Section 4-10 : Ratio Test

In this section we are going to take a look at a test that we can use to see if a
series is absolutely convergent or not. Recall that if a series is absolutely
convergent then we will also know that it’s convergent and so we will often use it
to simply determine the convergence of a series.

Before proceeding with the test let’s do a quick reminder of factorials. This test
will be particularly useful for series that contain factorials (and we will see
some in the applications) so let’s make sure we can deal with them before we run
into them in an example.

If n
is an integer such that n≥0 then n

factorial is defined as,

n!=n(n−1)(n−2)⋯(3)(2)(1)if n≥10!=1by definition

Let’s compute a couple real quick.

1!=12!=2(1)=23!=3(2)(1)=64!=4(3)(2)(1)=245!=5(4)(3)(2)(1)=120

In the last computation above, notice that we could rewrite the factorial in a
couple of different ways. For instance,
5!=5(4)(3)(2)(1)4!=5⋅4!5!=5(4)(3)(2)
(1)3!=5(4)⋅3!

In general, we can always “strip out” terms from a factorial as follows.

n!=n(n−1)(n−2)⋯(n−k)(n−(k+1))⋯(3)(2)(1)=n(n−1)(n−2)⋯(n−k)⋅(n−(k+1))!=n(n−1)
(n−2)⋯(n−k)⋅(n−k−1)!

We will need to do this on occasion so don’t forget about it.

Also, when dealing with factorials we need to be very careful with parenthesis. For
instance, (2n)!≠2n!

as we can see if we write each of the following factorials out.

(2n)!=(2n)(2n−1)(2n−2)⋯(3)(2)(1)2n!=2[(n)(n−1)(n−2)⋯(3)(2)(1)]

Again, we will run across factorials with parenthesis so don’t drop them. This is
often one of the more common mistakes that students make when they first run across
factorials.

Okay, we are now ready for the test.

Ratio Test

Suppose we have the series ∑an

. Define,
L=limn→∞∣∣∣an+1an∣∣∣

Then,

if L<1

the series is absolutely convergent (and hence convergent).

if L>1
the series is divergent.
if L=1

the series may be divergent, conditionally convergent, or absolutely

convergent.

A proof of this test is at the end of the section.

Notice that in the case of L=1

the ratio test is pretty much worthless and we would need to resort to a different
test to determine the convergence of the series.

Also, the absolute value bars in the definition of L

are absolutely required. If they are not there it will be impossible for us to get
the correct answer.

Let’s take a look at some examples.

Example 1 Determine if the following series is convergent or divergent.
∞∑n=1(−10)n42n+1(n+1)
Show Solution

As seen in the previous example there is usually a lot of canceling that will
happen in these. Make sure that you do this canceling. If you don’t do this kind of
canceling it can make the limit fairly difficult.
Example 2 Determine if the following series is convergent or divergent. ∞∑n=0n!5n
Show Solution
Example 3 Determine if the following series is convergent or divergent.
∞∑n=2n2(2n−1)!
Show Solution
Example 4 Determine if the following series is convergent or divergent.
∞∑n=19n(−2)n+1n
Show Solution

In the previous example the absolute value bars were required to get the correct
answer. If we hadn’t used them we would have gotten L=−92<1

which would have implied a convergent series!

Now, let’s take a look at a couple of examples to see what happens when we getL=1
. Recall that the ratio test will not tell us anything about the convergence of
these series. In both of these examples we will first verify that we get L=1

and then use other tests to determine the convergence.

Example 5 Determine if the following series is convergent or divergent.
∞∑n=0(−1)nn2+1
Show Solution
Example 6 Determine if the following series is convergent or divergent.
∞∑n=0n+22n+7
Show Solution

So, as we saw in the previous two examples if we get L=1

from the ratio test the series can be either convergent or divergent.

There is one more thing that we should note about the ratio test before we move
onto the next section. The last series was a polynomial divided by a polynomial and
we saw that we got L=1
from the ratio test. This will always happen with rational expression involving
only polynomials or polynomials under radicals. So, in the future it isn’t even
worth it to try the ratio test on these kinds of problems since we now know that we
will get L=1

Also, in the second to last example we saw an example of an alternating series in

which the positive term was a rational expression involving polynomials and again
we will always get L=1

in these cases.

Let’s close the section out with a proof of the Ratio Test.
Proof of Ratio Test

First note that we can assume without loss of generality that the series will start
at n=1

as we’ve done for all our series test proofs.

