University Calculus: Early Transcendentals (3rd Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321999584
ISBN 13: 978-0-32199-958-0

Chapter 2 - Section 2.6 - Limits Involving Infinity; Asymptotes of Graphs - Exercises - Page 107: 3

Answer

(a) $\lim_{x\to\infty}f(x)=-3$ (b) $\lim_{x\to-\infty}f(x)=-3$

Work Step by Step

$$f(x)=\frac{2}{x}-3$$ (a) As $x\to\infty$, or $x$ gets infinitely large, $2/x$ will approach $0$. Therefore, $$\lim_{x\to\infty}f(x)=\lim_{x\to\infty}\Big(\frac{2}{x}-3\Big)=0-3=-3$$ (b) As $x\to-\infty$, or $x$ gets infinitely small, $2/x$ will approach $-2/\infty$, and so will approach $0$ as well. Therefore, $$\lim_{x\to-\infty}f(x)=\lim_{x\to-\infty}\Big(\frac{2}{x}-3\Big)=0-3=-3$$ A graph of the function $f(x)$ is enclosed below, which shows that $f(x)$ approaches $-3$ as $x$ approaches either $\infty$ or $-\infty$.
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