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CalculusIISeriesConvergence/Divergence

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Series Convergence/Divergence
Intheprevioussectionwespentsometimegettingfamiliarwithseriesandwebrieflydefined
convergenceanddivergence.Beforeworryingaboutconvergenceanddivergenceofaserieswe
wantedtomakesurethatwevestartedtogetcomfortablewiththenotationinvolvedinseriesand
someofthevariousmanipulationsofseriesthatwewill,onoccasion,needtobeabletodo.

Asnotedintheprevioussectionmostofwhatweweredoingtherewontbedonemuchinthis
chapter.So,itisnowtimetostarttalkingabouttheconvergenceanddivergenceofaseriesasthis
willbeatopicthatwellbedealingwithtooneextentoranotherinalmostalloftheremaining
sectionsofthischapter.

So,letsrecapjustwhataninfiniteseriesisandwhatitmeansforaseriestobeconvergentor
divergent.Wellstartwithasequence
andagainnotethatwerestartingthesequenceat
onlyforthesakeofconvenienceanditcan,infact,beanything.

Nextwedefinethepartialsumsoftheseriesas,

andtheseformanewsequence,
.

Aninfiniteseries,orjustseriesheresincealmosteveryseriesthatwe'llbelookingatwillbean
infiniteseries,isthenthelimitofthepartialsums.Or,

Ifthesequenceofpartialsumsisaconvergentsequence(i.e.itslimitexistsandisfinite)thenthe
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seriesisalsocalledconvergentandinthiscaseif

then,

.Likewise,ifthesequence

ofpartialsumsisadivergentsequence(i.e.itslimitdoesntexistorisplusorminusinfinity)thenthe
seriesisalsocalleddivergent.

Letstakealookatsomeseriesandseeifwecandetermineiftheyareconvergentordivergentand
seeifwecandeterminethevalueofanyconvergentserieswefind.

Example1Determineifthefollowingseriesisconvergentordivergent.Ifitconvergesdetermine
itsvalue.

Solution
Todetermineiftheseriesisconvergentwefirstneedtogetourhandsonaformulaforthegeneral
terminthesequenceofpartialsums.

Thisisaknownseriesanditsvaluecanbeshowntobe,

Dontworryifyoudidntknowthisformula(Idbesurprisedifanyoneknewit)asyouwontbe
requiredtoknowitinmycourse.

So,todetermineiftheseriesisconvergentwewillfirstneedtoseeifthesequenceofpartialsums,

isconvergentordivergent.Thatsnotterriblydifficultinthiscase.Thelimitofthesequenceterms
is,

Therefore,thesequenceofpartialsumsdivergesto andsotheseriesalsodiverges.

So,aswesawinthisexamplewehadtoknowafairlyobscureformulainordertodeterminethe
convergenceofthisseries.Ingeneralfindingaformulaforthegeneralterminthesequenceofpartial
sumsisaverydifficultprocess.Infactafterthenextsectionwellnotbedoingmuchwiththepartial
sumsofseriesduetotheextremedifficultyfacedinfindingthegeneralformula.Thisalsomeansthat
wellnotbedoingmuchworkwiththevalueofseriessinceinordertogetthevaluewellalsoneedto
knowthegeneralformulaforthepartialsums.

Wewillcontinuewithafewmoreexampleshowever,sincethisistechnicallyhowwedetermine
convergenceandthevalueofaseries.Also,theremainingexampleswellbelookingatinthis
sectionwillleadustoaveryimportantfactabouttheconvergenceofseries.

So,letstakealookatacouplemoreexamples.

Example2Determineifthefollowingseriesconvergesordiverges.Ifitconvergesdetermineits
sum.
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Solution
Thisisactuallyoneofthefewseriesinwhichweareabletodetermineaformulaforthegeneral
terminthesequenceofpartialfractions.However,inthissectionwearemoreinterestedinthe
generalideaofconvergenceanddivergenceandsowellputoffdiscussingtheprocessforfinding
theformulauntilthenextsection.

Thegeneralformulaforthepartialsumsis,

andinthiscasewehave,

Thesequenceofpartialsumsconvergesandsotheseriesconvergesalsoanditsvalueis,

Example3Determineifthefollowingseriesconvergesordiverges.Ifitconvergesdetermineits
sum.

Solution
Inthiscasewereallydontneedageneralformulaforthepartialsumstodeterminethe
convergenceofthisseries.Letsjustwritedownthefirstfewpartialsums.

So,itlookslikethesequenceofpartialsumsis,

andthissequencedivergessince

doesntexist.Therefore,theseriesalsodiverges.

Example4Determineifthefollowingseriesconvergesordiverges.Ifitconvergesdetermineits
sum.

