Calculus · real student question

Evaluate the limit of (sin 3x + x)/(x + sin 5x) as x approaches 0.

Question

Evaluate

limx0sin3x+xx+sin5x\lim_{x\to 0}\frac{\sin 3x+x}{x+\sin 5x}

Step-by-step solution

  1. Identify the form. Both sin3x+x\sin 3x+x and x+sin5xx+\sin 5x vanish at x=0x=0, so this is 00\frac{0}{0}.

  2. Recall the key limit. limx0sinkxx=k\lim_{x\to 0}\frac{\sin kx}{x}=k for any constant kk, which follows from sinkxx=ksinkxkx\frac{\sin kx}{x}=k\cdot\frac{\sin kx}{kx} and limu0sinuu=1\lim_{u\to 0}\frac{\sin u}{u}=1.

  3. Divide top and bottom by xx. For x0x\neq 0 the quotient equals sin3xx+11+sin5xx\frac{\frac{\sin 3x}{x}+1}{1+\frac{\sin 5x}{x}}. Dividing by xx is the standard move because it converts every term into that known limit.

  4. Take the limit term by term. The numerator tends to 3+1=43+1=4 and the denominator to 1+5=61+5=6; both limits exist and the denominator limit is nonzero, so the quotient rule for limits applies.

  5. Compute the ratio. 46=23\frac{4}{6}=\frac{2}{3}.

  6. Verify numerically. At x=106x=10^{-6} the original expression evaluates to 0.666666670.66666667, matching 23\frac{2}{3}.

Answer

23\frac{2}{3}

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