CHAPTER10 INFINITESEQUENCESANDSERIES

10.1Sequences
10.2 InfiniteSeries
10.3 TheIntegralTests
10.4 ComparisonTests
10.5TheRatioandRootTests
10.6AlternatingSeries:AbsoluteandConditionalConvergence
10.7PowerSeries
10.8TaylorandMacLaurinSeries

10.1 Sequences
Definition
Aninfinitesequenceormoresimplyasequenceisanunendingsuccessionof
numbers,calledterms.
Itisunderstoodthatthetermshaveadefiniteorder,thatis,thereisafirstterm
a1,asecondterma2,athirdterma3,andsoforth.
Suchasequencewouldtypicallybewrittenas
a1,a2,a3,a4,.an
wherethedotsareusedtoindicatethatthesequencecontinuesindefinitely.
Somespecificexampleare
1 1 1
1,
, , ,....
1,2,3,4,..
2 3 4
2,4,6,8,..

1,1,1,1,.

Thenumberaniscalledthenthtermorgeneralterm,ofthesequence.

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Example10.1:
Ineachpart,findthegeneraltermofthesequence.

1 2 3 4
, , , ....
(a) 2 3 4 5

1 1 1 1
, , , ....
(b) 2 4 8 16

1 2 3 4
, , , ....
(c) 2 3 4 5

(d) 1,3,5,7,..

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Whenthegeneraltermofsequenceisknown,thereisnoneedtowriteouttheinitial
terms,anditiscommontowritethegeneraltermenclosedinbraces.
Sequence

1 2 3 4
n
, , , ....
....
2 3 4 5 n 1

n 1n1

1 1 1 1
1
, , , .... n ...
2 4 8 16 2

1
n
2 n1

1 2 3 4
n
, , , ....,(1)n1
,....
2 3 4 5
n 1
1,3,5,7,..,2n1,

BraceNotation

n1 n
(1)

n 1n1

2n 1nn
1

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ConvergenceandDivergence
Sometimesthenumbersinasequenceapproachasinglevalueastheindexnincreases.
Thishappensinthesequence
1
1 1 1
1, , , , , ,
2 3 4
whosetermsapproach0asngetslarger,andinthesequence
1 2 3 4
0, , , , , ,1
2 3 4 5

whosetermsapproach1.
Ontheotherhand,sequenceslike
1, 2, 3, . . , , .
havetermsthatgetlargerthananynumberasnincreases,andsequenceslike
1, 1,1, 1 . ,

,.

bouncebackandforthbetween1and1,neverconvergingtoasinglevalue.
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Example10.2:
Findthelimitofeachofthesesequences.

(a)
n

(b) (1)

(c) 8 2n

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CalculatingLimitsofSequences

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Example10.3:
Determinewhetherthesequenceconvergesordiverges.Ifitconverges,findthelimit.

100

(a)
n

3n4 n 1
(c) 5n4 2n2 1

n 1

(b)
n

n5 n3 2
n1 n
(1)

(b) 7n4 n2 3 (b)

2
1
n

2n2 5n 7

3
(e)
n

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TheSandwichTheorem

Example10.4:
Findthelimitofthesequence:

sinn
2
(a)
n

cos2 n

(b) 3n

n 1
(1)
(c)
n

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UsingLHpitalsrule.
ThenexttheoremenablesustouseLHpitalsruletofindthelimitsofsomesequences.It
an and lim f (x)
formalizestheconnectionbetween nlim

x
.

Example10.5:(EvaluatingalimitusingLHpitalsrule).

ln n
lim
(a) n n

n2
lim
(b) n 2n

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1/ n

n
(c) nlim

n1
lim

(d) n n 1

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CommonlyOccuringLimits
Thenexttheoremgivessomelimitsthatarisefrequently.

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Example10.6:
Findthelimitofeachconvergentsequence.

(a)

an

ln

n
n

(b)

an n n3

(c)

an n 5n2

(d)

1
an
3

(e)

n3
an

(f)

55n
an
n!

