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vertciel
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Homework Statement
Evaluate [tex] \underset{x\to 0}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\frac{\sec \frac{x}{2}-1}{x\sin x} [/tex], WITHOUT using l'Hôpital's rule.
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
Hello there,
I tried to evaluate this limit using two different approaches, both of which still leave the limit in indeterminate form when 0 is substituted.
Thank you for your help!
I) Pure algebraic manipulation:
[tex] \begin{align}
& \underset{x\to 0}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\frac{\sec \tfrac{x}{2}-1}{x\sin x}=\underset{x\to 0}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\left( \frac{1-\cos \tfrac{x}{2}}{\cos \tfrac{x}{2}}\div \frac{1}{x\sin x} \right)=\underset{x\to 0}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\left( \frac{1-\cos \tfrac{x}{2}}{x\sin x\cos \tfrac{x}{2}} \right) \\
& =\underset{x\to 0}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\left( \frac{1-\cos \tfrac{x}{2}}{\tfrac{x}{2}} \right)\times \underset{x\to 0}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\left( \frac{\tfrac{1}{2}}{\sin x\cos \tfrac{x}{2}} \right) \\
\end{align} [/tex]
II) Manipulation with conjugate method:
[tex] \begin{align}
& \underset{x\to 0}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\frac{\sec \tfrac{x}{2}-1}{x\sin x}=\underset{x\to 0}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\left( \frac{1-\cos \tfrac{x}{2}}{x\sin x\cos \tfrac{x}{2}} \right) \\
& \text{Let u = }\tfrac{x}{2}.\text{ Since }\underset{u\to 0}{\mathop{\lim }}\,u=0\text{, u still tends to 0}\text{.} \\
& \underset{u\to 0}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\frac{1-\cos u}{\tfrac{u}{2}\cos u\sin \tfrac{u}{2}}\left( \frac{1+\cos u}{1+\cos u} \right)=\underset{u\to 0}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\frac{1-{{\cos }^{2}}u}{\tfrac{u}{2}\cos u\sin \tfrac{u}{2}(1+\cos u)} \\
& =\underset{u\to 0}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\frac{{{\sin }^{2}}u}{\tfrac{u}{2}\cos u\sin \tfrac{u}{2}(1+\cos u)} \\
\end{align} [/tex]