Some references show that to find an oblique asymptote of a function f(x), we must see the limit of m=lim If m \ne 0 and finite, then there is an oblique asymptote of the form y = mx + c. However, I think it would be more intuitive by searching the limit of \lim_{x \rightarrow \pm \infty} f'(x) If this limit exists, then we can determine the asymptote.
Question : Am I correct if I generalize the 2nd one for finding an oblique asymptote?
I have not seen any reference to use the second one (limit of f') for finding an oblique asymptote. But it is more intuituive.., and we can also see from the first one that \lim \limits_{x \rightarrow \pm \infty} \frac fx has an indefinite form \frac{\infty}{\infty} , then by L'Hopital it can be equal to \lim f'(x).
Thanks in advance.
Answer
For a more straightforward counterexample, take f(x) = \ln(x).
Its derivative f'(x)=\frac{1}{x} limits to 0 as x \to +\infty.
But this function has no horizontal asymptote. In fact, \lim_{x \to \infty} \ln(x) = +\infty so the graph goes arbitrarily far above every horizontal line as x \to +\infty.
You can modify this example in many ways. For instance, f(x) = x + \ln(x) has derivative limiting to 1 as x \to +\infty, but the graph of y=f(x) goes arbitrarily far above every slope 1 line as x \to +\infty, hence it has no slope 1 asymptote.
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