 𝟗𝟓 − 𝟔 𝟑. 𝟖𝟎𝟐𝟓 + 𝟏. 𝟗𝟓 − 𝟔 −𝟎. 𝟐𝟒𝟕𝟓

𝒇 (𝒙 ) = = = = = 𝟒. 𝟗𝟓
𝒙−𝟐 𝟏. 𝟗𝟓 − 𝟐 −𝟎. 𝟎𝟓 −𝟎. 𝟎𝟓

𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟔 (𝟏. 𝟓𝟎)𝟐 + 𝟏. 𝟓𝟎 − 𝟔 𝟐. 𝟐𝟓 + 𝟏. 𝟓𝟎 − 𝟔 −𝟐. 𝟐𝟓

𝒇 (𝒙 ) = = = = = 𝟒. 𝟓
𝒙−𝟐 𝟏. 𝟓𝟎 − 𝟐 −𝟎. 𝟓𝟎 −𝟎. 𝟓𝟎

𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙 − 𝟔 (𝟏. 𝟐𝟓)𝟐 + 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓 − 𝟔 𝟏. 𝟓𝟔𝟐𝟓 + 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓 − 𝟔 −𝟑. 𝟏𝟖𝟕𝟓

𝒇 (𝒙 ) = = = = = 𝟒. 𝟐𝟓
𝒙−𝟐 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓 − 𝟐 −𝟎. 𝟕𝟓 −𝟎. 𝟕𝟓

𝒙𝟐 +𝒙−𝟔 𝒙𝟐 +𝒙−𝟔
Since, lim− = lim+ = 5, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡.
𝑥→2 𝒙−𝟐 𝑥→2 𝒙−𝟐

C.
𝑥
lim |𝑥| REMEMBER OUR RESTRICTION IS 𝒙≠𝟎
𝑥→0
So, we need to find x-values that are near to 0 but equal to 0

𝒙 − 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓

𝒙 = 𝟎 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕

x -0.75 -0.50 -0.25 -0.05 -0.001 0

𝑥
𝒇 (𝒙 ) = Undefined
|𝑥 | −𝟏 −𝟏 −𝟏 −𝟏 −𝟏
𝒙≠𝟎

𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒇(𝒙) = −𝟏

𝒇(𝒙) = |
𝑥 = −0.75 = −𝟎.𝟕𝟓
= −𝟏
𝑥| |−0.75| 𝟎.𝟕𝟓

𝒇(𝒙) = |
𝑥 = −0.50 = −𝟎.𝟓𝟎
= −𝟏
𝑥| |−0.50| 𝟎.𝟓𝟎

PRE-CALCULUS 10 | P a g e
𝒇(𝒙) = |
𝑥 = −0.25 = −𝟎.𝟐𝟓
= −𝟏
𝑥| |−0.25| 𝟎.𝟐𝟓

𝒇(𝒙) = |
𝑥 = −0.05 = −𝟎.𝟎𝟓
= −𝟏
𝑥| |−0.05| 𝟎.𝟎𝟓

𝒇(𝒙) = |
𝑥 = −0.001 = −𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟏
= −𝟏
𝑥| |−0.001| 𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟏

𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝟏

x 0 0.001 0.05 0.25 0.50 0.75

𝑥
𝒇 (𝒙 ) = Undefined 1 1
|𝑥 | 1 1 1
𝒙≠𝟎
𝒙 − 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓
𝒙 = 𝟎 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕

𝒇(𝒙) = |
𝑥 = 0.001 = 𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟏
= 𝟏
𝑥| |0.001| 𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟏

𝒇(𝒙) = |
𝑥 = 0.05 = 𝟎.𝟎𝟓
= 𝟏
𝑥| |0.05| 𝟎.𝟎𝟓

𝒇(𝒙) = |
𝑥 = 0.25 = 𝟎.𝟐𝟓
= 𝟏
𝑥| |0.25| 𝟎.𝟐𝟓

𝒇(𝒙) = |
𝑥 = 0.50 = 𝟎.𝟓𝟎
= 𝟏
𝑥| |0.50| 𝟎.𝟓𝟎

𝒇(𝒙) = |
𝑥 = 0.75 = 𝟎.𝟕𝟓
= 𝟏
𝑥| |0.75| 𝟎.𝟕𝟓

𝑥 𝑥
Since, lim = −𝟏 while lim = 1 don’t have the same result
𝑥→0− |𝑥| 𝑥→0+ |𝑥|
then the given limit does not exist.

PRE-CALCULUS 11 | P a g e
Example #2:

A. Evaluate the indicated functional values and limit of function and identify if the limit of function
exist or does not exist.

