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GRE Subject Test: Math : Limits

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Evaluating Limits

Evaluate: $\lim_{x \to 2} \frac {x-2}{x^2-4}$

Possible Answers:

$\frac {1}{4}$

$-\frac {1}{4}$

Undefined/No Limit

$\frac {1}{2}$

Correct answer:

$\frac {1}{4}$

Explanation:

Step 1: See if we can plug in x=2 into the equation..

We can't because the denominator becomes ..

Step 2: Factor the denominator:

(x^2-4)=(x-2)(x+2) (By the Difference of Perfect Squares Formula)

Step 3: Re-write the function:

$\frac {(x-2)}{[(x-2)(x+2)]}$

Step 4: Divide by (x-2) on both the numerator and denominator because it's common:

We are left with: $\frac {1}{(x+2)}$

Step 5: Plug in x=2 :

$\frac {1}{2+2}\implies \frac {1}{4}$

The limit of this function as x approaches 2 is $\frac {1}{4}$ .

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Example Question #1 : Limits

Evaluate:

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{x \sin^{2} x}{2^{x} - 1}$

Possible Answers:

The limit does not exist.

$\infty$

$\frac{1}{2}$

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Let's examine the limit

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{x }{2^{x} - 1}$

first.

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty }x= \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \left ( 2^{x} - 1 \right )= \infty$

$\frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}x = 1$

and

$\frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}\left ( 2^{x} - 1 \right ) = \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}\left ( e^{ x \ln 2} - 1 \right )$

$= \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}e^{ x \ln 2} - \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x} 1$

$=\ln 2 \cdot e^{ x \ln 2} - 0 = \ln 2 \cdot 2^{x}$ ,

so by L'Hospital's Rule,

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{x }{2^{x} - 1} = \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{1 }{\ln 2 \cdot 2^{x}}$

Since $\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \ln 2 \cdot 2^{x} = \infty$ ,

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{x }{2^{x} - 1} = \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{1 }{\ln 2 \cdot 2^{x}} = 0$

Now, for each x > 0 , $0 \leq \sin^{2} x \leq 1$ ; therefore,

$0 \leq \frac{x \sin^{2} x}{2^{x} - 1} \leq \frac{x }{2^{x} - 1}$

By the Squeeze Theorem,

$0 \leq \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{x \sin^{2} x}{2^{x} - 1} \leq \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{x }{2^{x} - 1} = 0$

and

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{x \sin^{2} x}{2^{x} - 1} = 0$

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Example Question #1 : L'hospital's Rule

Evaluate:

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{5^{x} - 1}{3^{x} - 1}$

Possible Answers:

$\frac{5}{3}$

$\infty$

$\ln \frac{5}{3}$

The limit does not exist.

$\frac{\ln 5}{\ln 3}$

Correct answer:

$\infty$

Explanation:

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty }\left ( 5^{x} - 1 \right ) = \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty }\left ( 3^{x} - 1 \right ) = \infty$

Therefore, by L'Hospital's Rule, we can find $\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{5^{x} - 1}{3^{x} - 1}$ by taking the derivatives of the expressions in both the numerator and the denominator:

$\frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}\left ( 5^{x} - 1 \right ) = \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}\left ( e^{x \ln 5} - 1 \right )$

$= \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x} e^{x \ln 5 } - \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}1$

$=\ln 5\cdot e^{x \ln 5 } - 0 = \ln 5\cdot 5^{x }$

Similarly,

$\frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}\left ( 3^{x} - 1 \right ) = \ln 3 \cdot 3 ^{x}$

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{5^{x} - 1}{3^{x} - 1} = \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{\ln 5 \cdot 5^{x} }{\ln 3 \cdot 3^{x} }$

$=\frac{\ln 5 }{\ln 3 } \cdot \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{ 5^{x} }{ 3^{x} }= \frac{\ln 5 }{\ln 3 } \cdot \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty }\left ( \frac{ 5 }{ 3 } \right )^{x}$

But $\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty }a^{x} = \infty$ for any a > 1 , so

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty } \frac{5^{x} - 1}{3^{x} - 1}= \frac{\ln 5 }{\ln 3 } \cdot \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty }\left ( \frac{ 5 }{ 3 } \right )^{x} = \infty$

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Example Question #3 : Limits

Evaluate:

$\lim_{x\rightarrow 0 } \frac{7^{x} - 1}{2^{x} - 1}$

Possible Answers:

$\infty$

$\ln \frac{7}{2}$

$\frac{1}{2}\ln 7$

The limit does not exist.

