PROJECT ON CONCEPT OF LIMIT

A PROJECT REPORT
Submitted to
KIST SECONDARY SCHOOL
KATHMANDU, NEPAL
Date: ……………..

SUBMITTED BY
………………
I.D. No: ……..
Section: ………..
Registration number: ………
Under Supervision: Mr. HIRA BHANDARI
Abstract
In calculus, the limits is not only restricted to find derivatives and integrals, it has a
wide range of applications in other fields. It helps to measure the strength of the
magnetic field, electric field, etc. Limits are used to figure out the most relevant
pieces of information from the large complex functions. In this project, we explore
left hand limit, right hand limit, limit at infinity and discuss how to find the
limiting values for each along with some examples. Also we discuss limit on
algebraic function, trigonometric function, exponential and logarithmic function
with examples. Moreover, we also investigate the application of limits on other
areas.
Chapter 1
Introduction
If some persons decide to meet at some place outside. Is it necessary that all persons
are living in the same place and walk on the same road to reach that place? No, not
always. All friends come from different parts of the city or country to meet at that
one single place.

It looks like a convergence of different elements to a single point. Mathematically, it

is like a convergence of a function to a particular value. It is an example of limits.
Limits show how some functions are bounded. The function tends to some value
when its limit approaches some value.

In mathematics the concept of limit formally expresses the notion of arbitrary

closeness. That is, a limit is a value that a variable quantity approaches as closely
as one desires. The operations of differentiation and integration from calculus are
both based on the theory of limits. The theory of limits is based on a particular
property of the real numbers ; namely that between any two real numbers, no
matter how close together they are, there is always another one. Between any two
real numbers there are always infinitely many more.

Nearness is key to understanding limits: only after nearness is defined does a limit
acquire an exact meaning. Relevantly, a neighborhood of points near any given
point comprise a neighborhood. Neighborhoods are definitive components of
infinite limits of a sequence.

Definition: A function f has a limit L at a if for all ∈ > 0 there exists a δ > 0 such
that 0 < |x−a| < δ implies that |f(x) −L| < ∈. We write this as, lim 𝑓(𝑥) = L.
𝑥 →𝑎

1.1 Limit of a Sequence

The ancient Greek philosopher Zeno may have been one of the first
mathematicians to ponder the limit of a sequence and wonder how it related to the
world around him. Zeno argued that all motion was impossible because in order to
move a distance l it is first necessary to travel half the distance, then half the
remaining distance, then half of that remaining distance and so on. Thus, he
argued, the distance l can never be fully traversed.
Consider the sequence 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8,...(1/2)n when n gets very large. Since (1/2)n
equals 1/2 multiplied by itself n times, (1/2)n gets very small when n is allowed to
become infinitely large. The sequence is said to converge, meaning numbers that
are very far along in the sequence (corresponding to large n) get very close
together and very close to a single value called the limit.
A sequence of numbers converges to a given number if the differences between the
terms of the sequence and the given number form an infinitesimal sequence. For
this sequence (1/2)n gets arbitrarily close to 0, so 0 is the limit of the sequence.
The numbers in the sequence never quite reach the limit, but they never go past it
either.

If an infinite sequence diverges, the running total of the terms eventually turns
away from any specific value, so a divergent sequence has no limiting sum.

