- Topic
- Limits
- Difficulty
- Standard
- Suggested time
- 4 min
- Marks
- 2
Limits practice question 30
A student evaluates the limit below as shown. Find the first line that is wrong.
Treat each line as a claim and check it: does each rewriting keep the same function, and is each substitution allowed at that point?
Substituting x = 2 gives 0/0, so something has to be factored and cancelled. What is allowed to cancel from a fraction?
Factor both quadratics before touching anything else.
Theory UBC Math 100 §2.1.1CLP-1 §1.4Key results
Corrected working
Strategy
Substitution gives 0/0, so factor, cancel the shared factor, then substitute.
Working
Factor top and bottom.
Cancel the common factor x − 2.
Substitute into what remains.
Answer
The answer is four.
Check
At x = 2.01 the original quotient is 0.0401/0.0101 ≈ 3.97, close to 4 and nowhere near 1.
Where this goes wrong
Cancelling the x² terms. A term that appears on top and bottom is not a factor of either; only a factor of the whole numerator and the whole denominator cancels.
Leans on
Factoring quadratics, from Functions, graphs and inverses
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