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10.2

InfiniteSeries

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i)

13

ThenthpartialsumSnoftheseries

is

Sn a1 a2 ... ak

ii)

Thesequenceofpartialsumsoftheseries

S1 , S2 , S3 ,.....Sn ,...

a is
n

Example10.7:
Giventheseries
1
1
1
1

...
...

12 2 3 3 4
n (n 1)

(a) FindS1,S2,S3,S4,S5andS6.
(b) FindSn.
(c) Showthattheseriesconvergesandfinditssum.
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Example10.8:
Giventheseries,

(1)

n1

1 (1) 1 (1) ... (1)n1 ...

n1

(a) FindS1,S2,S3,S4,S5andS6.
(b) FindSn.
(c) Showthattheseriesdiverges.

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GeometricSeries

Example10.9:
Determinewhethereachofthefollowinggeometricseriesconvergesordiverges.If
theseriesconverges,finditssum.
n

1 3

(a) n0 7 2

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1
3
(b) n0 5

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TelescopingSeries
Atelescopingseriesdoesnothaveasetform,likethegeometricseriesdo.Atelescoping
seriesisanyserieswherenearlyeverytermcancelswithaprecedingorfollowingterm.For
instance,theseries

k 1 k

1
2

Usingpartialfractions,wefindthat

1
k2 k

1
1
1

k(k 1) k k 1

Thus,thenthpartialsumofthegivenseriescanberepresentedasfollows:

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Sn

k 1 k

17

1
2

1
1

k 1 k k 1

1
1 1 1 1 1
1
1 ..

2 2 3 3 4
n n1
1
1 1 1 1
1 1
1 ..
2 2 3 4
n n n 1
1
1
n1
Thelimitofthesequenceofpartialsumsis

1
1
lim Sn lim
1

n
n n n 1

sotheseriesconverges,withsumS=1.

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Example10.10:

Ineachcase,expressthenthpartialsumsSnintermsofnanddeterminewhether
theseriesconvergesordiverges.

1
(a) n0 (n 1)(n 2)

1
1

(b) n0 2n 1 2n 3

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DivergentSeries
Onereasonthataseriesmayfailtoconvergeisthatitstermsdontbecomesmall.For
example,theseries

n2 1 4 9 .... n2 ...

n1

ThisseriesisdivergesbecausethepartialsumsgrowbeyondeverynumberL.Aftern=1,
2

thepartialsums sn 1 4 9 .... n isgreaterthan n .

Theoremabovestatesthatifaseriesconverges,thenthelimitsofitsnthtermanas n
is0.Sometimes,itispossibleforaseriestobecomediverges.

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Sothistheoremleadstoatestfordetectingthekindofdivergencethatoccurredinsomeof
theseries.

ThenthTermTest

an
lim an 0
If,thenfurtherinvestigationisnecessarytodeterminewhethertheseries
n1

isconvergeordiverge.

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Example10.11:
ApplyingthenthTermTest

n
(a) n1 2n 1

n2

(b) n1

(1)n1

(c) n1

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CombiningSeries

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Example10.12:

7
2
n1
(a) n1 n(n 1) 3

1
1

n1
6n1
n1 2

(b)

1 1

(c) n1 2n 3n

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10.3 TheIntegralTests

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Example10.13:
Determinewhetherthefollowingseriesconverge.

n
2
(a) n1 n 1

(b)

n1

1
2n 5

ln n
(c)
n 0 n

ThepSeries

TheIntegralTestisusedtoanalyzetheconvergenceofanentirefamilyofinfiniteseries

1
knownasthepseries.Forwhatvaluesoftherealnumberspdoesthepseries

p
n 1 n

converge?

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Example10.14:
Testeachofthefollowingseriesforconvergence.

1
10
(a) n1 n

(b)

n1

1
n3

1
2

(c)
n 4 (n 1)

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10.4 ComparisonTests
Wehaveseenhowtodeterminetheconvergenceofgeometricseries,pseriesandafew
others.Wecantesttheconvergenceofmanymoreseriesbycomparingtheirtermsto
thoseofaserieswhoseconvergenceisknown.

