Double faced

Calculus Level 4

lim x 0 x 2 sin x tan x = ? \large \lim_{x\to 0} \left \lfloor \dfrac {x^2}{\sin x \tan x} \right \rfloor = \, ?


This problem is a part of my set Some JEE problems
-1 Limit does not exist 1 0

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1 solution

Prasun Biswas
Mar 13, 2015

From Maclaurin series of the functions f ( x ) = sin x f(x)=\sin x and f ( x ) = tan x f(x)=\tan x , we know that,

x 0 + sin x < x < tan x , sin x , tan x x x 0 tan x < x < sin x , sin x , tan x x x\to 0^+\implies \sin x\lt x\lt \tan x~,~\sin x, \tan x \approx x\\ x\to 0^-\implies \tan x\lt x\lt \sin x~,~\sin x, \tan x \approx x

We make a simple substitution: sin x = x δ 1 \sin x= x-\delta_1 and tan x = x + δ 2 \tan x=x+\delta_2 where δ 1 , δ 2 0 + \delta_1,\delta_2\to 0^+ . Using this substitution, the right hand limit can be evaluated as,

lim x 0 + x 2 sin x tan x = lim x 0 + x 2 ( x δ 1 ) ( x + δ 2 ) \lim_{x\to 0^+}\left\lfloor \frac{x^2}{\sin x \tan x}\right\rfloor=\lim_{x\to 0^+}\left\lfloor \frac{x^2}{(x-\delta_1)(x+\delta_2)}\right\rfloor

We see that the limit is now defined if we simply put x = 0 x=0 in the function inside the floor. Also, in this case, commuting the floor and the limit doesn't affect the limiting value since the entire function is inside the floor and the limit is defined just by simple value plugging. Thus, we can write the right hand limit as,

R H L = lim x 0 x 2 ( x δ 1 ) ( x + δ 2 ) = 0 2 δ 1 δ 2 = 0 = 0 RHL=\left\lfloor \lim_{x\to 0} \frac{x^2}{(x-\delta_1)(x+\delta_2)}\right\rfloor=\left\lfloor \frac{0^2}{-\delta_1\delta_2}\right\rfloor = \lfloor 0 \rfloor = \boxed{0}

For the left hand limit, we simply manipulate the limit using the trigonometric identities sin ( x ) = sin x \sin (-x)=-\sin x and tan ( x ) = tan x \tan (-x)=-\tan x and proceed as we did for evaluation of right hand limit.

L H L = lim x 0 x 2 ( δ 1 x ) ( x δ 2 ) = 0 2 δ 1 δ 2 = 0 = 0 LHL=\left\lfloor \lim_{x\to 0} \frac{x^2}{(\delta_1-x)(-x-\delta_2)}\right\rfloor=\left\lfloor \frac{0^2}{-\delta_1\delta_2}\right\rfloor = \lfloor 0 \rfloor = \boxed{0}

Both LHL and RHL agree and are equal to 0 \boxed{0} .

Note: In general, you cannot commute the limit and floor operator with each other.

I have edited the solution since I noticed some mistakes later. Please do notify me if you spot any more errors in the solution. :)

Prasun Biswas - 6 years, 3 months ago

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Hmmm... this is a strange approach, you started with Maclaurin Series , and yet you use δ \delta 's in your solution. Looks like you're using only the δ \delta approach.

Plus, there's no need to explicitly calculate both LHL and RHL, it's easy to see that the function is an even function, so we just need to calculuate one of LHL to produce the answer.

Here's the Maclaurin series approach:

For x 0 x \approx 0 , sin ( x ) = x 1 6 x 3 + O ( x 5 ) \sin(x) = x - \dfrac16 x^3 + O(x^5) and tan ( x ) = x + 1 3 x 3 + O ( x 5 ) \tan(x) = x + \dfrac13 x^3 + O(x^5) . Substitute them into the expression x 2 sin ( x ) tan ( x ) \dfrac{x^2}{\sin(x) \tan(x) } , we get 1 1 + 1 6 x 2 + O ( x 4 ) \dfrac1{1 + \frac 16 x^2 + O(x^4) } which is in the interval ( 0 , 1 ) (0,1) . Apply the Floor Function yields 0 \boxed0 .

Pi Han Goh - 5 years, 6 months ago

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Nice method! +1

If I were to write my solution now, I wouldn't say that we have those inequalities from Maclaurin's series since there's a far easier elementary geometric method to show that sin x < x < tan x \sin x\lt x\lt \tan x for x ( 0 , π / 2 ) x\in (0,\pi/2) and sin x > x > tan x \sin x\gt x\gt\tan x for x ( π / 2 , 0 ) x\in (-\pi/2,0) .

So yes, I guess my method doesn't really use Maclaurin's series, haha.

Prasun Biswas - 5 years, 6 months ago

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@Prasun Biswas Similar problem .

Pi Han Goh - 5 years, 6 months ago

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