1.2 Limit of a Function

Consider an arbitrary function, y = f(x). (A function is a set of ordered pairs for
which the first and second elements of each pair are related to one another in a
fixed way. When the elements of the ordered pairs are real numbers, the
relationship is usually expressed in the form of an equation.) Suppose that
successive values of x are chosen to match those of a converging sequence such as
the sequence S from the previous example. The question arises as to what the
values of the function do, that is, what happens to successive values of y. In fact,
whenever the values of x form a sequence, the values f(x) also form a sequence. If
this sequence is a converging sequence then the limit of that sequence is called the
limit of the function. More generally when the value of a function f(x) approaches
a definite value L as the independent variable x gets close to a real number p then
L is called the limit of the function. This is written formally as:
and reads "The limit of f of x, as x approaches p, equals L." It does not depend on
what particular sequence of numbers is chosen to represent x; it is only necessary
that the sequence converge to a limit. The limit may depend on whether the
sequence is increasing or decreasing. That is the limit, as x approaches p from
above may be different from the limit as x approaches p from below. In some cases
one or the other of these limits may even fail to exist. In any case since the value of
x is approaching the finite value p the difference (p-x) is approaching zero . It is
this definition of limit that provides a foundation for development of
the derivative and the integral in calculus.
1.3 History
Archimedes of Syracuse first developed the idea of limits to measure curved
figures and the volume of a sphere in the third century b.c. By carving these
figures into small pieces that can be approximated, then increasing the number of
pieces, the limit of the sum of pieces can give the desired quantity. Archimedes'
thesis, The Method, was lost until 1906, when mathematicians discovered that
Archimedes came close to discovering infinitesimal calculus.

As Archimedes' work was unknown until the twentieth century, others developed
the modern mathematical concept of limits. Englishman Sir Issac Newton and
German Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz independently developed the general
principles of calculus (of which the theory of limits is an important part) in the
seventeenth century.
1.5 Motivation
The limit concept is essential to understanding the real number system and its
distinguishing characteristics. In one sense real numbers can be defined as the
numbers that are the limits of convergent sequences of rational numbers. One
application of the concept of limits is on the derivative. The derivative is a rate of
flow or change, and can be computed based on some limits concepts. Limits are
also key to calculating integrals (expressions of areas). The integral calculates the
entire area of a region by summing up an infinite number of small pieces of it.
Limits are also part of the iterative process. An iteration is repeatedly performing
a routine, using the output of one step as the input of the next step. Each output is
an iterate. Some successful iterates can get as close as desired to a theoretically
exact value.
1.6 Limitation
As it is not possible to study all cases of limits. In this project, we limit our study
only on left hand limit, right hand limit, limit at infinity and discuss how to find the
limiting values for each along with some examples. Also we discuss limit on
algebraic function, trigonometric function, exponential and logarithmic function
with examples. Moreover, we also investigate the application of limits and use of
limits on other areas.
Chapter 2
2.1 Meaning of x → a

'x tends to a' we mean x successively assumes values either greater than or less
than ‘a’ and the numerical difference between the assumed value of x, i.e., |x - a|
becomes smaller and smaller. In this case, x becomes very close to ‘a’ (but x ≠ a)
and we say 'x approaches a'.
Example: The following simple functions have limits (everywhere). We can prove
the following statements from the definition.
• Let f(x) = 0. Then the limit of f at 0 is 0.
• Let g(x) = x. Then the limit of f at 1 is 1.
But we can also use some simple properties of limits to make some calculations
easier.
2.2 Idea of Limit
If we are going to approximate the circumference of a circle using the perimeter of
an inscribed polygon, even without computation, we can observe that as the number
of sides of the polygon increases, the better the approximation. In fact, we can make
the perimeter of the polygon as close as we please to the circumference of the circle
by choosing a sufficiently large number of sides. Notice that no matter how large
the number of sides our polygon has, its perimeter will never exceed or equal the
circumference of the circle.

Figure 1 – As the number of side of the polygons increases, its perimeter gets
closer to the circumference of the circle.
In a more technical term, we say that the limit of the perimeter of the inscribed
polygon as the number of its sides increases without bound (or as the number of
sides of the inscribed polygon approaches infinity) is equal to the circumference of
the circle. In symbol, if we let be the number of sides of the inscribed
polygon, be the perimeter of a polygon with sides, and be the circumference
of the circle, we can say that the limit of as is equal to . Compactly, we
can write .
2.3 Meaning of Infinity
What do we mean by and ?
If a real variable x assumes positive values and increases without limit, taking up
values larger than any large number one can imagine, then we say that the variable
x tends to infinity in the positive direction and denote it by .

If a real variable x assumes negative values and increases numerically without

limit, taking up values which are numerically larger than any large number one can
imagine, then we say that the variable x tends to infinity in the negative direction
and denote it by .

