CHAPTER 5 : SERIES

5.1

Series

5.2

The Sum of a Series

5.2.1
Sum of Power of n Positive Integers
5.2.2
Sum of Series of Partial Fraction
5.2.3
Difference Method

5.3

Test of convergence
5.3.1
Divergence Test
5.3.2
Integral Test
5.3.3
Ratio Test

5.4

Power Series

5.5

Taylor and the Maclaurin Series

Review:
Sequence
What is a sequence? It is a set of numbers which are written
in some particular order

u1 , u2 , , un .
We sometimes write u1 for the first term of the sequence,
u2 for the second term and so on. We write the nth term as
un .
Examples:
1, 3, 5, 9. finite sequence
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, , n finite sequence
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, - infinite sequence

5.1

Series

Definition:
The sum of the terms in the sequence is called a series.
For example, suppose we have the sequence

u1 , u2 ,

, un .

The series we obtain from this is

u1 u2

un .

and we write S n for the sum of these n terms.

For example, let us consider the sequence of numbers
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, . . . , n .
Then,
S1 1
S2 1 2 3
S3 1 2 3 6

The difference between the sum of two consecutive partial

terms, Sn Sn 1, is the nth term of the series.
un Sn Sn 1
i.e
If the sum of the terms ends after a few terms, then the
series is called finite series.
If the sum of the series does not end, then the series is
called infinite series.
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Example 1:
Find the 4th term and 5th term of the sequence 1, 4, 7, .
Hence, find S4 and S5 of the series 1, 4, 7, .

Example 2:
The sum of the first n terms of the series is given by
1
Sn (5n 2 11n)
4
a) Find the first three terms, and
b) The n-th term of the series.

Summation Notation, .
(read as sigma) is used to represent the sum of the series.
In general,

Sn u1 u2

un ur . (finite)

S u1 u2 u3

r 1

ui . (infinite)
i 1

Example 3:
Find the r-th term of the following series. Hence, express
the series using notation.
a) 2 3 4 ..., to 10 terms.
b) 3 9 27 ...,until 30 terms.

Before we proceed to the next sub-topic, let us review two

important sequences/progressions, i.e.
1. Geometric Sequence
2. Arithmetic Sequence
Geometric Sequence
- GS is a sequence where each new term after the first is
obtained by multiplying the preceding term by a
constant r, called the common ratio.
- If the first term of the sequence is a, then the GS is
a, ar , ar 2 , ar 3 ,...
where the n-th term is ar n 1.
- E.g.
2, 6, 18, 54, .. (a 2, r 3)
1, -2, 4, -8 (a 1, r 2)

Arithmetic Sequence
- AS is a sequence where each new term after the first is
obtained by adding a constant d, called the common
difference to the preceding term.
- If the term of the sequence is a, then the AS is
a, a d , a 2d , a 3d ,...
where the n-th term is a (n 1)d .
- E.g.
8, 5, 2, -1, -4, .. (a 8, d 3)

5.2

Sum of Series

5.2.1

Sum of Power of n Positive Integers

r 1 2 3

n n 1
2

r 1
n

1
n 2 n n 1 2n 1
6

2
2
2
2
r

r 1

1 2 3
3

r 1

n n 1
n

Example 4:
Evaluate

20

25

r 1

r 1

2
3
r
r
and

Example 5:
10

Evaluate

2r 1 .
2

r 1

Example 6:
Find the sum for each of the following series:
(a) 2 4 6 2n
(b) 1 3 4 5 7 7
to 30 terms
2

5.2.2

Sum of Series of Partial Fraction

In this section we shall discuss terms with partial fractions

such as
1
1
1

...
2 3 3 4 4 5
We are not able to calculate the sum of the series by using
the available formula (so far), but with the help of partial
fraction method, we can solve the problem.
Example 7:
Find the sum of the first n terms of the series
1
1
1

...
2 3 3 4 4 5

The above problem requires quite a long solution. However,

in the next sub-topic, we will see a different approach to
solve the same problem. We called the approach, a
difference method.

5.2.3 Difference method

Let f ( x) be a function of x and the r-th term of the series
n

ur is of the form ur f (r ) f (r 1) , then

r 1

r 1

r 1

ur f (r ) f (r 1)
f (1) f (0) f (2) f (1) f (3) f (2)
f (4) f (3) ... f (n) f (n 1)
f (0) f (n)
f (n) f (0).

To conclude,
If ur f r f r 1 , then

u
r 1

f n f 0 .

Or equivalently
If kur f r f r 1 , then

ur
r 1

1
f n f 0 .
k

where k is a constant.
Note: If we fail to express ur into this form, i.e.
f r f r 1 , then this method cannot be used.
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Example 8:
Express the r-th term of the series
1 2 2 3 3 4 ... r (r 1) ... as the difference of two
functions of r and r 1. Hence find the sum of the first n
terms of the series.
Solution:
Step 1: Find the general form of the r-th term:

Step 2: Form another sequence f (r ) by adding one more

factor to the end of the general term ur :
Step 3: Find f (r 1) :

Step 4: Form the difference:

f (r ) f (r 1)

Step 5: Find the sum :

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Tips:

ur , of the series is in "product" form,

you can add one more factor to the end of the general term ur , so
(A) If the general term,

as to form a sequence f (r ) and then apply the difference

method.

ur , is in "quotient" form, you can

remove one more factor at the end of the general term ur , so as
(B) If the general term,

to form a sequence f (r ) and then apply the difference method.

