Calculus Examples

$lim_{x \to 0} \frac{1}{x} - \frac{1}{| x |}$

Step 1

Change the two-sided limit into a left sided limit.

$lim_{x \to 0^{-}} \frac{1}{x} - \frac{1}{| x |}$

Step 2

Combine terms.

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Step 2.1

To write $\frac{1}{x}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{| x |}{| x |}$ .

$lim_{x \to 0^{-}} \frac{1}{x} \cdot \frac{| x |}{| x |} - \frac{1}{| x |}$

Step 2.2

To write $- \frac{1}{| x |}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{x}{x}$ .

$lim_{x \to 0^{-}} \frac{1}{x} \cdot \frac{| x |}{| x |} - \frac{1}{| x |} \cdot \frac{x}{x}$

Step 2.3

Write each expression with a common denominator of $x | x |$ , by multiplying each by an appropriate factor of $1$ .

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Step 2.3.1

Multiply $\frac{1}{x}$ by $\frac{| x |}{| x |}$ .

$lim_{x \to 0^{-}} \frac{| x |}{x | x |} - \frac{1}{| x |} \cdot \frac{x}{x}$

Step 2.3.2

Multiply $\frac{1}{| x |}$ by $\frac{x}{x}$ .

$lim_{x \to 0^{-}} \frac{| x |}{x | x |} - \frac{x}{| x | x}$

Step 2.3.3

Reorder the factors of $| x | x$ .

$lim_{x \to 0^{-}} \frac{| x |}{x | x |} - \frac{x}{x | x |}$

Step 2.4

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$lim_{x \to 0^{-}} \frac{| x | - x}{x | x |}$

Step 3

As the $x$ values approach $0$ from the left, the function values decrease without bound.

$- \infty$