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TheSodesa
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Homework Statement
This problem is found in a chapter about rational functions in my review book. The expression is as follows:
[tex]
\lim_{x\rightarrow a} {\frac{2 x^2 + 5x - 3}{x - a}} = \ \text{L}
[/tex]
where 'a' is a constant. I'm supposed to find a value of 'a' that allows the limit to exist.
Homework Equations
The only advice given in the book is to try and simplify an expression into a from where it is defined, should the denominator tend to zero.
The Attempt at a Solution
I tried to see if you could simplify the expression into a form where it would be defined, but no such luck. No common factors anywhere I could see.
The solution at the end of the book states, that the expression should be of the form 0/0, or in other words the constant 'a' should be an x intercept of the numerator, and I'm unsure as to why this is the case. Since the book I'm using is a review book, it doesn't contain much in terms of theory, so I'm out of luck in terms of that.
Can anybody spare the time to explain this to me, even though it seems there might be a lot to explain?
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