Solution
Hereisthegeneralformulaforthepartialsumsforthisseries.

Again,donotworryaboutknowingthisformula.Thisisnotsomethingthatyoulleverbeaskedto
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knowinmyclass.

Inthiscasethelimitofthesequenceofpartialsumsis,

Thesequenceofpartialsumsisconvergentandsotheserieswillalsobeconvergent.Thevalueof
theseriesis,

Aswealreadynoted,donotgetexcitedaboutdeterminingthegeneralformulaforthesequenceof
partialsums.Thereisonlygoingtobeonetypeofserieswhereyouwillneedtodeterminethis
formulaandtheprocessinthatcaseisnttoobad.Infact,youalreadyknowhowtodomostofthe
workintheprocessasyoullseeinthenextsection.

So,wevedeterminedtheconvergenceoffourseriesnow.Twooftheseriesconvergedandtwo
diverged.Letsgobackandexaminetheseriestermsforeachofthese.Foreachoftheserieslets
takethelimitasngoestoinfinityoftheseriesterms(notthepartialsums!!).

Noticethatforthetwoseriesthatconvergedtheseriestermitselfwaszerointhelimit.Thiswill
alwaysbetrueforconvergentseriesandleadstothefollowingtheorem.

Theorem
If
convergesthen
.

Proof
Firstletssupposethattheseriesstartsat
.Ifitdoesntthenwecanmodifythingsas
appropriatebelow.Thenthepartialsumsare,

Next,wecanusethesetwopartialsumstowrite,

Nowbecauseweknowthat
isconvergentwealsoknowthatthesequence
convergentandthat
have

forsomefinitevalues.However,since

isalso
as

wealso

Wenowhave,
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Becarefultonotmisusethistheorem!Thistheoremgivesusarequirementforconvergencebutnota
guaranteeofconvergence.Inotherwords,theconverseisNOTtrue.If
theseriesmay
actuallydiverge!Considerthefollowingtwoseries.

Inbothcasestheseriestermsarezerointhelimitasngoestoinfinity,yetonlythesecondseries
converges.Thefirstseriesdiverges.Itwillbeacoupleofsectionsbeforewecanprovethis,soatthis
pointpleasebelievethisandknowthatyoullbeabletoprovetheconvergenceofthesetwoseriesina
coupleofsections.

Again,asnotedabove,allthistheoremdoesisgiveusarequirementforaseriestoconverge.Inorder
foraseriestoconvergetheseriestermsmustgotozerointhelimit.Iftheseriestermsdonotgoto
zerointhelimitthenthereisnowaytheseriescanconvergesincethiswouldviolatethetheorem.

Thisleadsustothefirstofmanytestsfortheconvergence/divergenceofaseriesthatwellbeseeing
inthischapter.

DivergenceTest
If
then
willdiverge.

Again,doNOTmisusethistest.Thistestonlysaysthataseriesisguaranteedtodivergeiftheseries
termsdontgotozerointhelimit.Iftheseriestermsdohappentogotozerotheseriesmayormay
notconverge!Again,recallthefollowingtwoseries,

Oneofthemorecommonmistakesthatstudentsmakewhentheyfirstgetintoseriesistoassumethat
if
then
willconverge.Thereisjustnowaytoguaranteethissobecareful!

Letstakeaquicklookatanexampleofhowthistestcanbeused.

Example5Determineifthefollowingseriesisconvergentordivergent.

Solution
Withalmosteveryserieswellbelookingatinthischapterthefirstthingthatweshoulddoistake
alookattheseriestermsandseeiftheygotozeroornot.Ifitsclearthatthetermsdontgoto
zerousetheDivergenceTestandbedonewiththeproblem.

Thatswhatwelldohere.

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ThelimitoftheseriestermsisntzeroandsobytheDivergenceTesttheseriesdiverges.

Thedivergencetestisthefirsttestofmanyteststhatwewillbelookingatoverthecourseofthenext
severalsections.Youwillneedtokeeptrackofallthesetests,theconditionsunderwhichtheycanbe
usedandtheirconclusionsallinoneplacesoyoucanquicklyreferbacktothemasyouneedto.

Nextweshouldbrieflyrevisitarithmeticofseriesandconvergence/divergence.Aswesawinthe
previoussectionif

and

arebothconvergentseriesthensoare

and

Furthermore,theseserieswillhavethefollowingsumsorvalues.

Wellseeanexampleofthisinthenextsectionafterwegetafewmoreexamplesunderourbelt.At
thispointjustrememberthatasumofconvergentseriesisconvergentandmultiplyingaconvergent
seriesbyanumberwillnotchangeitsconvergence.

