My Favorite One-Liners: Part 99

Calculus, Tales from the Classroom, Theorems 1 Minute

In this series, I’m compiling some of the quips and one-liners that I’ll use with my students to hopefully make my lessons more memorable for them.

Today’s quip is a light-hearted one-liner that I’ll use to lighten the mood when in the middle of a complex calculation, like the following limit problem from calculus:

Let f(x) = 11-4x. Find \delta so that |f(x) - 3| < \epsilon whenever $|x-2| < \delta$.

The solution of this problem requires isolating x in the above inequality:

|(11-4x) - 3| < \epsilon

|8-4x| < \epsilon

-\epsilon < 8 - 4x < \epsilon

-8-\epsilon < -4x < -8 + \epsilon

At this point, the next step is dividing by -4. So, I’ll ask my class,

When we divide by -4, what happens to the crocodiles?

This usually gets the desired laugh out of the middle-school rule about how the insatiable “crocodiles” of an inequality always point to the larger quantity, leading to the next step:

2 + \displaystyle \frac{\epsilon}{4} > x > 2 - \displaystyle \frac{\epsilon}{4},

so that

\delta = \min \left( \left[ 2 + \displaystyle \frac{\epsilon}{4} \right] - 2, 2 - \left[2 - \displaystyle \frac{\epsilon}{4} \right] \right) = \displaystyle \frac{\epsilon}{4}.

Formally completing the proof requires starting with |x-2| < \displaystyle \frac{\epsilon}{4} and ending with |f(x) - 3| < \epsilon.

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Published by John Quintanilla

I'm a Professor of Mathematics and a University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of North Texas. For eight years, I was co-director of Teach North Texas, UNT's program for preparing secondary teachers of mathematics and science.

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3 thoughts on “My Favorite One-Liners: Part 99”

  1. Pingback: My Favorite One-Liners: Index | Mean Green Math
  2. Pingback: My Favorite One-Liners: Index | Mean Green Math
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