[Math] Why doesn’t a limit exist if you have 0 in the denominator

calculus

Say I want to find the limit of $f(x) = \frac{p(x)}{q(x)}$ at some 'a'. I've been told the limit doesn't exist if ever the denominator q(x) went to zero but not the numerator. Why is this?

Best Answer

Here are the steps that I would take to prove it, under the assumption that $p$ and $q$ are continuous (without that assumption, or something very like it, there really isn't much you can do in general):

  1. Assume the limit exists, and is some real number $L\in \Bbb R$
  2. Use the following known facts in concert to derive a contradiction:
    • The definition of $\lim_{x\to a}\frac{p(x)}{q(x)} = L$
    • $q(a) = 0 \neq p(a)$
    • $p$ and $q$ are continuous

Edit: Thorough working out:

We ultimately want to disprove that $\lim_{x\to a}\frac{p(x)}{q(x)} = L$, so we just need to find a single $\epsilon>0$ that makes a contradiction. I pick $1$, because I like it (and because I actually know that they will all fail, so it doesn't matter which one I pick, so I go for one that is easy to work with). Since we assumed that the limit existed, that must mean that there is a $\delta>0$ that fulfills the definition $\lim_{x\to a}\frac{p(x)}{q(x)} = L$ for this specific value of $\epsilon$. In other words, for any $x\in (a-\delta, a+\delta)\setminus \{a\}$, we have $$ \left|\frac{p(x)}{q(x)} - L\right|<1\\ \left|\frac{p(x) - Lq(x)}{q(x)}\right|<1\\ \frac{|p(x)-Lq(x)|}{|q(x)|}<1\\ |p(x) - Lq(x)| < |q(x)| $$ Now let's use that $p$ and $q$ are continuous. $p$ being continuous means that there is a $\delta_p>0$ such that for any $x\in (a-\delta_p, a+\delta_p)$, we have $|p(x) - p(a)|<\frac{|p(a)|}2$ (here we use that $p(a)\neq 0$). This, in turn, means that $|p(x)|>\frac{|p(a)|}2$.

Similarily, we know that there is some $\delta_q>0$, such that for any $x\in (a-\delta_q, a+\delta_q)$ we have $|q(x)-q(a)| = |q(x)| <\frac{|p(a)|}{2(|L| + 1)}$ (here we also use that $p(a) \neq 0$, along with $q(a) = 0$). This, in turn, means that $(|L| + 1)|q(x)|<\frac{|p(a)|}{2}$.

If we now assume that $x\in (a-\delta_p, a+\delta_p)\cap (a-\delta_q, a+\delta_q)$, we can chain these two implications together to get $$ |Lq(x)| + |q(x)| < \frac{|p(a)|}{2} < p(x)\\ |q(x)|<|p(x)| - |Lq(x)|\\ |q(x)|<|p(x) - Lq(x)| $$ Now, let $\delta_f = \min(\delta, \delta_p, \delta_q)$, and pick an $x\in (a-\delta_f, a+\delta_f)\setminus\{a\}$, which is possible since $\delta_f>0$. For such an $x$, we have both $|q(x)|<|p(x) - Lq(x)|$ and $|p(x) - Lq(x)| < |q(x)|$, which is a contradiction.