An Intuitive Idea of Limits

What it means for a function to "approach" a value, even if it never quite reaches it.

What is a Limit?

The limit of a function $f(x)$ as $x$ approaches a value $a$ describes the value $f(x)$ gets closer and closer to:

$$\lim_{x \to a} f(x) = L$$
Note: The limit describes the behaviour of a function near a point — it does not require the function to actually be defined at that point.
Lesson 21 of 27
On This Page