Recognising a limit as a derivative
Problem 2.1706 · medium
The limit \( \displaystyle \lim_{h\to 0} \frac{- \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{h + 4}}{h} \) is the derivative of some function \( \displaystyle f \) at some number \( \displaystyle a \). Find \( \displaystyle f \) and \( \displaystyle a \), and evaluate the limit.
- The limit has the shape [f(a + h) − f(a)]/h with f(x) = 1/x and a = 4.Reviewed
- \[ \left. \frac{1}{x} \right|_{\substack{ x=4 }} = \frac{1}{4} \]This is the term being subtracted, f(a).✓ Proved
- \[ \frac{d}{d x} \frac{1}{x} = - \frac{1}{x^{2}} \]So the limit is f′(a).✓ Proved
- \[ \left. - \frac{1}{x^{2}} \right|_{\substack{ x=4 }} = - \frac{1}{16} \]Evaluate at a.✓ Proved
Answer \( f(x) = \frac{1}{x},\ a = 4;\ \text{the limit is } f'(4) = - \frac{1}{16} \)
✓ Nihil obstat Lines: 3 proved, 1 reviewed. The answer was also checked a second way, without looking at the solution. Reviewers found nothing wrong with the explanation.
The full receipt
| Line | Status | Checked by | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reviewed | reviewers: gpt-oss:20b, qwen3.6:27b-mlx | a sentence; read, not computed |
| 2 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0 |
| 3 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0 |
| 4 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0 |
| answer, a second way | ✓ Checked independently | sympy 1.14.0 + mpmath 1.3.0 | SymPy takes the limit in h directly, without recognising a derivative |
Reviewers
gpt-oss:20b: passqwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass — The solution correctly identifies the function and point from the limit definition of the derivative and evaluates the result accurately.
Every verdict on record (4)
gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-10-06qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-10-06 — The solution correctly identifies the function and point from the limit definition of the derivative and evaluates the result accurately.gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-10-06qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-10-06 — The solution correctly identifies the function and point from the limit definition of the derivative and evaluates the result accurately.
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
generator:structured/limit_as_derivative, checked 2026-10-06 with SymPy 1.14.0.