The discussion revolves around the behavior of the exponential function \( e^x \) as \( x \) approaches infinity and negative infinity, particularly in the context of an integration problem involving a constant \( c \). Participants are exploring the limits of the function and its implications for the integration result.
Some participants have provided clarifications regarding the limits of the exponential function, indicating that \( e^x \) approaches infinity as \( x \) approaches infinity and approaches zero as \( x \) approaches negative infinity. There is an ongoing exploration of these concepts without a clear consensus on the original poster's conclusions.
The original poster appears to be grappling with the implications of their integration result and the behavior of the exponential function, suggesting a potential misunderstanding of the limits involved. There is a mention of using a graphing calculator, which may influence their interpretation of the function's behavior.
Then you need a new calculator! e^x does not go anywhere near 1 as x goes to infinity.laura_a said:Homework Statement
I have done an integration and ended up with the result
[-c/2 * [e^(-2x)]] |^infinity_0 = 1
The solution is that c=2 so that means to me that e^(2x) must turn into minus 1 for it to equal 1... but I'm not sure.. I've got graphcalc so I've been staring at the graph and I figure that as x goes to infinity that e^x goes to 1... but not sure what to say when x goes to minus infinity?