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∞ - 2(∞/2)

There are more advanced questions on here but I often get caught up on nuances in the "basics".

It seems important to clear these things up before moving on.

DDS
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QWERTY_dw
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1 Answers1

2

You're trying to evaluate $\infty-\infty$. This is an indeterminate form, one of several operations using $+,\,-,\,\times,\,\div$ on two extended real numbers (of which $\infty$ is an example) that can't be defined. In particular, functions $f,\,g$ can satisfy $\lim_{x\to0}f(x)=\lim_{x\to0}g(x)=\infty$ with just about any behaviour for $\lim_{x\to0}(f(x)-g(x))$. You can get $\infty$ from $f=\frac{2}{x^2},\,g=\frac{1}{x^2}$, $-\infty$ if you exchange these, $0$ if you use either function twice, your favourite real number if you then add it to $f$, or none of these behaviours if you add $\sin x$ to $f$ instead.

J.G.
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