← Back to learning objective

L'Hopital's Rule with a rewritten indeterminate form

Evaluate the limit lim⁡x→∞xsin⁡(1x)\lim_{x \to \infty} x \sin\left(\frac{1}{x}\right) using L'Hopital's Rule. To do this, first rewrite the expression as a quotient so that it takes the form 0/00/0 or ∞/∞\infty/\infty, then apply the rule. What is the value of the limit?

Hint

Rewrite xsin⁡(1/x)x\sin(1/x) as sin⁡(1/x)1/x\dfrac{\sin(1/x)}{1/x}. Check that as x→∞x \to \infty this quotient has the form 0/00/0, then differentiate the numerator and denominator separately using the chain rule.

Step-by-step solution

Rewrite the product as a quotient: xsin⁡(1/x)=sin⁡(1/x)1/xx\sin(1/x) = \dfrac{\sin(1/x)}{1/x}. As x→∞x \to \infty, 1/x→01/x \to 0, so sin⁡(1/x)→0\sin(1/x) \to 0 and 1/x→01/x \to 0, giving the indeterminate form 0/00/0. This confirms L'Hopital's Rule can be applied.

Differentiate numerator and denominator separately with respect to xx: the derivative of sin⁡(1/x)\sin(1/x) is cos⁡(1/x)⋅(−1/x2)\cos(1/x)\cdot(-1/x^2) by the chain rule, and the derivative of 1/x1/x is −1/x2-1/x^2. Forming the new quotient, lim⁡x→∞−cos⁡(1/x)/x2−1/x2=lim⁡x→∞cos⁡(1/x).\lim_{x\to\infty} \frac{-\cos(1/x)/x^2}{-1/x^2} = \lim_{x\to\infty} \cos(1/x). As x→∞x \to \infty, 1/x→01/x \to 0, so cos⁡(1/x)→cos⁡(0)=1\cos(1/x) \to \cos(0) = 1. Therefore the original limit equals 11.

Recognizing the resulting limit after differentiation

Hint
Step-by-step solution

The answer is one. After differentiating numerator and denominator, the quotient simplified to cosine of one over x. As x approaches infinity, one over x approaches zero, so cosine of one over x approaches cosine of zero, which equals one.

Related problems

Practice similar Calculus problems interactively.

Start Closing the Gap