Solving One-Sided Limit: lim_{x\rightarrow4^{-}} \frac{\sqrt{x}-2}{x-4}

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Homework Statement


lim_{x\rightarrow4^{-}} \frac{\sqrt{x}-2}{x-4}


Homework Equations


Typical methods used in solving one-sided limit.


The Attempt at a Solution


I plug in something a little bit bigger than four, like 4.0000001 into x, and I get \frac{something a little less than zero}{something a little less than zero} to equal 1. But the answer is 1/4. How is this so?
 
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Multiply both the top and the bottom by \sqrt{x}+2. This is called "multiplying by the conjugate" and is pretty standard for dealing with limits involving square roots
 
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...
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