MACLAURIN AND TAYLOR SERIES

A Lecture Summary
The lecture introduced the Maclaurin and Taylor series. They are used to represent a
function as an infinite polynomial. They can also be used as approximations to functions
by considering a finite number of terms from their Maclaurin/Taylor series.
Important formulas to take away from the lecture are presented below. Make sure you
understand what each formula means.

Polynomials
A polynomial of degree n is a function of the form:
p(x) = a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + a3 x3 + + an xn .
The ai s are referred to as the coefficients. Their values can be determined by evaluating
the derivatives at 0. That is:

p(0) = a0 ,

p0 (0) = a1 ,

p00 (0) = 2a2 ,

a0 = p(0),

a1 = p0 (0),

a2 =

p00 (0)
,
2

. . . p(i) (0) = i!ai

. . . ai =

p(i) (0)
.
i!

The above property leads to the Maclaurin series which replaces a function with an infinite
polynomial.

Maclaurin Series
The Maclaurin series for f (x) is found via the formula:
f (x) = f (0) + f 0 (0)x + f 00 (0)
=

X
f (i) (0)xi
i=0

i!

x2
x3
xn
+ f 000 (0) + + f (n) (0) + . . .
2!
3!
n!

Example
Let f (x) = ex , then f (i) (x) = ex for all i. Thus f (i) (0) = 1 for all i.
The Maclaurin series for ex is therefore:

X xn
x 2 x3 x4
e =1+x+
+
+
+ =
.
2!
3!
4!
n!
n=0
x

Approximations about 0 are not always possible. A more generalised version of a Maclaurin series looks about an arbitrary value.

Taylor Series
The Taylor series for f (x) about x = a is found using the formula:
f (x) = f (a) + f 0 (a)(x a) + f 00 (a)
=

X
f (i) (a)(x a)i
i=0

i!

(x a)3
(x a)n
(x a)2
+ f 000 (a)
+ + f (n) (a)
+ ...
2!
3!
n!