Weneedtobealittlecarefulwiththesefactswhenitcomestodivergentseries.Inthefirstcaseif
isdivergentthen
willalsobedivergent(providedcisntzeroofcourse)sincemultiplying
aseriesthatisinfiniteinvalueordoesnthaveavaluebyafinitevalue(i.e.c)wontchangethefact
thattheserieshasaninfiniteornovalue.However,itispossibletohaveboth
and
be
divergentseriesandyethave

beaconvergentseries.

Now,sincethemaintopicofthissectionistheconvergenceofaseriesweshouldmentionastronger
typeofconvergence.Aseries
issaidtoconvergeabsolutelyif
alsoconverges.Absolute
convergenceisstrongerthanconvergenceinthesensethataseriesthatisabsolutelyconvergentwill
alsobeconvergent,butaseriesthatisconvergentmayormaynotbeabsolutelyconvergent.

Infactif
convergesand
divergestheseries
iscalledconditionallyconvergent.

Atthispointwedontreallyhavethetoolsathandtoproperlyinvestigatethistopicindetailnordo
wehavethetoolsinhandtodetermineifaseriesisabsolutelyconvergentornot.Sowellnotsay
anythingmoreaboutthissubjectforawhile.Whenwefinallyhavethetoolsinhandtodiscussthis
topicinmoredetailwewillrevisitit.Untilthendontworryaboutit.Theideaismentionedhere
onlybecausewewerealreadydiscussingconvergenceinthissectionandittiesintothelasttopicthat
wewanttodiscussinthissection.

Intheprevioussectionafterwedintroducedtheideaofaninfiniteserieswecommentedonthefact
thatweshouldntthinkofaninfiniteseriesasaninfinitesumdespitethefactthatthenotationweuse
forinfiniteseriesseemstoimplythatitisaninfinitesum.Itsnowtimetobrieflydiscussthis.

First,weneedtointroducetheideaofarearrangement.Arearrangementofaseriesisexactlywhat
itmightsoundlike,itisthesameserieswiththetermsrearrangedintoadifferentorder.

Forexample,considerthefollowinginfiniteseries.
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Arearrangementofthisseriesis,

Theissueweneedtodiscusshereisthatforsomeserieseachofthesearrangementsoftermscanhave
differentvaluesdespitethefactthattheyareusingexactlythesameterms.

Hereisanexampleofthis.Itcanbeshownthat,
(1)

Sincethisseriesconvergesweknowthatifwemultiplyitbyaconstantcitsvaluewillalsobe
multipliedbyc.So,letsmultiplythisby toget,
(2)

Now,letsaddinazerobetweeneachtermasfollows.
(3)

Notethatthiswontchangethevalueoftheseriesbecausethepartialsumsforthisserieswillbethe
partialsumsforthe(2)exceptthateachtermwillberepeated.Repeatingtermsinaserieswillnot
affectitslimithoweverandsoboth(2)and(3)willbethesame.

Weknowthatiftwoseriesconvergewecanaddthembyaddingtermbytermandsoadd(1)and(3)
toget,

(4)

Now,noticethatthetermsof(4)aresimplythetermsof(1)rearrangedsothateachnegativeterm
comesaftertwopositiveterms.Thevalueshoweveraredefinitelydifferentdespitethefactthatthe
termsarethesame.

Noteaswellthatthisisnotoneofthosetricksthatyouseeoccasionallywhereyougeta
contradictoryresultbecauseofahardtospotmath/logicerror.Thisisaveryrealresultandwevenot
madeanylogicmistakes/errors.

Hereisanicesetoffactsthatgovernthisideaofwhenarearrangementwillleadtoadifferentvalue
ofaseries.

Facts
Giventheseries
,
1.If

isabsolutelyconvergentanditsvalueissthenanyrearrangementof

willalso

haveavalueofs.
2.If

isconditionallyconvergentandrisanyrealnumberthenthereisarearrangementof

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whosevaluewillber.

Again,wedonothavethetoolsinhandyettodetermineifaseriesisabsolutelyconvergentandso
dontworryaboutthisatthispoint.Thisisherejusttomakesurethatyouunderstandthatwehaveto
beverycarefulinthinkingofaninfiniteseriesasaninfinitesum.Therearetimeswhenwecan(i.e.
theseriesisabsolutelyconvergent)andtherearetimeswhenwecant(i.e.theseriesisconditionally
convergent).

Asafinalnote,thefactabovetellsusthattheseries,

mustbeconditionallyconvergentsincetworearrangementsgavetwoseparatevaluesofthisseries.
Eventuallyitwillbeverysimpletoshowthatthisseriesisconditionallyconvergent.
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