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Nonexistence of a limit due to oscillation

Consider the function s(x)=cos⁡(πx)s(x) = \cos\left(\dfrac{\pi}{x}\right). We are interested in the behavior of s(x)s(x) as x→0x \to 0.

Consider the sequence of xx-values x=11,12,13,14,15,16,…x = \dfrac{1}{1}, \dfrac{1}{2}, \dfrac{1}{3}, \dfrac{1}{4}, \dfrac{1}{5}, \dfrac{1}{6}, \dots, all approaching 00. Evaluate s(x)=cos⁡(π/x)s(x) = \cos(\pi/x) at these values to see how s(x)s(x) behaves as xx gets closer and closer to 00.

Nonexistence of a limit due to oscillation graph

Based on this pattern and the graph, does lim⁡x→0cos⁡(πx)\displaystyle\lim_{x \to 0} \cos\left(\dfrac{\pi}{x}\right) exist? If it exists, give its value. If it does not exist, state which of the standard reasons (unequal one-sided limits, unbounded growth, or oscillation) applies.

Hint

Compute cos⁡(π/x)\cos(\pi/x) at x=1,1/2,1/3,1/4,…x = 1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, \dots and notice what values π/x\pi/x takes and how cos⁡\cos behaves at those inputs as x→0+x \to 0^+.

Step-by-step solution

Plugging in x=1,1/2,1/3,1/4,1/5,1/6,…x = 1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, \dots gives π/x=π,2π,3π,4π,5π,6π,…\pi/x = \pi, 2\pi, 3\pi, 4\pi, 5\pi, 6\pi, \dots, so s(x)=cos⁡(π/x)s(x) = \cos(\pi/x) takes the values −1,1,−1,1,−1,1,…-1, 1, -1, 1, -1, 1, \dots. Even though these xx-values get arbitrarily close to 00, the function values never settle down toward a single number — they keep alternating between −1-1 and 11 forever.

This is the oscillation failure case: as x→0x \to 0, π/x\pi/x grows without bound, so cos⁡(π/x)\cos(\pi/x) cycles through all values between −1-1 and 11 infinitely often no matter how close xx gets to 00. Since s(x)s(x) does not approach any single fixed value LL, the limit does not exist.

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