In this section, we will study limits of functions of several variables, with a focus on limits of functions of two variables. In single variable calculus, we studied the notion of limit, which turned out to be a critical concept that formed the basis for the derivative and the definite integral. In this section we will begin to understand how the concept of limit for functions of two variables is similar to what we encountered for functions of a single variable. The limit will again be the fundamental idea in multivariable calculus, and we will use this notion of the limit of a function of several variables to define the important concept of differentiability later in this chapter. We have already seen its use in the derivatives of vector-valued functions in Section 1.7.
Let’s begin by reviewing what we mean by the limit of a function of one variable. We say that a function has a limit as approaches provided that we can make the values as close to as we like by taking sufficiently close (but not equal) to . We denote this behavior by writing
Explain how your results in (e) are reflected in Figure 2.8.6. Compare this limit to the limit in part (a). How are the limits similar and how are they different?
Figure2.8.6.Left: The graph of . Right: A contour plot.
Finally, consider
which is not defined at . Complete Table 2.8.7. Round to three decimal places.
Table2.8.7.Values of .
—
What does this suggest about ?
Explain how your results are reflected in Figure 2.8.8. Compare this limit to the limit in part (c). How are the results similar and how are they different?
Figure2.8.8.Left: The graph of . Right: A contour plot.
In Preview Activity 2.8.1, we recalled the notion of limit from single variable calculus and saw that a similar concept applies to functions of two variables. Though we will focus on functions of two variables, for the sake of discussion, all the ideas we establish here are valid for functions of any number of variables. In a natural followup to our work in Preview Activity 2.8.1, we now formally define what it means for a function of two variables to have a limit at a point.
Given a function , we say that has limit as approaches provided that we can make as close to as we like by taking sufficiently close (but not equal) to . We write
To investigate the limit of a single variable function, , we often consider the behavior of as approaches from the right and from the left. Similarly, we may investigate limits of two-variable functions, by considering the behavior of as approaches from various directions. This situation is more complicated because there are infinitely many ways in which may approach . In the next activity, we see how it is important to consider a variety of those paths in investigating whether or not a limit exists.
Is defined at the point ? What, if anything, does this say about whether has a limit at the point ?
Values of (to three decimal places) at several points close to are shown in Table 2.8.11.
Table2.8.11.Values of a function .
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Based on these calculations, state whether has a limit at and give an argument supporting your statement. (Hint: The blank spaces in the table are there to help you see the patterns.)
Now we formalize the conjecture from the previous part by considering what happens if we restrict our attention to different paths. First, we look at for points in the domain along the -axis; that is, we consider what happens when . What is the behavior of as ? If we approach by moving along the -axis, what value do we find as the limit?
What is the behavior of along the line when ; that is, what is the value of when ? If we approach by moving along the line in the first quadrant (thus considering as ), what value do we find as the limit?
In general, if , then approaches as approaches , regardless of the path we take in letting . Explain what the last two parts of this activity imply about the existence of .
Shown below in Figure 2.8.12 is a set of contour lines of the function . What is the behavior of as approaches along any straight line? How does this observation reinforce your conclusion about the existence of from the previous part of this activity? (Hint: Use the fact that a non-vertical line has equation for some constant .)
As we have seen in Activity 2.8.2, if approaches along two different paths and we find that has two different limits, we can conclude that does not exist. This is similar to the one-variable example as shown in Figure 2.8.13; does not exist because we see different limits as approaches 0 from the left and the right.
As the next activity shows, studying the limit of a two-variable function by considering the behavior of along various paths can require subtle insights.
This activity shows that we need to be careful when studying the limit of a two-variable functions by considering its behavior along different paths. If we find two different paths that result in two different limits, then we may conclude that the limit does not exist. However, we can never conclude that the limit of a function exists only by considering its behavior along different paths.
by showing that we can make as close to as we wish by taking sufficiently close (but not equal) to . In what follows, we view and as being real numbers that are close, but not equal, to 0.
Thus, . Since as , we can make as close to as we like by taking sufficiently close to (for this example, it turns out that we don’t even need to worry about making close to 0). Therefore,
In spite of the fact that these two most recent examples illustrate some of the complications that arise when studying limits of two-variable functions, many of the properties that are familiar from our study of single variable functions hold in precisely the same way.
We can use these properties and results from single variable calculus to verify that many limits exist. For example, these properties show that the function defined by
For instance, we have seen that the function defined by is continous at every point. And just as with single variable functions, continuity has certain properties that are based on the properties of limits.
Using these properties, we can apply results from single variable calculus to decide about continuity of multivariable functions. For example, the coordinate functions and defined by and are continuous at every point. We can then use properties of continuity listed to conclude that every polynomial function in and is continuous at every point. For example, and are continuous functions, so their product is a continuous multivariable function.
Evaluate limit of at along the following paths: ,,, and .
What do you conjecture is the value of ?
Is continuous at ? Why or why not?
Use appropriate technology to sketch both surface and contour plots of near . Write several sentences to say how your plots affirm your findings in (a) - (d).
Evaluate limit of at along the following paths: ,, and .
What can you now say about the value of ?
Is continuous at ? Why or why not?
Use appropriate technology to sketch both surface and contour plots of near . Write several sentences to say how your plots affirm your findings in (a) - (d).
Evaluate the limit of at along all linear paths the contain the origin. What does this tell us about ? (Hint: A non-vertical line throught the origin has the form for some constant .)
Does exist? Verify your answer. Check by using appropriate technology to sketch both surface and contour plots of near . Write several sentences to say how your plots affirm your findings about .
For each of the following prompts, provide an example of a function of two variables with the desired properties (with justification), or explain why such a function does not exist.
A function that is defined at , but does not exist.
A function that does not have a limit at , but that has the same limiting value along any line as .
A function that is continuous at , but does not exist.