Let’s start off the proof here by assuming that L<1

and we’ll need to show that ∑an is absolutely convergent. To do this let’s first
note that because L<1 there is some number r such that L<r<1

Now, recall that,

L=limn→∞∣∣∣an+1an∣∣∣

and because we also have chosen r

such that L<r there is some N such that if n≥N

we will have,
∣∣∣an+1an∣∣∣<r⇒|an+1|<r|an|

Next, consider the following,

|aN+1|<r|aN||aN+2|<r|aN+1|<r2|aN||aN+3|<r|aN+2|<r3|aN|⋮|aN+k|<r|aN+k−1|<rk|aN|

So, for k=1,2,3,…

we have |aN+k|<rk|aN|

. Just why is this important? Well we can now look at the following series.
∞∑k=0|aN|rk

This is a geometric series and because 0<r<1

we in fact know that it is a convergent series. Also because |aN+k|<rk|aN|

by the Comparison test the series

∞∑n=N+1|an|=∞∑k=1|aN+k|

is convergent. However since,

∞∑n=1|an|=N∑n=1|an|+∞∑n=N+1|an|

we know that ∞∑n=1|an|

is also convergent since the first term on the right is a finite sum of finite
terms and hence finite. Therefore ∞∑n=1an

is absolutely convergent.
Next, we need to assume that L>1
and we’ll need to show that ∑an

is divergent. Recalling that,

L=limn→∞∣∣∣an+1an∣∣∣

and because L>1

we know that there must be some N such that if n≥N

we will have,
∣∣∣an+1an∣∣∣>1⇒|an+1|>|an|

However, if |an+1|>|an|
for all n≥N

then we know that,

limn→∞|an|≠0

because the terms are getting larger and guaranteed to not be negative. This in
turn means that,
limn→∞an≠0

Therefore, by the Divergence Test ∑an

is divergent.

Finally, we need to assume that L=1

and show that we could get a series that has any of the three possibilities. To do
this we just need a series for each case. We’ll leave the details of checking to
you but all three of the following series have L=1

and each one exhibits one of the possibilities.

∞∑n=11n2absolutely convergent∞∑n=1(−1)nnconditionally convergent∞∑n=11ndivergent
Proof of Ratio Test

First note that we can assume without loss of generality that the series will start
at n=1

as we’ve done for all our series test proofs.

Let’s start off the proof here by assuming that L<1

and we’ll need to show that ∑an is absolutely convergent. To do this let’s first
note that because L<1 there is some number r such that L<r<1

Now, recall that,

L=limn→∞∣∣∣an+1an∣∣∣

and because we also have chosen r

such that L<r there is some N such that if n≥N

we will have,
∣∣∣an+1an∣∣∣<r⇒|an+1|<r|an|

Next, consider the following,

|aN+1|<r|aN||aN+2|<r|aN+1|<r2|aN||aN+3|<r|aN+2|<r3|aN|⋮|aN+k|<r|aN+k−1|<rk|aN|

So, for k=1,2,3,…

we have |aN+k|<rk|aN|

. Just why is this important? Well we can now look at the following series.
∞∑k=0|aN|rk

This is a geometric series and because 0<r<1

we in fact know that it is a convergent series. Also because |aN+k|<rk|aN|

by the Comparison test the series

∞∑n=N+1|an|=∞∑k=1|aN+k|

is convergent. However since,

∞∑n=1|an|=N∑n=1|an|+∞∑n=N+1|an|

we know that ∞∑n=1|an|

is also convergent since the first term on the right is a finite sum of finite
terms and hence finite. Therefore ∞∑n=1an

is absolutely convergent.

Next, we need to assume that L>1

and we’ll need to show that ∑an

is divergent. Recalling that,

L=limn→∞∣∣∣an+1an∣∣∣

and because L>1

we know that there must be some N such that if n≥N

we will have,
∣∣∣an+1an∣∣∣>1⇒|an+1|>|an|

However, if |an+1|>|an|
for all n≥N

then we know that,

limn→∞|an|≠0

because the terms are getting larger and guaranteed to not be negative. This in
turn means that,
limn→∞an≠0

Therefore, by the Divergence Test ∑an

is divergent.

Finally, we need to assume that L=1

and show that we could get a series that has any of the three possibilities. To do
this we just need a series for each case. We’ll leave the details of checking to
you but all three of the following series have L=1

and each one exhibits one of the possibilities.

∞∑n=11n2absolutely convergent∞∑n=1(−1)nnconditionally convergent∞∑n=11ndivergent