Example 9:
By using the difference method, find the sum of the first n
terms of the series
1
1
1
1

...
.
2 3 3 4 4 5
(n 1)(n 2)

Example (10):
Use the difference method; find the sum of the series
n

r 2 r 3 .
r 1

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5.3 Test of Convergence

5.3.1 Divergence Test

If ar converges, then lim ar 0 . Equivalently, if

r

r 1

lim ar 0 , or lim ar does not exist, then the series is

diverges.
Example (11):

n2
Show that the series 2
diverges.
n 1 5n 4
Example 12:

r
Use Divergence Test to determine whether
diverges
ln
r
r 1

or not.

12

5.3.2 The Integral Test

Suppose f is a continuous, positive, decreasing function on

1, and let ar f r . Then the series ar is convergent

r 1

if and only if the improper integral

f x dx is
1

convergent. In other words

(a) If

f x dx is convergent, then a
1

r 1

is

convergent.

(b) If

f x dx is divergent, then a
1

r 1

is divergent.

Note: Use this test when f x is easy to integrate.

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Example 13:
Use the Integral Test to determine whether the following
series converges or diverges.

14

5.3.3 Ratio Test

Let ar be an infinite series with positive terms and let

r 1

ar 1
.
r ar

lim
a)
b)
c)

If 0 1, the series converges.

If 1 , or , the series diverges.
If 1, the test is inconclusive.

Example 14:
Use the Ratio Test to determine whether the following
series converges or diverges.

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5.4

Power Series

Definition
A power series about x 0 is a series of the form

n
2
3
n
a
x

a
x

a
x

a
x

a
x

n
0
1
2
3
n
n 0

A power series about x a is a series of the form

n
2
n
a
(
x

a
)

a
(
x

a
)

a
(
x

a
)

a
(
x

a
)

n
0
1
2
n
n 0

in

which

a0 , a1 , a2,

the

, an ,

center a and
are constants.

the

coefficients

16

5.4.1 Expansion of Exponent Function

The power series of the exponent function can be written as

1 2 1 3 1 4
e 1 x x x x
2!
3!
4!
x

The expansion is true for all values of x. In general,

1 n
e x .
n 0 n !
x

Example (15):
Given

1 2 1 3 1 4
1 n
e 1 x x x x x
2!
3!
4!
n!
x

Write down the first five terms of the expansion of the

following functions
(a) e

2x

(b) e

x 1

Example (16):
Write down the first five terms on the expansion of the
function, 1 x e
2

in the form of power series.

17

5.4.2 Expansion of Logarithmic Function

The expansion of logarithmic function can be written as

1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5
ln(1 x) x x x x x
2
3
4
5
1 6 1 7
x x
6
7
The series converges for 1 x 1. Thus the series

ln 1 x is valid for 1 x 1.
By assuming x with x , we obtain
1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5
ln(1 x) x x x x x
2
3
4
5
1 6 1 7
x x
6
7
Thus, this result is true for 1 x 1 or 1 x 1.

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Example (17):
Write down the first five terms of the expansion of the
following functions
(a) ln 1 3x

(b) 3ln 1 2 x

1 3x

Example (18):
Find the first four terms of the expansion of the function,

1 x

ln 1 2 x .
3

19

5.4.3 Expansion of Trigonometric Function

The power series for trigonometric functions can be written
as

x3 x5 x 7 x9
sin x x
3! 5! 7! 9!
x 2 x 4 x 6 x8
cos x 1
2! 4! 6! 8!
Both series are valid for all values of x.
Example (19):
Given

x 2 x 4 x 6 x8
cos x 1
2! 4! 6! 8!
Find the expansion of cos 2x and cos 3x . Hence, by
using an appropriate trigonometric identity find the first
four terms of the expansion of the following functions:

x
3
(b) cos x
(a) sin

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5.5

Taylor and the Maclaurin Series

Example 20:
Obtain the Taylor series for f ( x) 3x 2 6 x 5 around the point
x 1.
Ans: 2 + 3(x-1)2
Example 21:
Obtain Maclaurin series expansion for the first four terms of
e x and five terms of sin x . Hence, deduct that Maclaurin series for
1
1
e x sin x is given by x x 2 x3 x5 ...
3
30
Example 22:
Use Taylors theorem to obtain a series expansion of first five

derivatives for cos x . Hence find cos620 correct to 4 dcp.

3

Ans: 0.4695

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Example 23:
If y ln cos x , show that
2
d2y
dy
1 0
dx 2
dx
Hence, by differentiating the above expression several times,
obtain the Maclaurins series of y ln cos x in the ascending
power of x up to the term containing x 4 .
Solution:

22

Finding Limits with Taylor Series and Maclaurin Series.

Example 24:
ex 1 x
Find lim
.
2
x 0
x
Ans:

Example 25:

x 2 2cos x 2
Evaluate lim
.
4
x 0
3x
Ans: 1/36

Evaluating Definite Integrals with Taylor Series and Maclaurin

Series.
Example 26:
Use the first 6 terms of the Maclaurin series to approximate the
following definite integral.
1

a) e x dx
0

b) x cos( x3 )dx
0

Ans: 0.747, 0.440

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