Finding Limits of Trig Functions

cheerspens
Messages
92
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


The first problem I'm having difficulty with is

\stackrel{lim}{x\rightarrow0} \frac{sin x}{5x}

And the second is:
\stackrel{lim}{x\rightarrow0} \frac{sin x(1-cos x)}{2x^{2}}

Homework Equations


I assume that for the first problem I need to simplify it to the rule where \stackrel{lim}{x\rightarrow0} \frac{sin x}{x}=1
and the second would probably need to simplify to follow the rule \stackrel{lim}{x\rightarrow0} \frac{1-cos x}{x}=0

The Attempt at a Solution


What I mainly need help with is how to get started. For the first problem, how do I get rid of the 5x at the bottom?
For the second problem should I square the entire thing and end up with \stackrel{lim}{x\rightarrow0} \frac{2sin x}{4x^{4}} then go from there or is that even correct?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
cheerspens said:

The Attempt at a Solution


What I mainly need help with is how to get started. For the first problem, how do I get rid of the 5x at the bottom?
For the second problem should I square the entire thing and end up with \stackrel{lim}{x\rightarrow0} \frac{2sin x}{4x^{4}} then go from there or is that even correct?

Rewrite the first one as (1/5)(sinx/x) then take the limit.

use the fact that x2=x*x and then try to get sinx/x and (1-cosx)/x then use the fact that lim(x→a) f*g = lim(x→a) f * lim(x→a) g
 
Use the power series for sin(x) and cos(x).

You already know the first answer is 1/5.

Second problem:
cos x = 1 - ax^2 + bx^4 + ... etc. since it's an even function.
sin x = cx + dx^3 + ... etc. since it's an odd function.
Then take the first two terms of cos x and the first term of sin x in your expression, realize that the lowest power of x in the numerator is higher than the highest power of x in the denominator, and bingo!
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
Back
Top