$\log_{2}7$

Correct answer:

$\log_{2}7$

Explanation:

$\lim_{x\rightarrow 0 }\left ( 7^{x} - 1 \right ) = 7^{0} - 1 = 1- 1 = 0$

and

$\lim_{x\rightarrow 0 }\left ( 2^{x} - 1 \right ) = 2^{0} - 1 = 1- 1 = 0$

Therefore, by L'Hospital's Rule, we can find $\lim_{x\rightarrow 0 } \frac{7^{x} - 1}{2^{x} - 1}$ by taking the derivatives of the expressions in both the numerator and the denominator:

$\frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}\left ( 7^{x} - 1 \right ) = \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}\left ( e^{x \ln 7} - 1 \right )$

$= \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x} e^{x \ln 7 } - \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}1$

$=\ln 7\cdot e^{x \ln 7 } - 0 = \ln 7\cdot 7^{x }$

Similarly,

$\frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}\left ( 2^{x} - 1 \right ) = \ln 2 \cdot 2 ^{x}$

$\lim_{x\rightarrow 0 } \frac{7^{x} - 1}{2^{x} - 1} = \lim_{x\rightarrow 0 } \frac{ \ln 7\cdot 7^{x }}{ \ln 2\cdot 2^{x }}$

$= \frac{ \ln 7 \cdot 7^{0 }}{ \ln 2\cdot 2^{0 }} = \frac{ \ln 7\cdot 1}{ \ln 2\cdot 1} = \frac{ \ln 7}{ \ln 2 }= \log_{2}7$

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Example Question #1 : L'hospital's Rule

Evaluate:

$\lim_{x\rightarrow 0^{+} } \frac{x \sin x}{2^{x} - 1}$

Possible Answers:

$\frac{1}{\ln2}$

$\ln 2$

Correct answer:

Explanation:

$\lim_{x\rightarrow 0^{+} } x \sin x= 0 \cdot \sin 0 = 0$

and

$\lim_{x\rightarrow 0^{+} } \left ( 2 ^{x} - 1 \right )= 2^{0} -1 = 0$

Therefore, by L'Hospital's Rule, we can find $\lim_{x\rightarrow 0^{+} } \frac{x \sin x}{2^{x} - 1}$ by taking the derivatives of the expressions in both the numerator and the denominator:

$\frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}x \sin x = \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x} x \cdot \sin x + \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}\sin x \cdot x$

$= 1 \cdot \sin x + \cos x \cdot x = \sin x + x \cos x$

$\frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}\left ( 2^{x} - 1 \right ) = \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x}\left ( e^{x \ln 2} - 1 \right )$

$= \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x} e^{x \ln 2} - \frac{\mathrm{d} }{\mathrm{d} x} 1$

$= \ln 2\cdot e^{x \ln 2} - 0 = \ln 2\cdot 2^{x }$

$\lim_{x\rightarrow 0^{+} } \frac{x \sin x}{2^{x} - 1} = \lim_{x\rightarrow 0^{+} } \frac{\sin x + x \cos x}{ \ln 2\cdot 2^{x }}$

$= \frac{\sin 0 + 0 \cos 0}{ \ln 2\cdot 2^{0 }} = \frac{ 0 + 0 }{ \ln 2\cdot 1} = 0$

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Example Question #1 : L'hospital's Rule

Solve:

${}\lim_{x \to \infty} x^\frac{5}{x}}$

Possible Answers:

e^5

ln(5)

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Substitution is invalid. In order to solve ${}{ \lim_{x \to \infty} x^\frac{5}{x}}$ , rewrite this as an equation.

${} y= { \lim_{x \to \infty} x^\frac{5}{x}}$

Take the natural log of both sides to bring down the exponent.

