Calculus: Early Transcendentals 8th Edition

Published by Cengage Learning
ISBN 10: 1285741552
ISBN 13: 978-1-28574-155-0

Chapter 4 - Section 4.4 - Indeterminate Forms and l''Hospital''s Rule - 4.4 Exercises - Page 314: 89

Answer

$\lim\limits_{h \to 0}\frac{f(x+h)-f(x-h)}{2h} = f'(x)$ The diagram shows that the slope of the line connecting the points $(x-h, f(x-h))$ and $(x+h, f(x+h))$ approaches the slope of the graph at $x$ as $h\to 0$

Work Step by Step

$\lim\limits_{h \to 0}\frac{f(x+h)-f(x-h)}{2h} = \frac{0}{0}$ We can apply L'Hospital's Rule. $\lim\limits_{h \to 0}\frac{f'(x+h)-(-1)f'(x-h)}{2} = \frac{2f'(x)}{2} = f'(x)$ The diagram shows that the slope of the line connecting the points $(x-h, f(x-h))$ and $(x+h, f(x+h))$ approaches the slope of the graph at $x$ as $h\to 0$
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