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Exercise 22Calculus › Single-variable calculus › LimitsHigh schoolAdded 8 Nov 2026

Three basic limits by conjugation and standard limits

#conjugate#standard limit#sine

Statement

Compute the following limits:

a) lim⁡x→01+x−1−xx\displaystyle\lim_{x\to0}\frac{\sqrt{1+x}-\sqrt{1-x}}{x};
b) lim⁡x→11x−1x−1\displaystyle\lim_{x\to1}\frac{\frac1x-1}{x-1};
c) lim⁡x→0sin⁡2xsin⁡3x\displaystyle\lim_{x\to0}\frac{\sin 2x}{\sin 3x}.

Hint

a) Multiply numerator and denominator by the conjugate 1+x+1−x\sqrt{1+x}+\sqrt{1-x}. b) Combine the numerator over a common denominator, then factor x−1x-1. c) Use lim⁡u→0sin⁡u/u=1\lim_{u\to0}\sin u/u=1 by inserting 2x2x and 3x3x.

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Solution

a) Direct substitution gives 0/00/0. Multiply by the conjugate:
1+x−1−xx=(1+x)−(1−x)x(1+x+1−x)=21+x+1−x.\frac{\sqrt{1+x}-\sqrt{1-x}}{x}=\frac{(1+x)-(1-x)}{x(\sqrt{1+x}+\sqrt{1-x})}=\frac{2}{\sqrt{1+x}+\sqrt{1-x}}.
As x→0x\to0, the denominator tends to 1+1=2\sqrt1+\sqrt1=2, so the limit is 11.

b) Direct substitution gives 0/00/0. Simplify:
1x−1x−1=(1−x)/xx−1=−1x(x≠1).\frac{\frac1x-1}{x-1}=\frac{(1-x)/x}{x-1}=-\frac{1}{x}\quad(x\neq1).
Hence the limit as x→1x\to1 is −1-1.

c) Direct substitution gives 0/00/0. Write
sin⁡2xsin⁡3x=23⋅sin⁡2x/(2x)sin⁡3x/(3x)⟶23⋅11=23.\frac{\sin 2x}{\sin 3x}=\frac{2}{3}\cdot\frac{\sin 2x/(2x)}{\sin 3x/(3x)}\longrightarrow\frac{2}{3}\cdot\frac{1}{1}=\frac{2}{3}.