DETERMINING LIMITS USING L'HOPITAL'S RULES

The following problems involve the use of l'Hopital's Rule. It is used to circumvent
the common indeterminate forms "0"0"0"0 and "∞"∞"∞"∞ when computing limits. There
are numerous forms of l"Hopital's Rule, whose verifications require advanced
techniques in calculus, but which can be found in many calculus books. This link will
show you the plausibility of l'Hopital's Rule. Following are two of the forms of
l'Hopital's Rule.

THEOREM 1 (l'Hopital's Rule for zero over zero): Suppose

that limx→af(x)=0limx→af(x)=0, limx→ag(x)=0limx→ag(x)=0, and that
functions ff and gg are differentiable on an open interval II containing aa. Assume also
that g′(x)≠0g′(x)≠0 in IIif x≠ax≠a. Then

limx→af(x)g(x)=limx→af′(x)g′(x)limx→af(x)g(x)=limx→af′(x)g′(x)
so long as the limit is finite, +∞+∞, or −∞−∞. Similar results hold
for x→∞x→∞ and x→−∞x→−∞.

THEOREM 2 (l'Hopital's Rule for infinity over infinity): Assume that

functions ff and gg are differentiable for all xx larger than some fixed number.
If limx→af(x)=∞limx→af(x)=∞ and limx→ag(x)=∞limx→ag(x)=∞, then

limx→af(x)g(x)=limx→af′(x)g′(x)limx→af(x)g(x)=limx→af′(x)g′(x)
so long as the limit is finite, +∞+∞, or −∞−∞. Similar results hold
for x→∞x→∞ and x→−∞x→−∞.

In both forms of l'Hopital's Rule it should be noted that you are required to
differentiate (separately) the numerator and denominator of the ratio if either of the
indeterminate forms "0"0"0"0 or "∞"∞"∞"∞ arises in the computation of a limit. Do not
confuse l'Hopital's Rule with the Quotient Rule for derivatives. Here is a simple
illustration of Theorem 1.

EXAMPLE 1:

limx→2x−2x2−4="2−2"(2)2−4="0"0limx→2x−2x2−4="2−2"(2)2−4="0"0
(Now apply Theorem 1. Differentiate top and bottom separately.)
=limx→21−02x−0=limx→21−02x−0
=limx→212x=limx→212x
=12(2)=12(2)
=14=14
Here is a simple illustration of Theorem 1.

EXAMPLE 2:

limx→∞2x+73x2−5="∞"∞="0"0limx→∞2x+73x2−5="∞"∞="0"0
(Now apply Theorem 2. Differentiate top and bottom separately.)
=limx→∞2+06x−0=limx→∞2+06x−0
=limx→∞13x=limx→∞13x
="1"∞="1"∞
=0=0

Indeterminate forms
besides "0"0"0"0 and "∞"∞"∞"∞ include "0⋅∞"0⋅∞, "∞−∞""∞−∞", "1∞""1∞", "00""00",
and "∞0""∞0". These forms also arise in the computation of limits and can often be
algebraically transformed into the form "0"0"0"0 or "∞"∞"∞"∞, so that l'Hopital's Rule can
be applied. Following are two examples of such transformations. The second example
uses the fact that y=exy=ex and y=lnxy=ln⁡x are inverse functions, so
that z=elnzz=eln⁡z for all z>0z>0 and lnzm=mlnzln⁡zm=mln⁡z for all z>0z>0 and
any mm.

EXAMPLE 3:

limx→0+x−−√⋅lnx="0⋅−∞"limx→0+x⋅ln⁡x="0⋅−∞"
(Circumvent this indeterminate form by "flipping" x−−√x.)
=limx→0+lnx1/x−−√="−∞"∞=limx→0+ln⁡x1/x="−∞"∞
(Now use Theorem 2 for l'Hopital's Rule.)
=limx→0+1/x−1/2x3/2=limx→0+1/x−1/2x3/2
=limx→0+−2x−−√=limx→0+−2x
=−20–√=−20
 =−2(0)=−2(0)
=0=0

