# Find limit of differentiable f(x)

• Oct 1st 2013, 09:42 AM
bobcantor1983
Find limit of differentiable f(x)
Let a function f(x) be differentiable at a point x = a and f'(a) = 1. Find the limit

Attachment 29360
• Oct 1st 2013, 10:01 AM
Plato
Re: Find limit of differentiable f(x)
Quote:

Originally Posted by bobcantor1983
Let a function f(x) be differentiable at a point x = a and f'(a) = 1. Find the limit
Attachment 29360

$n\left[ {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {\left( {f\left( {a + \frac{k}{n}} \right) - 100f(a)} \right)} } \right] = \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]}$
• Oct 1st 2013, 10:33 AM
SlipEternal
Re: Find limit of differentiable f(x)
Quote:

Originally Posted by Plato
$n\left[ {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {\left( {f\left( {a + \frac{k}{n}} \right) - 100f(a)} \right)} } \right] = \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]}$

Well, that is not quite true...

$\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]} = n\left[ {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {\left( {f\left( {a + \frac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)} \right)} } \right] = n\left[ {\left( \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {f\left( {a + \frac{k}{n}} \right) \right) - 100f(a)} } \right]$

So, your RHS is correct, but the LHS is not (misplaced parenthesis).
• Oct 1st 2013, 12:01 PM
hughmistler
Re: Find limit of differentiable f(x)
I do not quite understand how you went from $n\left[ {\left( \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {f\left( {a + \frac{k}{n}} \right) \right) - 100f(a)} } \right]$ to $n\left[ {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {\left( {f\left( {a + \frac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)} \right)} } \right]$ and incorporated the $100f(a)$ term into the summation. Also how does the outlying $n$ disappear?

Assuming that all of this can be reduced down to $\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]}$ would I now consider?

$\lim_{n\to\infty}\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]}$

So here if you look at individual parts of the series you have: $f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) \equiv f(a)$ since $\frac{k}{n}$ would approach 0 as n approaches infinity. It would follow similarly for the denominator and would cause the whole series to converge to 0?

How does the fact that f(x) is differentiable at a point x=a and f'(a) = 1 come into play?
• Oct 1st 2013, 03:00 PM
SlipEternal
Re: Find limit of differentiable f(x)
Quote:

Originally Posted by hughmistler
I do not quite understand how you went from $n\left[ {\left( \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {f\left( {a + \frac{k}{n}} \right) \right) - 100f(a)} } \right]$ to $n\left[ {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {\left( {f\left( {a + \frac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)} \right)} } \right]$ and incorporated the $100f(a)$ term into the summation. Also how does the outlying $n$ disappear?

Let's write out the summation $n\left[ {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {\left( {f\left( {a + \frac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)} \right)} } \right]$:

$n \left[ \left( f\left(a + \dfrac{1}{n} \right) - f(a) \right) + \left( f\left(a + \dfrac{2}{n} \right) - f(a) \right) + \ldots + \left( f\left(a + \dfrac{100}{n} \right) - f(a) \right) \right]$
So, how many times are you subtracting $f(a)$? Since there are 100 terms, you are subtracting it 100 times.

The outlying $n$ does not disappear. When you divide by a fraction, that is the same as multiplying by its reciprocal. So, inside the summation we have:
\begin{align*}k\left[ \dfrac{f\left( a + \tfrac{k}{n} \right) - f(a)}{\tfrac{k}{n}} \right] & = k \dfrac{n}{k}\left[ f\left( a + \dfrac{k}{n} \right) - f(a) \right] \\ & = n\left[ f\left( a + \dfrac{k}{n} \right) - f(a) \right]\end{align*}
Now, you can factor $n$ from every term, bringing it outside the summation (you can do this since $n$ does not depend on $k$).

Quote:

Originally Posted by hughmistler
Assuming that all of this can be reduced down to $\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]}$ would I now consider?

$\lim_{n\to\infty}\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]}$

So here if you look at individual parts of the series you have: $f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) \equiv f(a)$ since $\frac{k}{n}$ would approach 0 as n approaches infinity. It would follow similarly for the denominator and would cause the whole series to converge to 0?

How does the fact that f(x) is differentiable at a point x=a and f'(a) = 1 come into play?

Use your limit laws. The limit of a sum is the sum of the limits, so long as those limits exist (and so long as the sum is finite... infinite sums require more work). So:

$\lim_{n\to\infty}\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]} = \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ \lim_{n\to\infty} {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]}$

As $n\to \infty$, $\dfrac{k}{n} \to 0$. So, we can rewrite this limit:

$\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ \lim_{n\to\infty} {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]} = \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ \lim_{\tfrac{k}{n}\to 0} {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]}$

Next, you asked about how you use $f'(a) = 1$. Use the definition of the derivative. For a general function $f(x)$, you know $f'(a) = ???$ (Hint: When you write it out, replace $h$ by $\tfrac{k}{n}$)

For your question about the series converging to 0, no. You have the numerator and denominator approaching zero. 0/0 is not defined, so you need to simplify the expression before you can take the limit.
• Oct 1st 2013, 08:43 PM
bobcantor1983
Re: Find limit of differentiable f(x)
Ok I think I have this entirely put together, can you tell me if this looks right?

$\lim_{n\to\infty}n[f(a + \frac{1}{n}) + f(a + \frac{2}{n}) + ... + f(a + \frac{100}{n}) - 100f(a)\right]$

$= \lim_{n\to\infty}n\left[(\sum\limits_{k=1}^{100}f(a + \frac{k}{n})) - 100f(a)\right]$

$= \lim_{n\to\infty}n\left[\sum\limits_{k=1}^{100}(f(a + \frac{k}{n}) - f(a))\right]$

$= \lim_{n\to\infty}\sum\limits_{k=1}^{100}k\frac{n}{ k}\left[f(a + \frac{k}{n}) - f(a))\right]$

$= \lim_{n\to\infty}\sum\limits_{k=1}^{100}k\left[\frac{f(a + \frac{k}{n}) - f(a)}{\frac{k}{n}}\right]$

Now, since the limit of a sum is the sum of the limits, we can write:

$\lim_{n\to\infty}\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]} = \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ \lim_{n\to\infty} {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]}$

As $n\to \infty$, $\dfrac{k}{n} \to 0$. So, we can rewrite this limit:

$\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ \lim_{n\to\infty} {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]} = \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ \lim_{\tfrac{k}{n}\to 0} {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]}$

Note: the definition of a derivative is $f'(a) = \lim_{h\to\0} \frac{f(a+h) - f(a)}{h}.$

We have this here in our modified limit: $\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ \lim_{\tfrac{k}{n}\to 0} {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]}$.

So we can write $\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100} {k\left[ \lim_{\tfrac{k}{n}\to 0} {\frac{{f\left( {a + \tfrac{k}{n}} \right) - f(a)}}{{\tfrac{k}{n}}}} \right]} = \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100}kf'(a) = \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{100}k = 5050.$

Is that straightforward and correct?
• Oct 2nd 2013, 04:05 AM
SlipEternal
Re: Find limit of differentiable f(x)
Looks good to me