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If f(7) = 10, can you conclude anything about
lim x->7 f(x)? Why or Why not?

1 Answer

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Final answer:

Knowing f(7) = 10 does not necessarily inform us about the limit of f(x) as x approaches 7. To determine lim x->7 f(x), one must consider the function's continuity at x = 7, and without additional information about the behavior of the function near x = 7, the limit cannot be concluded.

Step-by-step explanation:

If you know that f(7) = 10, it tells you the value of the function at x = 7, but it does not necessarily tell you anything about the limit of f(x) as x approaches 7. The concept of a limit concerns the behavior of a function as it gets arbitrarily close to a particular x value, in this case, 7. The value of the function at x = 7 is just that - a specific value at that point, which may be different from the values approaching it from either side.

The determination of lim x→7 f(x) depends on whether the function is continuous at x = 7. If the function is continuous, then the limit as x approaches 7 would indeed be f(7), which means the limit would be 10. However, if there is a discontinuity at x = 7, such as a hole or a jump in the graph, then we cannot conclude the limit by just knowing f(7).

To accurately determine the limit, you would typically look at the behavior of the function as x gets very close to 7 from both the left (lim x→7- f(x)) and the right (lim x→7+ f(x)). If these two one-sided limits are equal, then the two-sided limit exists, and its value is equal to this common value. Without more information on the function's behavior around x = 7, it's impossible to definitively conclude the limit.

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