Hi all, I'm new on this forum.
I'm taking Calc I for an engineering course.
I am familiar with Calc and what it is used for (and I really love doing all types of math), but the problem that I have consistently run into with math courses is a combination of math-speak and poor description of what is being done and more importantly, how it's being done.
The math-speak might as well be Greek (no offense to the mathematicians), it makes no sense to me - show me how I can apply it in a process and I can then figure out what it's doing, if that makes any sense.
Something is not clicking for me and it's frustrating.
As an example - From my Calc book - Let f be a function and let c and L be real numbers. The limit of f(x) as x approaches c is L if and only if lim x-->c- f(x)=L and lim x-->c+ f(x)=L.
I understand that I'm approaching the limits from the right and left and that if both functions equal L when x is at c then I've reached a limit, but what does that actually tell me and what do I do with it?
If x goes past c, have I exceeded the limit, or is it irrelevant in this case and if so, why?
Normal thinking would be that when you come to a limit, you've reached the end of the road, but then you have infinite limits - no ending.
So, with an infinite limit, have you really just identified that there is no limit, or is it something else?
I hope this makes some sense.
Thanks in advance.
I'm taking Calc I for an engineering course.
I am familiar with Calc and what it is used for (and I really love doing all types of math), but the problem that I have consistently run into with math courses is a combination of math-speak and poor description of what is being done and more importantly, how it's being done.
The math-speak might as well be Greek (no offense to the mathematicians), it makes no sense to me - show me how I can apply it in a process and I can then figure out what it's doing, if that makes any sense.
Something is not clicking for me and it's frustrating.
As an example - From my Calc book - Let f be a function and let c and L be real numbers. The limit of f(x) as x approaches c is L if and only if lim x-->c- f(x)=L and lim x-->c+ f(x)=L.
I understand that I'm approaching the limits from the right and left and that if both functions equal L when x is at c then I've reached a limit, but what does that actually tell me and what do I do with it?
If x goes past c, have I exceeded the limit, or is it irrelevant in this case and if so, why?
Normal thinking would be that when you come to a limit, you've reached the end of the road, but then you have infinite limits - no ending.
So, with an infinite limit, have you really just identified that there is no limit, or is it something else?
I hope this makes some sense.
Thanks in advance.