Finding and Using Taylor

Series
Finding Taylor Series
Taylor Series and Limits
Approximate Integration
Comparison of Functions
Elusive Limit
Other Types of Limits

Index FAQ
Summary Formulae
Taylor
f´(a) f´´(a) f ( n ) (a )
Polynomials at P( x )  f(a)  ( x  a)  ( x  a)2   ( x  a)n
1! 2! n!
x=a

Maclaurin series = Taylor series at x = 0. Basic Maclaurin series:

1 1 ( 1)k 2k

1 cos( x )  1  x 2  x 4   x
2! 4! k 0 (2k )!
Formulae 1 – 3
2 k 1
1 3 1 5 
( 1) x
k
can be used
2 sin( x )  x  x  x   .
k 0 (2k  1)!
3! 5! for all x.

1 1 1 k
3 e  1 x 2  x 3 
x
 x
2! 3! k 0 k !

Index Mika Seppälä: Taylor Series

FAQ
Finding Taylor Series (1)
Problem Find the Maclaurin series of the function sin  x2 .

 1
k

Solution Start with the Taylor series sin  z    z 2k 1.
k 0  2k  1!

Substitute z  x 2 to get
 1  1
k k
 

   x 
2 k 1
sin x 2   2
 x 4k 2 .
k 0  2k  1! k 0  2k  1!

Index Mika Seppälä: Taylor Series

FAQ
Finding Taylor Series (2)
sin  x 
Problem Find the Maclaurin series of the function .
x

 1
k

Solution Start with the Maclaurin series sin  x    x 2k 1.
k 0  2k  1!
Divide all terms by x to get
sin  x   1  1
k k
 
1
x
 
x k 0  2k  1!
x 2k 1  
k 0  2k  1 !
x 2k .

Index Mika Seppälä: Taylor Series

FAQ
Finding Taylor Series (3)
Problem Find the first three non-zero terms for
Maclaurin series of the function f  x   cos  sin  x   .
1 3 1 5 1 2 1 4
Solution We have sin  x   x  x  x  and cos(u )  1  u  u  .
3! 5! 2! 4!
Use the shown beginnings of the Taylor series and substitute
1 3 1 5
ux x  x in the Taylor polynomial for cos u  .
3! 5!
One gets
2 4
1 1  1 1 
cos  sin  x    1   x  x 3  x 5    x  x 3  x 5   higher order terms
1 1
2!  3! 5!  4!  3! 5! 
1 1 2 1 4
 1 x 2     x  higher order terms
2!  2! 3! 4! 
1 5
 1  x 2  x 4  higher order terms
2! 4!

Index Mika Seppälä: Taylor Series

FAQ
Error Estimates
For alternating Taylor or Maclaurin series, use the error estimates for
alternating series.

Assume that there is a constant L such that for all positive integers k
and for all t between 0 and x :
f ( k ) (t )  L. This number L usually
depends on x.

Error when Approximating the Function f with its Taylor polynomial of degree m

f´(0) f´´(0) 2 f ( m ) (0) m m

f ( n ) (0) n
Em ( x )  f(x)  f(0)  x x   x  f( x )   x
1! 2! m! n 0 n !

m 1
x
Error Estimate Em  x   L
(m  1)!

Index Mika Seppälä: Taylor Series

FAQ
Taylor Series and Limits (1)
Problem The functions f, g and h satisfy the following:
f(3)  g(3)  h(3)  0, f´(3)  h´(3)  0, g´(3)  10 and f´´(3)  5,
f( x ) f( x )
g´´(3)  7, h´´(3)  10. Determine the limits lim and lim .
x 3 g( x ) x 3 h( x )

Solution The properties of the functions f, g and h imply that their Taylor
polynomials of degree 2 at x  3 are
5 7 10
Pf ( x )  ( x  3)2 , Pg ( x )  10( x  3)  ( x  3)2, and Ph ( x )  ( x  3)2.
Hence 2! 2! 2!

f( x )
5
2!

( x  3)2  terms divisible by (x  3)3 


g( x ) 10( x  3)  7 ( x  3)2  terms divisible by (x  3)3
2!

5
( x  3)   terms containing powers of (x  3) 
 2! 
x 3
 0.
7
10  ( x  3)   terms containing powers of (x  3) 
2!
Index Mika Seppälä: Taylor Series
FAQ
Taylor Series and Limits (2)
Problem The functions f, g and h satisfy the following:
f(3)  g(3)  h(3)  0, f´(3)  h´(3)  0, g´(3)  10 and f´´(3)  5,
f( x ) f( x )
g´´(3)  7, h´´(3)  10. Determine the limits lim and lim .
x 3 g( x ) x 3 h( x )

Solution (part b)

Using the Taylor series expansions at x  3 one gets

( x  3)2   terms divisible by (x  3)3 

5
f( x ) 2!


h( x ) 10 ( x  3)2  terms divisible by (x  3)3
2!

5
  terms containing powers of (x  3)
2! 1
 
x 3
 .
10
  terms containing powers of (x  3) 2
2!

Index Mika Seppälä: Taylor Series

FAQ
Comparison of Functions (1)
1
Problem Let f( x )  sin( x ), g( x )  e x  1, and h( x )   1.
1 x 2

Decide which of the above functions takes the smallest values and which
the largest values for small positive values of x.

Solution We solve the problem by comparing the Taylor series at x = 0 of

the above functions. The smallest power terms of the series
determine the behavior of the function near the origin.
1
The Taylor expansion for the function starts
1 z
 1  3 
  2   2 
 1  z  2  1  z     z2  .
1
1  1
1 z 2 2!
Substituting z   x 2 one gets
1 1 3
 1 x 2  x 4  . Solution continues
1 x 2 2 8

Index Mika Seppälä: Taylor Series

FAQ
Comparison of Functions (2)
1 1 2 3 4
Solution continues We have 1 x  x  .
1- x 2 2 8

Taylor series for the other functions are basic Taylor series:
1 3
sin( x )  x  x  and
3!
 1 1  1 1
ex  1  1  x  x 2  x 3    1  x  x 2  x 3  .
 2! 3!  2! 3!
For values of x near 0 it suffices to look at the Taylor polynomials of degree 2.
1 2 1 1 2
We have sin( x )  x, e x  1  x  x and 1 x
2! 1-x 2 2
1 2 1
Since for small positive values of x, x  x  x  x 2 , we deduce
2 2!
1
that for small positive values of x,  1  sin( x )  e x  1
1 x 2

Index Mika Seppälä: Taylor Series

FAQ
Index Mika Seppälä: Taylor Series
FAQ