2.4 Indeterminate form

An indeterminate form is an expression involving two functions
whose limit cannot be determined solely from the limits of the individual
functions. These forms are common in calculus; indeed, the limit definition of the
derivative is the limit of an indeterminate fo
Simple Examples
(1) lim (2𝑥 + 3).
𝑥→1

Solution: lim (2𝑥 + 3) = 2×1 + 3 = 5.

𝑥→1

It means when x approaches to 1, then f(x) approaches to 5.

(𝑥+3)
(2) lim
𝑥→−3 𝑥 2 +4𝑥+3
(𝑥+3) 0
Solution: lim ( form)
𝑥→−3 𝑥 2 +4𝑥+3 0

(𝑥+3)
= lim
𝑥→−3 𝑥 2 +3𝑥+𝑥+3
(𝑥+3)
= lim
𝑥→−3 (𝑥+3)(𝑥+1)
1 1 1
= lim = =−
𝑥→−3 (𝑥+1) (−3+1) 2

𝒆𝒙 −𝟏
(3) 𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒙→𝟎 𝟑𝒙
𝑒 𝑥 −1 0
Solution: lim ( 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚)
𝑥→0 3𝑥 0

𝑒 𝑥 −1 1
= lim ×
𝑥→0 𝑥 3

1 𝑒 𝑥 −1
=1× [∵ lim = 1]
3 𝑥→0 𝑥
1
= .
3
2.5 Concept of Left hand and Right Hand Limit
More simply, the value of the function f(x) does not exist at x=1. So, instead of
x=1 we consider values of x sufficiently close to 1, i.e., as close to 1 as possible.

X F(X)

0.5 1.50000

0.9 1.90000

0.99 1.99000

0.999 1.99900

0.9999 1.99990

0.99999 1.99999

… …

From the table above we can see that as the values of x approach 1, the value of the
function f(x) approach 2. In the table we have stopped at 0.99999, but if we take
values of x even closer to 1, the corresponding values of f(x) will be even closer to
2. Here, as the values of x increase towards 1 the values of f(x) increase towards 2.
This is symbolically written as:

It reads, “limit x tends to 1 plus f(x) is equal to 2”. It is to be noted that the ‘+’ sign
signifies values of x greater than 1 and not “positive” values of x.

Let us now look at the following table

X F(X)

1.5 2.50000

1.1 2.10000

1.01 2.01000

1.001 2.00100

1.0001 2.00010

1.00001 2.00001

Again from the above table we can see that as the values of x come closer and
closer to 1, the corresponding values of f(x) come closer and closer to 2. In other
words, as the values of x approach 1, the corresponding values of f(x) approach 2.
The only difference is that here the values of x decrease towards 1 and the values
of f(x) decrease towards 2. This is symbolically written as:

It reads, “limit x tends to 1 minus f(x) is equal to 2”. It is to be noted that the ‘-‘
sign signifies values of x less than 1 and not “negative” values of x.

In practice, the numerical difference between the value x=1 and a value of x
sufficiently close to 1 (such as, x=1.0000001 or x=0.9999999) can be made as
small as we please and hence can be neglected. Similarly, the numerical difference
between the value f(x)=2 and a value of f(x) very close to 2 can be made as small
as we please and hence be neglected if the value of x is taken sufficiently close to
1.
Examples:
𝒙
𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒙→𝟎 |𝒙|

𝑥 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 ≥ 0
Solution: We have, |x| = {
−𝑥 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 < 0
𝑥
Let f(x) =
|𝑥|

Now, right hand limit at x = 0 is

𝑥 𝑥
lim+ 𝑓(𝑥) = lim+ = lim+ = lim+ 1 = 1
𝑥→0 𝑥→0 |𝑥| 𝑥→0 𝑥 𝑥→0

Left hand limit at x = 0 is

𝑥 𝑥
lim− 𝑓(𝑥) = lim− = lim− = lim+ -1 = -1
𝑥→0 𝑥→0 |𝑥| 𝑥→0 −𝑥 𝑥→0

Thus lim+ 𝑓(𝑥) ≠ lim− 𝑓(𝑥)

