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Limit of a difference of reciprocals via L'Hopital's Rule

Evaluate the limit lim⁡x→0(1x−1sin⁡x).\lim_{x \to 0} \left(\frac{1}{x} - \frac{1}{\sin x}\right).

Hint

Combine the two fractions into a single fraction first. Check that direct substitution now gives an indeterminate form of type 0/00/0, then apply L'Hopital's Rule — you will likely need to apply it more than once, so re-check the indeterminate form each time before differentiating.

Step-by-step solution

First combine the two terms into a single fraction: 1x−1sin⁡x=sin⁡x−xxsin⁡x.\frac{1}{x} - \frac{1}{\sin x} = \frac{\sin x - x}{x\sin x}. Substituting x=0x=0 into numerator and denominator gives sin⁡(0)−0=0\sin(0)-0=0 and 0⋅sin⁡(0)=00\cdot\sin(0)=0, so this is the indeterminate form 0/00/0, and L'Hopital's Rule applies.

Differentiate numerator and denominator separately: the derivative of sin⁡x−x\sin x - x is cos⁡x−1\cos x - 1, and the derivative of xsin⁡xx\sin x is sin⁡x+xcos⁡x\sin x + x\cos x (product rule). Substituting x=0x=0 gives cos⁡(0)−1=0\cos(0)-1 = 0 and sin⁡(0)+0⋅cos⁡(0)=0\sin(0)+0\cdot\cos(0)=0, so it is again 0/00/0, and L'Hopital's Rule must be applied a second time.

Differentiate again: the derivative of cos⁡x−1\cos x - 1 is −sin⁡x-\sin x, and the derivative of sin⁡x+xcos⁡x\sin x + x\cos x is cos⁡x+cos⁡x−xsin⁡x=2cos⁡x−xsin⁡x\cos x + \cos x - x\sin x = 2\cos x - x\sin x. Now substituting x=0x=0 gives −sin⁡(0)2cos⁡(0)−0=02=0\frac{-\sin(0)}{2\cos(0)-0} = \frac{0}{2} = 0, which is no longer indeterminate.

Therefore lim⁡x→0(1x−1sin⁡x)=0.\lim_{x\to 0}\left(\frac{1}{x}-\frac{1}{\sin x}\right) = 0.

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