Estimating the limit of x*sin(1/x) near 0 using a graph
Consider the function , which is defined for all . We want to investigate its behavior as .
The graph of near is shown below.
Note that is not defined at itself. Based on the graph, and considering values of close to on both sides, what is ?
Hint
Look at how the curve is squeezed between the two dashed lines and as gets close to from either side, even though itself oscillates rapidly. Focus on the height of the wiggles, not their frequency.
Step-by-step solution
As approaches from either side, the factor oscillates rapidly between and , but this oscillation is multiplied by , which is shrinking toward . This means the graph of is trapped between the lines and , since for all .
Looking at the graph, both the upper and lower envelope lines squeeze down to the point , forcing the oscillations of to flatten out and approach height near . Approaching from the left and from the right, the function values get arbitrarily close to , so the two-sided limit exists and equals .
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