𝑥→0 𝑥→0
𝑥
So the limit lim does not exist.
𝑥→0 |𝑥|
 𝒙 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽 − 𝜽 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝒙
𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒙→𝜽 𝒙−𝜽

𝑥 sin 𝜃 − 𝜃 sin 𝑥 0
Solution: lim (0 form)
𝑥→𝜃 𝑥−𝜃

𝑥 sin 𝜃 −𝜃 sin 𝜃+ 𝜃 sin 𝜃− 𝜃 sin 𝑥

= lim
𝑥→𝜃 𝑥−𝜃
 sin 𝜃(𝑥 −𝜃) + 𝜃 (sin 𝜃− sin 𝑥)
= lim
𝑥→𝜃 𝑥−𝜃

sin 𝜃 (𝑥−𝜃) 𝜃(sin 𝜃− sin 𝑥)

= lim + lim
𝑥→𝜃 𝑥−𝜃 𝑥→𝜃 𝑥−𝜃

(sin 𝜃− sin 𝑥)
= sin 𝜃 + 𝜃 lim
𝑥→𝜃 𝑥−𝜃

𝜃+𝑥 𝜃−𝑥
2 cos sin
2 2
= sin 𝜃 + 𝜃 lim
𝑥→𝜃 𝑥−𝜃

𝑥−𝜃
sin 1 𝜃+𝑥
2
= sin 𝜃 – 𝜃 lim 𝑥−𝜃 × 2 × lim 2 cos
𝑥→𝜃 𝑥→𝜃 2
2

1
= sin 𝜃 – 𝜃 × 1 × 2 × 2 cos 𝜃

= sin 𝜃 – 𝜃 cos 𝜃.

2.6 Limit at infinity

Examples

𝑥 3 +5𝑥 2 −6𝑥+10 ∞
lim (∞ 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚)
𝑥→∞ 𝑥 3 +7𝑥 2 −11𝑥+2

𝑥3 +5𝑥2 −6𝑥+10
𝑥3
= lim 𝑥3 +7𝑥2 −11𝑥+2
𝑥→∞
𝑥3

5 6 10
1+ − 2 + 3
𝑥 𝑥 𝑥
= lim 7 11 2
𝑥→∞ 1+𝑥− 2 + 3
𝑥 𝑥

1+0−0+0
= 1+0−0+0 = 1.
Chapter 3
Application
3.1 Defining the Derivatives
The following problems require the use of the limit definition of a derivative, which is
given by

They range in difficulty from easy to somewhat challenging. If you are going to try
these problems before looking at the solutions, you can avoid common mistakes by
making proper use of functional notation and careful use of basic algebra. Keep in
mind that the goal (in most cases) of these types of problems is to be able to divide out

the term so that the indeterminate form of the expression can be circumvented
and the limit can be calculated.

o PROBLEM 1 : Use the limit definition to compute the derivative, f'(x),

for

SOLUTION:
(Algebraically and arithmetically simplify the expression in the numerator.)

(The term now divides out and the limit can be calculated.)

3.2 Uses of limits in business

Suppose you run a business of garments. Annual sales in Rs 12 lacs. Now festival season is
coming in next two months and you find that by the time festival season starts you may be
having stocks of Rs 1 lac. You expect to record a sale of Rs 3 lacs in the season. But you don’t
have funds to buy the garment stocks. What to do?

You may go to moneylenders who would charge exorbitant interest rates. A part of garments gets
to you on credit from your suppliers. Still you have fund deficit.

Here come the banks who extend credit limits to you. In the above scenario you will get Cash
credit limit. What the banks will do is they give you 20% of your previous year annual sales as
cash credit limit. In this case it is Rs 2.40 lacs. it will be CC account which is just like your
savings or current account but here you will have to pay monthly interest. So now you can buy
stocks of Rs 2.40 lacs and enjoy your sales in festival season.

Now you want to buy machines to manufacture your own garments. You go to the bank. They
will give you term loan limit. If a machine cost you Rs 1 lac they will give Rs 60,000 and rest
will be given by you. The loan amount will be paid by you in monthly/bimonthly/half
yearly/annual installments.