2𝑥 − 1, 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 < 1
Given 𝑔(𝑥 ) = {
1 − 2𝑥 2 , 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 ≥ 1

Find:
3
1. 𝑔 (4) 2. 𝑔(1) 3. lim 𝑔(𝑥)
𝑥→1

Solution:
3 3
1. 𝑔 (4) Since 4
𝑜𝑟 0.75 is less than 1 so we need to use the first given function.

2𝑥 − 1 Write the function

3
2( ) − 1 Substitute the value of your x
4
6
−1 Simplify
4

𝟏 𝟑 𝟏
𝒐𝒓 𝟎. 𝟓 𝒈 ( ) = = 𝟎. 𝟓
𝟐 𝟒 𝟐

2. 𝑔(1) Since 1 is equal to our limit which is 1 so we need to use the second given
function.

1 − 2𝑥 2 Write the function

1 − 2(1)2 Substitute the value of your x
1 − 2(1) Simplify

−𝟏 𝒈(𝟏) = −𝟏

3. lim 𝑔(𝑥) Since the given is already a limit of a function we need to use two values that
𝑥→1

are less than and greater than 1 but not equal to 1. Because 1 is the limit of our function
and we should use that specific value.

𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝟏. 𝟏 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 1 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

PRE-CALCULUS 12 | P a g e
 𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝟎. 𝟗 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 1 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

2𝑥 − 1 Write the function

2(0.9) − 1 Substitute the value of your x
1.8 − 1 Simplify

𝟎. 𝟖 𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒈(𝒙) = 𝟎. 𝟖
𝒙→𝟏−

1 − 2𝑥 2 Write the function

1 − 2(1.1)2
Substitute the value of your x
1 − 2(1.21)
Simplify
1 − 2.42

−𝟏. 𝟒𝟐 𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒈(𝒙) = −𝟏. 𝟒𝟐

𝒙→𝟏+

𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒈(𝒙) ≠ 𝐥𝐢𝐦+ 𝒈(𝒙) 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒈(𝒙) 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕.
𝒙→𝟏− 𝒙→𝟏 𝒙→𝟏

B. Evaluate the indicated function and limit of function and identify if the limit of function exist or
does not exist.

𝑥 + 1, 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 < −1
Let ℎ(𝑥 ) = {
−2𝑥 − 1.9, 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 ≥ −1

Find:
1 5
1. ℎ(0) 2. ℎ ( ) 3. ℎ (− ) 4. lim ℎ(𝑥)
2 4 𝑥→−1

Solution:
1. ℎ(0) Since 0 is greater than -1 so we need to use the second given function.

−2𝑥 − 1.9 Write the function

−2(0) − 1.9
Substitute the value of your x
0 − 1.9 Simplify

−𝟏. 𝟗 𝒉(𝟎) = −𝟏. 𝟗

PRE-CALCULUS 13 | P a g e
 1 1
2. ℎ (2) Since 2
is greater than -1 so we need to use the second given function.

−2𝑥 − 1.9 Write the function

1
−2 ( ) − 1.9 Substitute the value of your x
2
Simplify
−1 − 1.9

𝟏
−𝟐. 𝟗 𝒉 ( ) = −𝟐. 𝟗
𝟐

5 5
3. ℎ (− 4) Since − 4 is less than -1 so we need to use the first given function.

𝑥+1 Write the function

5
− +1 Substitute the value of your x and Simplify
4

𝟓
−𝟎. 𝟐𝟓 𝒉 (− ) = −𝟎. 𝟐𝟓
𝟒

4. lim ℎ(𝑥) Since the given is already a limit of a function we need to use two values that
𝑥→−1

are less than and greater than -1 but not equal to -1. Because 1 is the limit of our function
and we should use that specific value.

𝐿𝑒𝑡 − 𝟎. 𝟗 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 − 1 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝐿𝑒𝑡 − 𝟏. 𝟏 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 − 1 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝑥+1 Write the function

−1.1 + 1 Substitute the value of your x and Simplify

−𝟎. 𝟏𝟎 𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒉(𝒙) = −𝟎. 𝟏𝟎

𝒙→−𝟏−

−2𝑥 − 1.9 Write the function

−2(0.9) − 1.9 Substitute the value of your x and Simplify

PRE-CALCULUS 14 | P a g e
 1.8 − 1.9 Substitute the value of your x and Simplify

−𝟎. 𝟏𝟎 𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒉(𝒙) = −𝟎. 𝟏𝟎

𝒙→−𝟏+

𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒈(𝒙) = 𝐥𝐢𝐦+ 𝒈(𝒙) 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒈(𝒙) 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕.

𝒙→𝟏− 𝒙→𝟏 𝒙→𝟏

PRE-CALCULUS 15 | P a g e