One-sided limit

Okay kiddo, let's say you're walking towards a yummy cookie stand and you want to know how close you can get to it without actually touching the stand. That's kind of like finding a one-sided limit in math.

A one-sided limit is like asking "what number does the function get closer and closer to when we only look at the values on one side of a certain point?"

Let's say we have a function that looks like a playground slide. If you're standing to the left of the point where the slide goes down, and you follow the slide towards that point, you're getting closer and closer to a height of 5. So we say that the one-sided limit as x approaches that point from the left is equal to 5.

If you're standing to the right of that point, and you follow the slide downwards, you're getting closer and closer to a height of 7. So we say that the one-sided limit as x approaches that point from the right is equal to 7.

So in summary, a one-sided limit only looks at the values of a function as we approach a certain point from one side, and helps us figure out what number the function gets closer and closer to without actually touching that point.