richyw said:
can I just say that the limit of 1/(2*pi*n) as n-> infinity is equal to zero? so any interval with zero as an interior point must also contain 1/(2*pi*n) as long as n is big enough?
anyways thanks for all of your help. I'm going to give up on this one now. I know that math is really important, but it gets to the point of not being fun when I get this stuck. I like getting stuck on physics questions but not this. This is math that has been done before and there is someone who can just show it to me haha.
Here's a graph of what's going on :
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=theta^2sin%281%2Ftheta%29+%2B+theta%2F2+from+-1%2F3+to+1%2F3
Here's a graph of the derivative as it tends to zero :
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=derivative+of+theta^2sin%281%2Ftheta%29+%2B+theta%2F2+from+-1%2F10+to+0
You've shown that h'(0) > 0 by already computing it.
Recall a few posts ago :
h is increasing in a neighborhood of 0 means h'(x)>=0 in some interval (-a,a). If 1/(2pi) is in that interval then it's not increasing on that interval. What about h'(1/(2pi*n)) where n is some integer? You can make 1/(2pi*n) as small as you want by picking n to be large.
The question posed to you :
Pick an interval (-a,a). How large does n have to be to make 1/(2pi*n)<a?
All he was asking was how large does n have to be for 1/(2pi*n) to be inside the interval (-a,a).
You replied :
Which is absolutely correct. So choosing n > 1/(2pi*a) implies 1/(2pi*n) is inside (-a,a) no matter what interval (-a,a) you choose ( There are infinitely many of them actually ).
So that shows there is a neighborhood around zero such that h'(x) < 0 since choosing n > 1/(2pi*a) implies 1/(2pi*n) is inside (-a,a).
This shows h′(0)>0, but there is no neighborhood of 0 in which h is increasing since there are infinitely many neighborhoods around it we can choose where it isn't.
Also don't quit so easily. Getting frustrated with it only ensures failure in the end.