Now you want to buy some stocks or machines from a new vendor. You are not sure whether
you get the machine or stocks, its quality, make etc. Your new supplier is asking for money to
start manufacturing or to make delivery. So you go to your bank and they give you letter of
credit limit (LC limit, a form of bank guarantee). In this the bank guarantees the supplier that if
he delivers the required and discussed items within discussed price, quality, quantity and so and
so, bank will make the payment to him. You send letter of credit to the supplier and he delivers
the items to you without you having to give money. If you obtain LC limit from the bank you
have to pay the bank only some fee and only 10–25% of the total value of items to be paid to the
supplier. You may also get credit period in this. Some people get LC with option of paying the
residual amount after 3 - 4- 6 months. In the absence of LC you will have to pay outright full
amount.

3.3 Uses of limits in Computer sciences

In day to day computer programming, nothing is done which relies on the properties of real
numbers and functions on real numbers. Computers cannot truly represent real numbers (they use
various forms of rational approximations, which include so-called “floating point” numbers).

Most parts of computer science do not use the properties of real numbers, and you won’t find, in
general, much mention of limits, continuity, or functions on real numbers when studying
algorithms, data structures, automata theory, the lambda calculus, turing machines, and so on.
The mathematics discipline of “Discrete” mathematics is much more important than the
mathematics of continuity.

One aspect of computer science, algorithm analysis, on the other hand, can benefit from cross-
fertilization with continuous mathematics. The famous computer science educator Donald Knuth,
together with Oren Patashnick and Ron Graham, wrote a textbook called “Concrete
Mathematics”, which covers the aspects of continuous and discrete math useful in computer
science.

There is a subfield of computer science, called “numerical methods”, which is devoted to how to
best calculate on computers numerical results for problems in calculus and similar disciplines,
taking into account the limitations of the rational approximations computers use.

Conclusion
Finding the limiting values of different types of function is an interesting task. It has no many
more application in our real life, but it can be used in some of the sector like Computer sciences,
Physics, Business etc. Also it is used in study of Continuity, Study of Derivatives etc.
Bibliography
[1] Abbot, P., and M.E. Wardle. Teach Yourself Calculus. Lincolnwood: NTC Publishing,
1992.

[2] Allen, G.D., C. Chui, and B. Perry. Elements of Calculus. 2nd ed. Pacific Grove:
Brooks/Cole Publishing Co., 1989.

[3] Gower, Norman. An Invitation to Mathematics. New York: Oxford University Press,
1979.

[3] Larson, Ron. Calculus with Analytic Geometry. Boston: Houghton Mifflin College,
2002.

[4] Silverman, Richard A. Essential Calculus with Applications. New York: Dover, 1989.

[5] Bjracharya, D.R, Shrestha, R.M., Singh, M.B., Sthapit, Y.B. and Bajracharya B.C. Basic
Mathematics Grade 11, Kathmandu: Sukunda Publication, 2020.

Declaration
I hereby declare that the work presented in this project report has been done by myself under the
supervision of ……………………………………, and has not been submitted elsewhere for any
examination.
All sources of information have been specifically acknowledged by references to authors or
institutions.

Date: ……………….. Name & signature of the student Registration number:

 Letter of Approval
The project work submitted to KIST Secondary School, by ……………………….
…………………………., entitled “………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………….….” has been approved as the partial
fulfillment of the requirements of the internal evaluation.

Date: …………………………. Name & signature of Supervisor

Sample Project works (/Titles)

(1) Concept of Sets
(2) Application of Sets
(3) Uses of Function in our life
(4) Application of function
(5) Different types of functions with their Graphs.
(6) Role of Trigonometric function in mathematics and physics
(7) Properties of Triangles on the basis of different laws.
(8) Concept of Analytical Geometry.
(9) Concept of Limit
(10) Derivatives and its Application
(11) Calculation of Extreme values by derivative.
(12) Concept of Antiderivative
(13) Application of Antiderivatives.
(14) Concept of Complex Number
(15) Geometrical meaning of Vectors.
(16) Measure of Dispersion and its Application.