Limits involving exponential functions

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around limits involving exponential functions, specifically addressing the application of L'Hôpital's rule and the continuity of exponential functions in the context of indeterminate forms like 0^0.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the validity of moving limits inside the exponential function, questioning the continuity of the function f(x) at a specific point. There is a discussion about the implications of continuity for the limit of e^f(x).

Discussion Status

Some participants have offered insights into the continuity of the exponential function and its implications for limits. There is an ongoing exploration of how to formally prove the relationship between the limits and the continuity of functions involved.

Contextual Notes

Participants note that f(x) may have discontinuities at the point of interest, which complicates the application of limit properties. The discussion references the need for a formal proof to support the claims made about continuity and limits.

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Homework Statement



I was studying L'Hopital's rule and how to deal with indeterminate forms of the type 0^0.

It's not clear to me how lim e^f(x) = e^lim f(x).

In wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27H%C3%B4pital%27s_rule" (under other indeterminate forms)
it says "It is valid to move the limit inside the exponential function because the exponential function is continuous".

But that would mean lim(x->a) e^f(x) = e^f(a).

Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution


 
Last edited by a moderator:
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\lim_{x \rightarrow a}e^{f(x)} = e^{\lim_{x \rightarrow a} f(x)}


But for limx->af(x)=f(a) would only occur if f(x) is continuous at x=a
 
Last edited:
Remember that f(x) may have issues at a, as mentioned above, even when it is part of e^f(x). You can move the limit inside the exponential, because the exponential itself doesn't have problem spots ("is continuous everywhere"), so it is only the f(x) inside that you have to deal with regarding the limit.
 
Yea it makes sense, but is there some way to show this as a proof?
For instance the basic limit properties such as lim(f + g) = lim f + lim g are proved.
 
It should be straightforward to show from the limit definition of "continuous function" that if g is continuous at L and \lim_{x\rightarrow a} f(x) = L, then \lim_{x\rightarrow a} g(f(x)) = g(L).
 

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