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About Scotto
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Any kind of mathematics (calculus, analysis, game theory, linear approximation, finite differences, linear regression, linear programming, numerical analysis, probability, statistics, etc.). I also have answered some questions in Physics (mass, momentum, falling bodies), Chemistry (charge, reactions, symbols, molecules), and Biology.

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You are here:  Experts > Teens > Homework/Study Tips > Calculus > L'Hopital's Rule

Calculus - L'Hopital's Rule


Expert: Scotto - 6/21/2009

Question

What is a necessary condition for L'Hôpital's Rule to work?
A) The function must be determinate.
B) The function must be indeterminate.
C) The function must be inconsistent.
D) The function must possess at least three non-zero derivatives.


Answer
To state L'Hôpital's Rule, it says that if
lim x->c f(x) = lim x->c g(x) = 0 or
lim x->c g(x) = ±∞ and and the lim x->∞ f'(x)/g'(x) exists,
then limx->c f(x)/g(x) = limx->c f'(x)/g'(x).

Since L'Hôpital's Rule involves limits,
(B) and (C) can be seen to be wrong just by reading them.

In order for L'Hôpital's Rule to work, the function must be continous.  Also, it must be consistent for the limit to exist.

(D) can also be seen to not be true since we don't care how many zeroes the derivative has.  The only condition that we need is for the numerator and the denominator to both go to zero or both go to ∞.

This leaves the only choice as (A).

To check and make sure this is true, lets look up determinate.
What determinate means is that the function has defined limits.


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