EXAMPLE 4:

limx→0+xx="00"limx→0+xx="00"
(Use the fact that z=elnzz=eln⁡z.)
=limx→0+elnxx=limx→0+eln⁡xx
(Use the fact that lnzm=mlnzln⁡zm=mln⁡z .)
=limx→0+exlnx=limx→0+exln⁡x
(This next step uses the fact that y=exlnxy=exln⁡x is a continuous function.)
=elimx→0+xlnx=elimx→0+xln⁡x
=e"0⋅(−∞)"=e"0⋅(−∞)"
(Circumvent this indeterminate form by "flipping" xx.)
=elimx→0+lnx1/x=elimx→0+ln⁡x1/x
(Now apply Theorem 2 for l'Hopita's Rule.)
=elimx→0+1/x−1/x2=elimx→0+1/x−1/x2
=elimx→0+(−x)=elimx→0+(−x)
=e0=e0
=1=1

In the list of limit problems which follows, most problems are average and a few are
somewhat challenging. In some cases there may be methods other than l'Hopital's
Rule that could be used to compute the given limit. Nonetheless, l'Hopital's Rule will
be used whenever applicable in this problem set.

 PROBLEM 1 : Compute limx→1x2−1x2+3x−4 limx→1x2−1x2+3x−4 .

 PROBLEM 2 : Compute
 PROBLEM 3 : Compute
 PROBLEM 4 : Compute
 PROBLEM 5 : Compute
 PROBLEM 6 : Compute
 PROBLEM 7 : Compute
 PROBLEM 8 : Compute
limx→4x−4x−−√−2 limx→4x−4x−2 .
limx→0sinxx limx→0sin⁡xx .
limx→03x−2xx2−x limx→03x−2xx2−x .
limx→31/x−1/3x2−9 limx→31/x−1/3x2−9 .
limx→0xtanxsin3x limx→0xtan⁡xsin⁡3x .
limx→0arcsin4xarctan5x limx→0arcsin⁡4xarctan⁡5x .
limx→0sinx2xtanx limx→0sin⁡x2xtan⁡x .
  PROBLEM 9 : Compute limx→0x2extan2x limx→0x2extan2⁡x .
 PROBLEM 10 : Compute limx→0e−1/x2x2 limx→0e−1/x2x2 .
 PROBLEM 11 : Compute limx→∞ex5x+200 limx→∞ex5x+200 .
 PROBLEM 12 : Compute limx→∞3+lnxx2+7 limx→∞3+ln⁡xx2+7 .
 PROBLEM 13 :
Compute limx→∞x2+3x−107x2−5x+4 limx→∞x2+3x−107x2−5x+4 .
 PROBLEM 14 : Compute limx→∞(lnx)2e2x limx→∞(ln⁡x)2e2x .
 PROBLEM 15 : Compute limx→∞3x+2x2x+3x limx→∞3x+2x2x+3x .
 PROBLEM 16 : Compute limx→∞ex+2/xex+5/x limx→∞ex+2/xex+5/x .
 PROBLEM 17 :
Compute limx→∞(x2+1−−−−−√−x+1−−−−−√) limx→∞(x2+1−x+1) . (Recall
that "∞−∞""∞−∞" is an indeterminate form. HINT: First use a conjugate.)

..... ..... L'HOPITAL ALERT ..... The following problems require algebraic
manipulation BEFORE l'Hopital's Rule can be applied.

 PROBLEM 18 : Compute limx→0+ x⋅lnx limx→0+ x⋅ln⁡x .

 PROBLEM 19 : Compute limx→0+ x⋅(lnx)2 limx→0+ x⋅(ln⁡x)2 .
 PROBLEM 20 : Compute limx→0+ lnx⋅tanx limx→0+ ln⁡x⋅tan⁡x .
 PROBLEM 21 : Compute limx→0+ xsinx limx→0+ xsin⁡x .
 PROBLEM 22 : Compute limx→∞ (1+3/x)x limx→∞ (1+3/x)x .
 PROBLEM 23 : Compute limx→0 (1−x)1/x limx→0 (1−x)1/x .
 PROBLEM 24 : Compute limx→0+ (tanx)x2 limx→0+ (tan⁡x)x2 .
 PROBLEM 25 : Compute limx→∞ x1/x√ limx→∞ x1/x .
 PROBLEM 26 : Compute limx→∞ (lnx)1/x limx→∞ (ln⁡x)1/x .
𝑋
 PROBLEM 27 : Compute limx→0+ 𝑋 𝑋 limx→0+ xxx .
 PROBLEM 28 : Consider the
problem limx→∞ 3x+sinx2x limx→∞ 3x+sin⁡x2x .
a.) Use the Squeeze Principle to evaluate this limit.
b.) Apply l'Hopital's Rule to this limit.
c.) What do your answers in part a.) and b.) say about l'Hopital's Rule ?