Solve Excercise 9 in AP Calculus: Find DELTA for |f(x)-L| < E

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SUMMARY

In Exercise 9 of AP Calculus, the task is to find a DELTA such that |f(x) - L| < E when 0 < |x - a| < DELTA, given the limit of the function f(x) = 2x as x approaches 4, which equals 8, and E = 0.1. The solution involves determining DELTA, which can be any value less than 0.1, with DELTA = 0.05 being a suitable choice. This ensures that for any x within the range |x - 4| < DELTA, the condition |f(x) - 8| < E holds true.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of limits in calculus
  • Familiarity with the epsilon-delta definition of limits
  • Basic algebraic manipulation skills
  • Knowledge of the function f(x) = 2x
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the epsilon-delta definition of limits in detail
  • Practice solving similar limit problems using different functions
  • Explore the concept of continuity and its relationship to limits
  • Learn about the implications of limits in real-world applications
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Students studying calculus, particularly those preparing for AP Calculus exams, and educators looking for clear explanations of limit concepts.

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Here's a limit question which I can't seem to figure out how to do, if someone can explain how to do this one question, I'd greatly appreciate it, as I barely understand this:

In exercise 9, a positive number E and the limit L of a function f at a are given. Find a number DELTA such that |f(x) -L| < E if 0 < |x-a| < DELTA

exercise 9:
\lim_{x \rightarrow 4} 2x = 8; E = 0.1

Thanks.
 
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Write down what you know and what you need to prove:

Find a \delta&gt;0, such that:
|2x-8|&lt;0.1 whenever |x-4|&lt;\delta

That's almost always the first step. Simply write it down. The answer may already be obvious from the above expression.
 


To solve Exercise 9, we first need to understand the definition of a limit. The limit of a function f at a point a is the value that f approaches as x gets closer and closer to a. In other words, as x gets closer to a, the value of f(x) gets closer to the limit L.

In this exercise, we are given that the limit of 2x as x approaches 4 is 8, and we are asked to find a number DELTA such that |f(x)-L| < E if 0 < |x-a| < DELTA, where E is a positive number.

To find DELTA, we can use the definition of a limit. We know that as x approaches 4, the value of f(x) gets closer to 8. So, we can say that for any value of x that is close enough to 4, the difference between f(x) and 8 will be less than E.

Mathematically, we can write this as: |f(x)-8| < E

Now, we need to find a value of DELTA such that if |x-4| < DELTA, then |f(x)-8| < E. This means that we need to find a range of values for x that are close enough to 4 so that the difference between f(x) and 8 is less than E.

To do this, we can use the fact that the limit is 8. This means that if we choose a value of DELTA such that |x-4| < DELTA, then we can guarantee that |f(x)-8| < E.

So, for any value of E, we can choose DELTA to be a small enough value such that |x-4| < DELTA. This will ensure that |f(x)-8| < E.

In this exercise, E = 0.1. So, we can choose DELTA to be any value less than 0.1. For example, we can choose DELTA = 0.05.

Therefore, the number DELTA such that |f(x)-L| < E if 0 < |x-a| < DELTA is DELTA = 0.05.

I hope this explanation helps you understand how to solve Exercise 9 in AP Calculus. Remember, when finding DELTA, we need to choose a value that is small enough so that the difference between
 

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