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The Integral Test: Negative Terms Converges If and Only If Its Partial Sums Are Bounded From Above
The Integral Test: Negative Terms Converges If and Only If Its Partial Sums Are Bounded From Above
For a given series what is its sum? A corollary of the Monotonic Sequence Theorem is that the series
=1
of non-
negative terms converges if and only if its partial sums are bounded from above.
Consider the harmonic series:
1 1 1 1 = 1 + + + + + . 2 3 =1 This series is divergent even though the th term 1 0 as , cf. the n-th term test seen before. However, the series has no upper bound on its partial sums. We can see this by writing the series as 1+ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 + + + + + + + + + + + . 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 16
and so on. Therefore the sum of the 2 terms ending with 1 2+1 is > 2 2+1 = 1/2. Hence the sequence of partial sums is not bounded from above, and so the harmonic series diverges. Now consider the series,
1 1 1 1 1 =1+ + + + + 2 + . 2 4 9 16 =1
Does it converge or diverge? To answer this question we will consider a new approach involving the use of integration. What we need to do is compare series the integral
1/ 2 . 1 1 =1 2
with
1 . 1 2
Therefore < 1 +
1 1 2
=1+
1 1
= 2.
Thus < 2 for all and the partial sums are bounded from above (by 2) and therefore the series converges. Note that the series and the integral need not have the same value in the convergent case.
Let us consider the case = 1 and we assume that is a decreasing function with () = for every . In part (a), the areas of rectangles 1 , 2 , , enclose more area than that under the curve = () between = 1 and = + 1. Therefore we can write
+1 1
() 1 + 2 + + .
.
1
.
1
1 + 2 + + 1 +
.
1
is infinite, then
converges if > 1
=1 1
= + 1
12 = 1.
1/ diverges
+1 + 1 ! + 1 = = = + 1 +1 ! + 1 ( + 1) + 1 1 = 1 + 1/
= + 1