${} \lim_{x \to \infty} ln(y)= \lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{5}{x} \cdot ln(x)$

${} \lim_{x \to \infty} ln(y)= 5\lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{ln(x)}{x}$

Since ${} \lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{ln(x)}{x}$ is in indeterminate form, ${}\frac{\infty}{\infty}$ , use the L'Hopital Rule.

L'Hopital Rule is as follows:

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty} \frac{f(x)}{g(x)}=\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty}\frac{f'(x)}{g'(x)}$

${} \lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{ln(x)}{x} = \lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{\frac{1}{x}}{1} = 0$

This indicates that the right hand side of the equation is zero.

${} \lim_{x \to \infty} ln(y)= 0$

Use the term to eliminate the natural log.

${} \lim_{x \to \infty} e^l^n^(^y^)= e^0$

$\lim_{x \to \infty} y=e^0=1$

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Example Question #2 : L'hospital's Rule

Evaluate the limit using L'Hopital's Rule.

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty }\frac{x^2}{e^x+1}$

Possible Answers:

Undefined

$\infty$

Correct answer:

Explanation:

L'Hopital's Rule is used to evaluate complicated limits. The rule has you take the derivative of both the numerator and denominator individually to simplify the function. In the given function we take the derivatives the first time and get

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty }\frac{2x}{e^x}$ .

This still cannot be evaluated properly, so we will take the derivative of both the top and bottom individually again. This time we get

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty }\frac{2}{e^x}$ .

Now we have only one x, so we can evaluate when x is infinity. Plug in infinity for x and we get

$\frac{2}{e^\infty }$ and $e^\infty=\infty$ .

So we can simplify the function by remembering that any number divided by infinity gives you zero.

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Example Question #5 : Euler's Method And L'hopital's Rule

Evaluate the limit using L'Hopital's Rule.

$\lim_{x \to 0} \frac{2x^2}{ln(x)}$

Possible Answers:

$\infty$

Undefined

Correct answer:

Explanation:

$\lim_{x\rightarrow 0}\frac{4x}{\frac{1}{x}}=\lim_{x\rightarrow 0}4x^2$ .

Since the first set of derivatives eliminates an x term, we can plug in zero for the x term that remains. We do this because the limit approaches zero.

This gives us

$4\cdot 0^2=0$ .

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Example Question #3 : Euler's Method And L'hopital's Rule

Evaluate the limit using L'Hopital's Rule.

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty }\frac{5x^3+1}{3x^2}$

Possible Answers:

$\frac{5}{3}$

Undefined

$\frac{15}{6}$

$\infty$

Correct answer:

$\infty$

Explanation:

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty }\frac{15x^2}{6x}$ .

This still cannot be evaluated properly, so we will take the derivative of both the top and bottom individually again. This time we get

$\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty }\frac{30x}{6}=5x$ .

Now we have only one x, so we can evaluate when x is infinity. Plug in infinity for x and we get

$5\cdot \infty=\infty$ .

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Example Question #4 : Euler's Method And L'hopital's Rule

Calculate the following limit.

$\lim_{x\rightarrow2} \frac{x^2-4}{2x-4}$

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To calculate the limit, often times we can just plug in the limit value into the expression. However, in this case if we were to do that we get $\frac00$ , which is undefined.

What we can do to fix this is use L'Hopital's rule, which says

$\lim_{x\rightarrow 2} \frac{f(x)}{g(x)}=\lim_{x\rightarrow 2} \frac{f'(x)}{g'(x)}$ .

So, L'Hopital's rule allows us to take the derivative of both the top and the bottom and still obtain the same limit.

$\lim_{x-\rightarrow 2} \frac{x^2-4}{2x-4}=\lim_{x\rightarrow 2} \frac{2x}{2}$ .

Plug in x=2 to get an answer of .

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GRE Subject Test: Math : Limits

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Math

All GRE Subject Test: Math Resources

Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Evaluating Limits

Example Question #1 : Limits

Example Question #1 : L'hospital's Rule

Example Question #3 : Limits

Example Question #1 : L'hospital's Rule

Example Question #1 : L'hospital's Rule

Example Question #2 : L'hospital's Rule

Example Question #5 : Euler's Method And L'hopital's Rule

Example Question #3 : Euler's Method And L'hopital's Rule

Example Question #4 : Euler's Method And L'hopital's Rule

All GRE Subject Test: Math Resources

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