The highest degree variable in the denominator is «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mi»x«/mi»«/mstyle»«/math». Divide all terms by «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mi»x«/mi»«/mstyle»«/math».

The graph of «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mrow»«mi»y«/mi»«mo»=«/mo»«mfrac»«mrow»«mn»3«/mn»«mi»x«/mi»«mo»§#8722;«/mo»«mn»4«/mn»«/mrow»«mrow»«mn»6«/mn»«mi»x«/mi»«mo»+«/mo»«mn»1«/mn»«/mrow»«/mfrac»«/mrow»«/mstyle»«/math» is shown below. As «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mrow»«mi»x«/mi»«mo»§#8594;«/mo»«mo»§#177;«/mo»«mo»§#8734;«/mo»«/mrow»«/mstyle»«/math», the function approaches a value of «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mfrac»«mn»1«/mn»«mn»2«/mn»«/mfrac»«/mstyle»«/math».

The highest degree variable in the denominator is «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«msup»«mi»x«/mi»«mn»2«/mn»«/msup»«/mstyle»«/math». Divide all terms by «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«msup»«mi»x«/mi»«mn»2«/mn»«/msup»«/mstyle»«/math».

The graph of the function «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mrow»«mi»y«/mi»«mo»=«/mo»«mfrac»«mrow»«mn»8«/mn»«msup»«mi»x«/mi»«mn»2«/mn»«/msup»«mo»§#8722;«/mo»«mn»3«/mn»«mi»x«/mi»«mo»+«/mo»«mn»2«/mn»«/mrow»«mrow»«mn»2«/mn»«msup»«mi»x«/mi»«mn»2«/mn»«/msup»«mo»§#8722;«/mo»«mn»4«/mn»«/mrow»«/mfrac»«/mrow»«/mstyle»«/math», shown below, confirms the limit is «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mn»4«/mn»«/mstyle»«/math» as «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mrow»«mi»x«/mi»«mo»§#8594;«/mo»«mo»§#8734;«/mo»«/mrow»«/mstyle»«/math».


Note that the graph of the function passes through the horizontal asymptote «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mrow»«mi»y«/mi»«mo»=«/mo»«mn»4«/mn»«/mrow»«/mstyle»«/math» at «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mfenced»«mrow»«mn»6«/mn»«mi mathvariant=¨normal¨»,«/mi»«mo»§#160;«/mo»«mn»4«/mn»«/mrow»«/mfenced»«/mstyle»«/math». While graphs do not pass through vertical asymptotes, they often do pass through horizontal asymptotes. Recall that when horizontal asymptotes are determined, the focus is on the behaviour of the function as «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mi»x«/mi»«/mstyle»«/math» becomes increasingly large positive and negative.

The highest degree variable in the denominator is «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«msup»«mi»x«/mi»«mn»2«/mn»«/msup»«/mstyle»«/math». Divide all terms by «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«msup»«mi»x«/mi»«mn»2«/mn»«/msup»«/mstyle»«/math».

The highest degree variable in the denominator is «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«msup»«mi»x«/mi»«mn»4«/mn»«/msup»«/mstyle»«/math». Divide all terms by «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«msup»«mi»x«/mi»«mn»4«/mn»«/msup»«/mstyle»«/math».

The limit is «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mo»-«/mo»«mo»§#8734;«/mo»«/mstyle»«/math», which is often equated to does not exist because positive and negative infinity are not specific numbers.

When evaluating the limits of rational functions at positive and negative infinity, the following patterns can be observed, allowing for shortcuts to be taken.
If the

• degree of the numerator is equal to the degree of the denominator, the limit is the ratio of the coefficients of the highest degree terms (Example 1 and Example 2),
• degree of the numerator is less than the degree of the denominator, the limit is zero (Example 3), and
• degree of the numerator is greater than the degree of the denominator, the limit is «math style=¨font-family:Verdana¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mstyle mathsize=¨14px¨»«mrow»«mo»§#177;«/mo»«mo»§#8734;«/mo»«/mrow»«/mstyle»«/math», or it does not exist (Example 4)