Limit of \( \displaystyle \frac{3 x - \sin{\left(3 x \right)}}{27 x^{3}} \) as \( x \to 0 \)
Problem 1.57 · medium
Evaluate \( \displaystyle \lim_{x \to 0} \frac{3 x - \sin{\left(3 x \right)}}{27 x^{3}} \).
- \[ \lim_{x \to 0^+}\left(\frac{3 x - \sin{\left(3 x \right)}}{27 x^{3}}\right) \]limitSet up the limit with the specified direction.✓ Proved
- \[ = \lim_{x \to 0^+}\left(\frac{\frac{d}{d x} \left(3 x - \sin{\left(3 x \right)}\right)}{\frac{d}{d x} 27 x^{3}}\right) \]lhopitalApply L'Hopital's rule since the limit is an indeterminate form 0/0.✓ Proved
- \[ = \lim_{x \to 0^+}\left(\frac{3 - 3 \cos{\left(3 x \right)}}{81 x^{2}}\right) \]simplifyCompute the derivatives of the numerator and denominator.✓ Proved
- \[ = \lim_{x \to 0^+}\left(\frac{\frac{d}{d x} \left(3 - 3 \cos{\left(3 x \right)}\right)}{\frac{d}{d x} 81 x^{2}}\right) \]lhopitalApply L'Hopital's rule again as the limit is still 0/0.✓ Proved
- \[ = \lim_{x \to 0^+}\left(\frac{\sin{\left(3 x \right)}}{18 x}\right) \]simplify simplifyCompute the derivatives of the numerator and denominator. Simplify the fraction by dividing the coefficients.✓ Proved
- \[ = \lim_{x \to 0^+} \frac{1}{6} \]trig-limit cancelUse the fundamental trigonometric limit sin(u)/u -> 1 as u -> 0. Cancel the common factor of x.✓ Proved
- \[ = \frac{1}{6} \]limitEvaluate the final constant value.✓ Proved
Answer \( \frac{1}{6} \)
Every line of this solution was proved by the computer algebra system SymPy. The answer was also checked a second way, without looking at the solution. The reviewers disagree about how one step is explained; every verdict is in the receipt.
The full receipt
| Line | Status | Checked by | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | line 1 is the problem as stated |
| 2 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(a - b) reduced to 0 undefined where x = 0 undefined where Derivative(27*x**3, x) = 0 |
| 3 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(a - b) reduced to 0 undefined where Derivative(27*x**3, x) = 0 undefined where x = 0 |
| 4 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(a - b) reduced to 0 undefined where x = 0 undefined where Derivative(81*x**2, x) = 0 |
| 5 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(a - b) reduced to 0 undefined where Derivative(81*x**2, x) = 0 undefined where x = 0 |
| 6 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(a - b) reduced to 0 undefined where x = 0 |
| 7 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(a - b) reduced to 0 undefined where x = 0 |
| 8 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(a - b) reduced to 0 |
| 9 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(a - b) reduced to 0 |
| answer | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | final line against the stated answer: simplify(a - b) reduced to 0 |
| answer, a second way | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | SymPy took the limit from both sides and got the stated value |
Reviewers
gpt-oss:20b: fail (error) — Step 7 applies two rules at once: it replaces sin(3x) with 3x (trig‑limit) and then simplifies the fraction. Each step must change only one thing, so this step is invalid.qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass
Every verdict on record (4)
qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-10-03gpt-oss:20b: fail (error) 2026-10-03 — Step 7 applies two rules at once: it replaces sin(3x) with 3x (trig‑limit) and then simplifies the fraction. Each step must change only one thing, so this step is invalid.qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-09-30 — The solution correctly applies L'Hopital's rule and standard limit laws. Each step isolates a single operation, and the labels accurately reflect the transformations performed.gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-09-30
Proved: SymPy reduced the difference between the two sides to zero. Checked independently: a separate
method, named above, confirmed it. Checked numerically: the two sides agree at every sampled point, which is evidence,
not proof. Reviewed: a model or a person read it; that is all a sentence can have. Solution by
gemma4:26b, checked 2026-10-03 with SymPy 1.14.0.