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Calculus Unit 4

The document discusses different types of infinite series, including convergent and divergent series, and provides tests to determine if a series converges or diverges. Key topics covered include the limit definition of convergence, geometric series, p-series, alternating series, and the alternating series test.

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126 views4 pages

Calculus Unit 4

The document discusses different types of infinite series, including convergent and divergent series, and provides tests to determine if a series converges or diverges. Key topics covered include the limit definition of convergence, geometric series, p-series, alternating series, and the alternating series test.

Uploaded by

OmegaUser
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Calculus 081 SERIES

Unit 4

This unit corresponds to Sections 11.2 and 11.5 of Stewarts textbook.


Copyright c 2002 by the Department of Mathematics, University of Western Ontario.

Let us see how the limit concept allows us to make sense of the notion of the sum of innitely many numbers. When we add the terms of an innite sequence a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . , we obtain an innite series

an = a1 + a2 + a3 + . . . .
n=1

Its n-th partial sum is


n

sn =
i=1

ai = a1 + a2 + + an .

If the limit s = lim sn exists, then the series an is said to be convergent n with sum s. Otherwise, the series is called divergent and no sum is assigned to it. So n an = lim
n=1 n

ai .
i=1

In other words, the sum of a convergent series is the number we approach when we add up more and more terms (in the right order!).

Examples. (1) Let us consider the geometric series


n=1

arn1 with a = 0.

In this series, when r = 0, the ratio of any two successive terms is the same, namely r. This property characterizes the geometric series. If r = 1, then sn = a + + a = na as n , so the series diverges. Assume r = 1. Then sn = a + ar + ar2 + + arn1 and rsn = ar + ar2 + + arn ,

so sn rsn = a arn and

1 rn sn = a . 1r If |r| > 1 or r = 1, then this diverges. If |r| < 1, then rn 0 as n , and a rst term arn1 = lim sn = = . n 1r 1 common ratio n=1 In short, the geometric series converges if and only if |r| < 1. 4n+1 (2) Let us evaluate the sum . The ratio of successive terms is n n=1 7 (n + 1)-st term 4n+2 /7n+1 4 = n+1 n = , n-th term 4 /7 7 so this is a geometric series with sum rst term 16/7 16 = = . 1 common ratio 1 4/7 3

n is not a geometric series. Still, its partial sums n+1 n=1 are easy to evaluate because they are telescoping: (3) The series ln sn = ln 2 n 1 + ln + + ln 2 3 n+1 = (ln 1 ln 2) + (ln 2 ln 3) + + (ln n ln(n + 1)) = ln(n + 1).

1 diverges. Its rst term n=1 n 1 is 1. Its second term is 2 . Its next two terms are 1 + 1 > 2 1 = 1 . Its next 3 4 4 2 four terms are 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 > 4 1 = 1 . Its next eight terms also add up to 5 6 7 8 8 2 1 more than 2 , as do the sixteen terms after that, and so on. 1 Hence, s1 = 1, s2 = 1 + 1 , s4 > 1 + 2 2 , s8 > 1 + 3 1 , and so on: the 2 2 2n -th partial sum is greater than 1 + n , and this goes to as n . 2 Here are two basic facts about series. Theorem. If an and bn are convergent, then so are can , where c is a constant, and (an + bn ), and (4) Let us show that the harmonic series can = c an , (an + bn ) = 2 an + bn .

As n , sn , so the series diverges.

Theorem. If an converges, then an 0 as n . Indeed, if an converges with sum s = lim sn , then an = sn sn1 ss = 0 as n . The theorem implies that if lim an does not exist or lim an = 0, then n3 an diverges. This provides a test for divergence. For instance, 7n3 + 2n 3 n 1 diverges because = 0. Note carefully that a series an with 3 + 2n 7n 7 an 0 need not converge (example: the harmonic series). (x + 1)n Example. For which values of x is the series convergent? This 3n n=0 is a geometric series with common ratio (x + 1)n+1 /3n+1 = 1 (x + 1) 3 n /3n (x + 1) (we are keeping x xed here and varying n), so it converges if and only if | 1 (x + 1)| < 1, that is |x + 1| < 3, which means x (4, 2). For such x, the 3 sum is rst term 1 3 = , x+1 = 1 common ratio 2x 1 3 so (x + 1)n 3 = for x (4, 2). n 3 2x n=0 This series is an example of a power series. We can think of such a series as an innite polynomial. We will study power series in detail later. 1 The p-series , where p is a xed real number, form an important class p n=1 n of series. Note that for p = 1, this is the harmonic series. Proposition. When p 1, the p-series diverges, and when p > 1, the p-series converges. k Let us prove this. When p > 1, noting that k1p k1 dx and using an xp improper integral we have considered before, we get
n 1 1 1 1 sn = 1 + p + p + + p 1 + dx p 2 3 n 1 x 1 1 1+ dx = 1 + < , xp p1 1

so (sn ) is an increasing sequence, bounded above. It is a basic fact about the real numbers that such a sequence converges. Hence, the p-series converges when p > 1. On the other hand, if p 1, then 1/np 1/n, so sn sh , n where sh is the n-th partial sum of the harmonic series 1/n. We know n that the harmonic series diverges, that is sh , so sn as well. n An alternating series is a series whose terms are alternately positive and negative. An alternating series that starts with a positive term looks like this: (1)n1 bn = b1 b2 + b3 b4 + . . . ,
n=1

bn > 0.

Here is an important test for convergence of an alternating series. Alternating Series Test. If the sequence (bn ) is decreasing and bn 0, then the alternating series (1)n1 bn converges. Examples. (1) The alternating harmonic series

n=1

(1)n1 1 1 1 = 1 + + ... n 2 3 4

converges because bn = 1/n decreases to zero. sin(n ) 1 1 1 2 = + . . . is an alternating series (2) The series n! 1! 3! 5! n=1 1 with bn = . Clearly, bn decreases to zero, so the series converges. (2n 1)! 2n3 2n3 (3) The series (1)n1 3 is alternating. Since bn = 3 7n 4n 7n 4n n=1 2/7, the terms do not go to zero and the series diverges. n2 (4) Let us nally consider the series (1)n1 3 . This is an alter2n n n=1 n2 nating series because bn = 3 > 0 for all n 1. Also, bn 0 as n 2n n since the denominator has higher degree than the numerator. With the Alternating Series Test in mind, we would like to know whether or not (bn ) is x2 decreasing. To check this, we apply calculus to the function f (x) = 3 . 2x x 2x4 x2 , and this is clearly negative at least for x 1, We have f (x) = (2x3 x)2 so f is decreasing on [1, ). Hence, (bn ) is decreasing, and the Alternating Series Test implies that our series converges. 4

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