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Lesson Plan: L͛Hopital͛s Rule

When we first learn about calculus, we use limits to figure out derivatives of functions.

In fact the definition of a derivative involves a limit. Today we are going to go in the opposite

direction, use derivatives to find the limit!

We are going to be finding limits in indeterminate form, meaning that if we take the

limit by itself it ends up 0/0 or infinity/infinity or something of that sort. Something like this is

indeterminate or undefined. In order to solve these kinds of limits in a much shorter, quicker,

smoother, and simply less brain busting fashion, we can use L͛Hopital͛s Rule.

This rule comes quite in handy when taking a test and you͛re short on time, maybe in a

math contest with a particularly difficult limit to find, or you simply want to troll your friends

and make them think you͛re some sort of genius (assuming you all find limits in your spare

time).

Now for L͛Hopital͛s rule, we first have some prerequisites.

So, if the limit of f as x approaches c is 0 and the limit of g as x approaches c is 0, and the

limit of f prime divided by g prime as x approaches c is equal to L, this is the indeterminate form

of 0/0, so the limit as x approaches c of f(x)/g(x) is also going to be equal to L.

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This might seem weird initially but it will make sense with some examples. The next

part of L͛Hopital͛s rule is, if the limit of f as x approaches c is infinity and the limit of g as x

approaches c is infinity, and and the limit of f prime divided by g prime as x approaches c is

equal to L, then the limit as x approaches c of f(x)/g(x) is equal to L, just like the previous one.

This seems weird, so let͛s put it in simpler terms.

For the first part, regarding 0, if you test c in the limit f(x)/g(x) and it comes out to 0/0,

at that point you can separately derive f(x) and g(x), and then insert c into the functions f͛(x)

and g͛(x) and come out with a limit.

As for the part of the rule regarding infinity, if you test c in the limit f(x)/g(x) and it

comes out to infinity/infinity, then you keep deriving the top and the bottom separately until

the derivative is an integer number with no variable.

Option 1:

So for an initial example, let us look at the limit of sinx/x as x approaches 0. If we are to

test the function by putting in 0, sin0=0 and 0=0, therefore this would come out to 0/0. Now

we can go ahead and use L͛Hopital͛s rule. At the top, we derive sinx, which is equal to cosine x,

and derive x at the bottom, equal to one. So now we have the limit of cosx/1 as x approaches

0. Cos0 equals 1, therefore 1/1, so now the initial limit is equal to 1. This is a useful proof for

something we had to memorize earlier this year.

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Now let͛s evaluate the limit as x approaches 0 of 2sinx-sin2x over x-sinx. First let͛s try

to evaluate the function at x=0. If we do this, we get 2sin0-sin2(0) over 0-sin0, which is

simplified to 0-0/0-0 and 0/0. We now have the indeterminate form and can use L͛Hopital͛s

rule. Let͛s take the derivative of this (do so). But if we put it in it comes out to 0/0! (Keep

doing it until we can find an actual number).

Now let͛s do the limit as x approaches infinity of 4 x squared minus 5x over 1-3x

squared. We can try and ͞test͟ this as we always have, and see that the evaluation would be

positive infinity over negative infinity, which is an indeterminate form. So what we would do is

derive the top to 8x-5 over negative 6x, but we aren͛t done. We can derive it again to find 8/6,

which simplifies to 4/3, which is the limit.

Option 2:

For our first example, let͛s take the limit of the function (1-cosʋx)/ ʋx as x approaches
zero. Initial testing will show that both 1-cosʋx and ʋx both equal zero as x approaches zero,
therefore making the limit indeterminate. Therefore, we must utilize L'Hôpital's Rule, taking the
derivative of each mini-function, which equal ʋsinʋx and ʋ respectively. Therefore, the limit of
the function will equal that of (ʋsinʋx)/ʋ as x approaches zero, which equals 0/ʋ, or 0.
EX #1
lim* 1-cosʋx = 0 = lim* ʋx
lim* (1-cosʋx)/ʋx = lim* (ʋsinʋx)/ʋ
= ʋsin0/ʋ
=0
*limit taken as x approaches 0
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For our second example, let us take the limit of the function (e^x - 1)/x as x approaches
zero. First, we test the component functions of e^x ʹ 1 and x, discovering that both are indeed
equal to zero. Next, utilizing L'Hôpital's Rule, we evaluate the derivatives of these functions and
then evaluate the limit of said derivatives, discovering that the limit of the function equals 1.

EX #2
lim* e^x -1 = 0 = lim* x
lim* (e^x - 1)/x = lim* (e^x)/1
= (e^0)/1
=1
*limit taken as x approaches 0

Works Cited

"L'Hôpital's Rule." Wikipedia. 4 Apr. 2011. Web. 22 May 2011.

"L'Hopital's Rulecc." Ë

e. Web. 22 May 2011.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiVOC3WocXs>.c
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Weissten, Eric W. "L'Hospital's Rule." W am MathW d. Web. 22 May 2011.

<http://mathworld.wolfram.com/LHospitalsRule.html>.