University Calculus: Early Transcendentals (3rd Edition)

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

Chapter 2 - Section 2.3 - The Precise Definition of a Limit - Exercises - Page 75: 11

Answer

$\delta=\sqrt5-2$

Work Step by Step

Find a $\delta\gt0$ such that for all $x$ $$0\lt |x-2|\lt\delta\Rightarrow|f(x)-4|\lt1$$ Looking at the graphs, we can see that for values of $f(x)$ to be restricted between $3$ and $5$ (which means $|f(x)-4|\lt1$), $x$ must be placed between $\sqrt3$ and $\sqrt5$. - Calculate the distance from $2$ to $\sqrt3$ and $\sqrt5$: $2-\sqrt3\approx0.268$ and $\sqrt5-2\approx0.236$. So we would go with the nearer endpoint, which is $\sqrt5$ and take $\delta$ to be $\sqrt5-2$ ( or any smaller positive number is fine). Therefore, $$0\lt |x-2|\lt\sqrt5-2\Rightarrow|f(x)-4|\lt1$$
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