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Anthony Kramer

Anthony Kramer

Answered question

2022-05-29

Limit lim x 0 1 ln ( x + 1 ) 1 x
The problem is I don't know if I can calculate it normally like with a change of variables or not. Keep in mind that I'm not allowed to use L'Hôpital's rule nor the O -notation.

Answer & Explanation

Larry Yates

Larry Yates

Beginner2022-05-30Added 5 answers

lim x 0 1 ln ( x + 1 ) 1 x = lim x 1 1 ln ( x ) 1 x 1 = L
since x 1 is equivalent to x 2 1, we can write
L = lim x 1 1 ln ( x 2 ) 1 x 2 1 = lim x 1 1 2 ln ( x ) + 1 2 ( 1 x + 1 1 x 1 ) = 1 2 L + lim x 1 1 2 1 x + 1 = 1 2 L + 1 4
Hence, L = 1 2 L + 1 4 and L = 1 2
Camille Flynn

Camille Flynn

Beginner2022-05-31Added 6 answers

I assume you know about the geometric series and Taylor's theorem to integrate them, but you might not. I apologize if you don't, as this will not be of much use.
We have
1 log ( x + 1 ) 1 x = x log ( x + 1 ) x log ( x + 1 ) = 1 log ( x + 1 ) x log ( x + 1 ) .
Now
1 1 + x = 1 1 ( x ) = n 0 ( x ) n ,
hence
log ( x + 1 ) = n 0 ( x ) n + 1 n + 1 = n 0 ( 1 ) n x n + 1 n + 1 = x x 2 2 + x 3 3 .
Also,
log ( x + 1 ) x = n 0 ( 1 ) n x n n + 1 ,
hence
1 log ( x + 1 ) x = n 1 ( 1 ) n + 1 x n n + 1 = x 2 x 2 3 + x 3 4 .
Therefore,
lim x 0 1 log ( x + 1 ) 1 x = lim x 0 x 2 x 2 3 + x 3 4 x x 2 2 + x 3 3 = lim x 0 1 2 x 3 + x 2 4 1 x 2 + x 2 3 = 1 2 .
Note : you don't need the whole series expansion, you could approximate to the second term using Taylor's theorem. But I guess that falls into your "big-O notation" category of proofs.
Hope that helps,

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