Will Bradley

Calculus I
Semester II
Week 13 Section 11.6
Professor Kinion
Due April 26, 2018
Entry

Problem Statement: Suppose that the power series ∑ c n ( x−a )n satisfies c n ≠ 0 for
all n . Show that if nlim
→∞
¿ c n /c n+1∨¿ exists, then it is equal to the radius of convergence for
the power series.

Our goal is to show that the radius of convergence equals lim ¿ c n /c n+1∨¿ if
n →∞
lim ¿ c n /c n+1∨¿ exists. There are no assumptions outside of those stated in the problem
n →∞
statement. We define R to be the radius of convergence of ∑ c n ( x−a )n . We will use the
Ratio Test to solve this problem.
Attack
By the Ratio Test, ∑ c n ( x−a ) converges if
n

lim
n →∞ | c n+1 ( x−a )n +1
c n ( x−a )
n
|
=|x−a| lim
n→∞ | c n+ 1 ( x−a )n
c n ( x−a )
n
||
= ( x−a ) lim
n→∞
c n+1
cn |
is less than one and greater than or equal to zero. Therefore, ∑ c n ( x−a )n converges if

c n +1
−1< ( x−a ) lim <1.
n →∞ cn
Therefore
−1 1
< x−a< .
c n+1 c n +1
lim lim
n → ∞ cn n →∞ c n
This means that
cn cn
−lim
n→∞ ( )
c n+1
+a< x < lim
n → ∞ c n+1 ( )
+a .

Therefore,

| ( ( ) ) ( )
cn cn
lim + a — lim +a
n →∞ c n+1 n →∞ c n+1
R=
^
❑

Conclusion/Reflection

1
 Will Bradley
Calculus I
Semester II
Week 13 Section 11.6
Professor Kinion
Due April 26, 2018
c n ( x −a )n= lim ¿ cn /c n +1∨¿ if c n ≠0
We proved that the radius of convergence of n→ ∞ and if
∑¿
cn
¿ ∨¿∃.
cn +1 We did this by using the Ratio Test. I learned about using the Ratio Test and the
lim ¿
n→∞
radius of convergence.