Note:Let

a , c
n

and

knownconvergentseries

beserieswithpositiveterms.Theseries

convergesifitissmallerthan(dominatedby)a

anddivergesifitislargerthan(dominates)aknowndivergentseries

.Thatis,smallerthan

convergentisconvergent,andbiggerthandivergentisdivergent.

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Example10.15:
Testthefollowingseriesforconvergence.

(a) n1 3n 1

(b) n2 n 1

ln n

(c) n2 n3

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Example10.16:
Testthefollowingseriesforconvergencebyusingthelimitcomparisontest.

(a) n1 2n 5

3n 2

(b) n1 n (3n 5)

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100n

(c) n1 nen 70

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10.5 TheRatioandRootTests
Intuitively,aseriesofpositiveterms

convergesifandonlyifthesequence an

decreaserapidlytoward0.Onewaytomeasuretherateatwhichthesequence an is
decreasingistoexaminetheratio an 1 / an asngrowslarge.Thisapproachleadstothe
followingtheorem:

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Note:Youwillfindtheratiotestmostusefulwithseriesinvolvingfactorialsor
exponentials.

Example10.17:
Usetheratiotesttodeterminewhetherthefollowingseriesconvergeordiverge.

2n
(a)
n 1 n!

nn
(b)
n 1 n!

(n 1)(n 2)
(d) n 1

n!

(c)

nen
n 1

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Thefollowingtestisoftenusefulifancontainspowersofn.

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Example10.18:
Determinewhethertheseriesisconvergentordivergent.

1
n
(a)
n 1 (ln n)

2n

(b) k 1 n2

(c) n1 2n 1

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GuidelinestoUsetheConvergenceTest.

Hereisareasonablecourseofactionwhentestingaseriesofapositiveterms n 1

for

convergence.

an 0 ,thentheseriesdiverges
1. BeginwiththeDivergenceTest.Ifyoushowthat nlim

andyourworkisfinished.
2. Istheseriesaspecialseries?Recalltheconvergencepropertiesforthefollowing
series.
GeometricSeries: ar convergesif r 1anddivergesfor r 1.
n

1
convergesforp 1anddivergesforp 1.

pseries: n p
Checkalsoforatelescopingseries.
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3. Ifthegeneralnthtermoftheserieslookslikeafunctionyoucanintegrate,thentry
theIntegralTest.
4. Ifthegeneralnthtermoftheseriesinvolves,whereaisaconstant,theRatioTestis
advisable.SerieswithninanexponentmayyieldtotheRootTest.
5. Ifthegeneralnthtermoftheseriesisarationalfunctionofn(orarootorarational
function),usetheDirectComparisonortheLimitComparisonTest.Usethefamiliesof
seriesgiveninStep2asacomparisonseries.

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10.6 AlternatingSeries,AbsoluteandConditional
Convergence
AlternatingSeries
Weconsideralternatingseriesinwhichsignsstrictlyalternate,asintheseries,

1n1

n1

Thefactor 1

n1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 ...
2 3 4 5 6 7 8

hasthepattern{,1,1,1,1,}andprovidesthealternatingsigns.

WeprovetheconvergenceofthealternatingseriesbyapplyingtheAlternatingSeriesTest.

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Example10.19:

(1)n 1
(a) n
1
n2

(1)
(b) n
1

n 1

2n
4n 2 3

(1)
(c) n
1

n 1

2n
4n 3

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AbsoluteandConditionalConvergence
Theconvergencetestwehavedevelopedcannotbeappliedtoaseriesthathasmixed
termsordoesnotstrictlyalternate.Insuchcases,itisoftenusefultoapplythefollowing
theorem.

(1)n1
Theseries n
n2 isanexampleofanabsolutelyconvergentseriesbecausetheseries
1

ofabsolutevalues,
1
(1)n1
2

n2
n 1
n 1 n

isaconvergentpseries.Inthiscase,removingthealternatingsignsintheseriesdoesnot
affectitsconvergence.
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(1)n1
Ontheotherhand,theconvergentalternatingharmonicseries n
n hasthe
1

propertythatthecorrespondingseriesofabsolutevalues,
1
(1)n1

n
n 1
n 1 n

doesnotconverge.Inthiscase,removingthealternatingsignsintheseriesdoeseffect
convergence.

