Evening Help Session 10——Math 119

Aamer Akhand

March 24th 2020

1 Approximating Sums
1.1 By Taylor’s Inequality
1.1.1
Use a 4th-order Maclaurin polynomial to estimate the value of Sin(0.1).

Solution: An appropriate polynomial we can use to estimate this is simply the

Maclaurin polynomial of Sin(x). Remember the Maclaurin polynomial is simply a
Taylor polynomial centered at 0. We will need the first 4 derivatives of Sin(x) all
evaluated at 0.
f (x) = sin(x) f (0) = 0
f 0 (x) = cos(x) f 0 (0) = 1
00
f (x) = − sin(x) f 00 (0) = 0
f 3 (x) = − cos(x) f 3 (0) = −1
f 4 (x) = sin(x) f 4 (0) = 0
Now let’s construct our Maclaurin Polynomial.

x3
P (x)4,0 = 0 + x + 0 − +0
3!
x3
P (x)4,0 = x −
3!
0.13
P (0.1)4,0 = 0.1 −
6
0.001
P (0.1)4,0 = 0.1 −
6

1
1.1.2
Using
R1 2 nonzero terms of an appropriate series expansion, estimate the value of
0
cos(x2 ) dx and provide an upper bound on the magnitude of the associated error.

Solution: An appropriate polynomial we can use is just the Maclaurin polynomial

of Cos(u). I use u as our variable because we will actually be using a substituion
later. Since we need the first 2 nonzero terms, we will need up to the 3rd term. I
will let you all derive the polynomial but here it is.

u2
P (u)2,0 = 1 − + R(u)2,0
2!
x4
P (x)4,0 = 1 − + R(x)4,0
2!
We found the fourth order Maclaurin of cos(x2 ) with only 2 simply derivatives! Re-
member, P (x)4,0 represents cos(x2 ). So if we can take the intergral of it from 0 to
1, we have solved the problem. However, before we begin computing the integral,
n+1
let’s find what the error is, the R portion. We know R = K |u−u 0|
n+1!
. Where K =
the maximum of the next derivative. We never took the derivatives with respect
to x which is why we are actually going to stay in the u substituiton for a bit longer.

The third derivative of cos(z) is sin(z). Well what is ’z’ I hear you say. z is
a value in between our u and our u0 that gives us the maximum value of sin(z).
Now we need to figure out what u and u0 are.

x ∈ [0, 1]

u = x2
u ∈ [0, 1]
z ∈ [0, 1]
We can clearly see that sin(1) > sin(0) and therefore that is what our K will be.
Wow that was a lot of work to find 1 letter.
|u|3
R(u)2,0 = sin(1)
3!
x4 x6
P (x)4,0 = 1 − ± sin(1)
2! 3!
Z 1 Z 1 4
x x6
cos x2 dx = 1− ± sin(1) dx
0 0 2 6
I will let you all do the final integration steps but our final answer is:
Z 1
cos x2 dx = 0.9 ± 0.020
0

2
1.2 By Alternating Series Estimation Theorem
Determine if the series absolutely or conditionally converges. Determine how many
terms are needed to approximate the sum under the error.
P∞ (−1)n
n=1
√
n+22
with error less than 1/30.

1
Solution: Firstly, lets apply the Alternating Series Test. bn = √n+22 is indeed
constantly decreasing as the numerator stays the same and the denominator gets
increasing bigger. Therefore the series converges. We still must check for absolute
convergence. Lets apply absolute value bars on our sum.
∞
X 1
√
n=1
n + 22

I have a feeling that this will diverge because it kinda looks like √1n and that
diverges by P-Series. I can try and use a comparison test to determine if it will
diverge. Since I think it will diverge, I must find a smaller series that also diverges.
√1 is a series that diverges, however it is actually bigger than our series! So we
n
1√
cannot use that series to compare. We can however compare it to √n+ n
= 2√1 n
which is indeed both smaller and divergent. This means our series is conditionally
convergent.
Now to find the error, we can apply the Alternating Series Estimation Theorem.
1
Error ≤ bn+1 ≤
30
1 1
√ + 22 ≤
n+1 30
√
30 ≤ n + 1 + 22
√
8≤ n+1
63 ≤ n
1
Therefore our n must be atleast 63 to ensure our error is less than 30

P∞ (−1)n
n=1 (n!)3 with error less than 1/8000.

Solution: I see a factorial so my head is just yelling at me to use the ratio test,
and that is what I will use.
x!3
lim
x→+∞ (x + 1)!3

1
lim
x→+∞ (x + 1)3
=0
This series has a limit less than 1 and therefore absolutely converges. Now to find
the error, we will once again apply the Alternating Series Estimation Theorem.
1 1
≤
n!3 8000
8000 ≤ n!3

3
 20 ≤ n!
Hmm, I have no idea how to solve a factorial, but I do know how to guess numbers
and that is what I will be doing. 4! is 12 which is not greater than 20, but 5! is
60. Therefore n must be greater than or equal to 5!