yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Graphical limit at asymptotic discontinuity


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

All right, we have a graph of ( y ) is equal to ( f(x) ), and we want to figure out what is the limit of ( f(x) ) as ( x ) approaches negative three. If we just look at ( x = -3 ), it's really hard to see, at least based on how this graph looks, what ( f(-3) ) is. If anything, it looks like we have an asymptotic discontinuity here.

It looks like, on the left side of ( x = -3 ), we're approaching, I guess you could say, infinity; and on the right side, it looks like we're approaching infinity as well. We could just look at that and say, "Well, look, what is ( f(-5) )?" Well, it's 4. ( f(-4) ) looks like it's around, I don't know, around 8. ( f(-3) ) is off the charts. If we continued with this trend, and if we were to asymptote towards this line right over here, this vertical asymptote, it looks like as we get closer and closer to negative 3, the value of the function at that point is approaching—it's getting closer and closer to infinity.

At least that's what it looks like from what we can see on this graph as we approach negative 3 from the left-hand side. Let's think about what's happening as we approach negative 3 from the right-hand side. So this is ( f(-1) ), ( f(-2) ), and ( f(-2.5) ) looks like it's up here someplace. ( f(-2.9) ) would be even higher, and ( f(-2.999) ) looks like it would just once again approach infinity.

So this type of limit, in some context, you would say that this limit doesn't exist, doesn't exist in the formal sense. So that's one way to think about it. In some contexts, you will hear people say that this limit, since from the left and from the right, it looks like it's going to infinity. Sometimes you will see people say that it is approaching infinity, and so this is depending on what type of class or context you're in. But in the traditional sense of the limit, or in the technical sense, there are ways that you can define limits where this would make a little bit more sense. However, the traditional definition of a limit would be you would say that this limit does not exist.

More Articles

View All
Examples thinking about multiplying even and odd numbers
We are told Liam multiplies two numbers and gets an even product. What could be true about the numbers Liam multiplied? It says choose two answers, so pause this video and see if you can figure out which two of these could be true. All right, now let’s d…
Le Chȃtelier’s principle: Changing volume | Equilibrium | AP Chemistry | Khan Academy
The Chatelier’s principle says that if a stress is applied to a reaction mixture at equilibrium, the net reaction goes in the direction that relieves the stress. One possible stress that we could do is to change the volume on a reaction at equilibrium. L…
Worked example: Balancing a simple redox equation | Chemical reactions | AP Chemistry | Khan Academy
So what we have here is a redox reaction. Things are getting oxidized and reduced; that’s the name, redox. But we want to balance this redox reaction, and when we talk about balancing a redox reaction, we want to make sure we conserve mass and charge on b…
Primary productivity in ecosystems| Matter and Energy Flow| AP Environmental Science| Khan Academy
In this video, we’re going to talk about energy, and in particular, we’re going to talk about the energy of life. The energy that I need to live, and all of us need to live. The energy you need to think, the energy I’m using to make this video right now. …
Future Computers Will Be Radically Different (Analog Computing)
For hundreds of years, analog computers were the most powerful computers on Earth, predicting eclipses, tides, and guiding anti-aircraft guns. Then, with the advent of solid-state transistors, digital computers took off. Now, virtually every computer we u…
Intro to Economics - Course Trailer
Welcome to Introduction to Economics. You are about to become an economically-literate person. You might not realize this, but you’ve always been an economic actor. When you’ve decided to spend your time doing one thing, you might have foregone being ab…