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Example10.20: Determinewhetherthefollowingseriesdiverge,convergeabsolutely,or
convergeconditionally.

(1)n1
a) n
n
1

b) n1

(1)n1
n3

c) n
1

sin n
n

n1

(1)
d) n
1

n
n2

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10.7 PowerSeries
Themostimportantreasonfordevelopingthetheoryintheprevioussectionsisto
representfunctionsaspowerseriesthatis,asserieswhosetermscontainpowersofa
variablex.
Thegoodwaytobecomefamiliarwithpowerseriesistoreturntogeometricseries.
Recallthatforafixednumberr,

n
2
r 1 r r ...

n0

1
,provided r 1
1r

Itsasmallchangetoreplacetherealnumberrbythevariablex.Indoingso,thegeometric
seriesbecomesanewrepresentationofafamiliarfunction:

n
2
x 1 x x ...

n0

1
,provided x 1
1 x

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ConvergenceofPowerSeries
Webeginbyestablishingtheterminologyofpowerseries.

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Example:
Findtheintervalandradiusofconvergenceforeachpowerseries:

xn
a) n
0 n!

Solution:
Thecenterofthepowerseriesis0andthetermsoftheseriesare.Wetesttheseries
forabsoluteconvergenceusingRatioTest:
lim

x n1 /(n 1)!
x n / n!

lim

x n1
xn

(RatioTest)

n!
(Invertandmultiply)
(n 1)!

1
x lim
0(Simplifyandtakethelimitwithx fixed)
n (n 1)

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Noticethatintakingthelimitas n ,xisheldfixed.Therefore, 0 forallvalues

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(1)n (x 2)n
b) n

4n
0

Solution:
WetestforabsoluteconvergenceusingtheRootTest:
lim

x 2
4

(1)n (x 2)n
4n

(RootTest)

Inthiscase, dependsonthevalueofx.Forabsoluteconvergence,xmustsatisfy
x 2

1
4

whichimpliesthat x 2 4 .Usingstandardtechniquesforsolvinginequalities,the
solutionsetis 4 x 2 4,or 2 x 6 .Thus,theintervalofconvergence
includes(2,6).
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TheRootTestdoesnotgiveinformationaboutconvergenceattheendpoints,x=2
andx=6,becauseatthesepoints,theRootTestresultsin 1 .Totestfor
convergenceattheendpoints,wemustsubstituteeachendpointintotheseriesand
carryoutseparatetests.
Atx=2,thepowerseriesbecomes

(1)n (x 2)n

n0

4n

4n

n0 4

Substitutex 2andsimplify

1Divergesbynthtermtest/divergencetest

n0

Theseriesclearlydivergesattheleftendpoint.Atx=6,thepowerseriesis

(1)n (x 2)n

n0

4n

1
n 0

4n
4n

Substitutex 6andsimplify

1 Divergesbynthtermtest/divergencetest
n

n0

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Thisseriesalsodivergesattherightendpoint.Therefore,theintervalofconvergence
is(2,6),excludingtheendpointsandtheradiusofconvergenceisR=4.

(Whentheconvergencesetistheentirexaxis).

xn

Showthatthepowerseries n1 n! convergesforallx.

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Example10.21:
(Convergenceonlyatthepointx=0).

Showthatthepowerseries n1

n! x n convergesonlywhenx=0.

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Example10.22:
(Convergencesetisaboundedinterval).

xn

Findtheconvergencesetforthepowerseries n1 n .

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AccordingtotheTheorem11.23,thesetofnumbersforwhichthepowerseries n0

an x n

convergesisanintervalcenteredatx=0.Wecallthistheintervalofconvergenceofthe
powerseries.Ifthisintervalhaslength2R,thenRiscalledtheradiusofconvergenceofthe
series.IftheserieshasradiusofconvergenceR=0,andifitconvergesforallx,wesaythat

R .

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Example10.23:

2n x n

Findtheintervalofconvergenceforthepowerseries n0 n .

Whatistheradiusoftheconvergence?

Example10.24:

(x 1)n

Findtheintervalofconvergenceofthepowerseries n0 3n .

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TermbytermDifferentiationandIntegration.

Supposethatapowerseries n0

an x n hasaradiusofconvergencer>0,andletfbedefined

by

f (x) an x n a0 a1 x a2 x 2 a3 x 3 ... an x n ...

foreveryxintheintervalofconvergence.Ifr<x<r,then

2
n 1
... n a n x n 1
(i) f ( x ) a 1 2 a 2 x 3 a 3 x ... n a n x
n 1

(ii)

x
0

f (t )dt a0 x a1

x2
x3
x n 1
a
a2
... an
... n x n 1
n 1 n 1
2
3
n1

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Example10.25:
Findafunctionfthatisrepresentedbythepowerseries

1 x x 2 x 3 ... (1)n x n ...

Example10.26:

1
Findapowerseriesrepresentationfor (1 x)2 if x 1 .

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Example10.27:
Findapowerseriesrepresentationfor ln(1 x) if x 1 .

Example10.28:
1
Findapowerseriesrepresentationfor tan x .

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10.8

TaylorandMacLaurinSeries

Inthepreviouslecture,weconsideredpowerseriesrepresentationforseveralspecial

1
1
functions,includingthosewheref(x)hastheform (1 x) , ln(1 x) and tan x ,
providedxissuitablyrestricted.Wenowwishtoconsiderthefollowingquestion.
Ifafunctionfhasapowerseriesrepresentation

n0

n 0

f (x) an x n or f (x) an (x c)n

f (x) an xn a0 a1 x a2 x 2 a3 x 3 a4 x 4 ...
n0

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andtheradiusofconvergenceoftheseriesisr>0.Apowerseriesrepresentationfor f (x)
maybeobtainedbydifferentiatingeachtermoftheseriesforf(x).Wemaythenfinda
seriesfor f (x) bydifferentiatingthetermsoftheseriesfor f (x) .Seriesfor f ( x) , f

(4)

( x)

andsoon,canbefoundinsimilarfashion.Thus,

f (x) a1 2a2 x 3a3 x2 4a4 x 3 ... nan x n1

f (x) 2a2 (3 2)a3 x (4 3)a4 x 2 ... n(n 1)an x n2

f (x) (3 2)a3 (4 3 2)a4 x ... n(n 1)(n 2)an x n3

andforeverypositiveintegerk,

f (k) (x) n(n 1)(n 2)...(n k 1)an x nk

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Eachseriesobtainedbydifferentiationhasthesameradiusofconvergencerastheseries
forf(x).Substituting0forxineachoftheserepresentations,weobtain

f (0) a0 , f (0) a1 , f (0) 2a2 , f (0) (3 2)a3

f (k ) (x) k(k 1)(k 2)...(1)ak

f (n) (x) n!an

a0 f (0), a1 f (0), a2

And,ingeneral,

f (0)
f (0)
, a3
2
(3 2)

f (n) (0)
an
n!

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MacLaurinSeriesforf(x)
Ifafunctionfhasapowerseriesrepresentation

f (x) an x n
n0

withradiusofconvergencer>0,then f

(k )

(0) existsforeverypositiveintegerkand

f (n) (0)
an
n! .Thus,
f (0) 2
f (n) (0) n
f (x) f (0) f (0)x
x ...
x ...
2!
n!
f (n) (0) n

x

n0 n!

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TaylorSeriesforf(x)
Ifafunctionfhasapowerseriesrepresentation

f (x) an (x c)n

n0

withradiusofconvergencer>0,then f

(k )

(c) existsforeverypositiveintegerkand

f (n) (c)
an
n! .Thus,
f (x) f (c) f (c)(x c)

f (c)
(x c)2 ...
2!

f (n) (0)
(x c)n ...

n!
f (n) (c)
(x c)n

n0 n!
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Example10.29:
FindtheMacLaurinSeriesforf(x)=cosx.

Example10.30:
FindtheTaylorSeriesforf(x)=lnxatc=1.

Prepared by: Pn.Suriawati Sahari

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