APSC173 Assignment #5: Power series & Taylor series

Due date: midnight on Friday, March 29th, 2024

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Exercises
1. (RoC & IoC) Find the series’ radius and interval of convergence:
∞
X xn
i. √
n=0
n2 + 3
Solution: Using the ratio test,
√ √
xn+1 n2 + 3 n2 + 3
lim p · n
= x lim √ =x
n→∞ (n + 1)2 + 3 x n→∞ n2 + 2n + 4

the series converges for |x| < 1. Therefore, the RoC is R = 1. To determine the IoC, we must consider the
endpoints. For x = 1,
∞ ∞
X xn X 1
√ = √
n=0
n2 + 3 n=0 n2 + 3

1
P
which diverges by limit comparison to n. For x = −1, the series converges by the alternating series test.
Therefore, the IoC is [−1, 1).
∞
X n!
ii. xn
n=1
3 · 6 · 9 · · · 3n
Solution: The series can be written as
∞ ∞  n
X n! X x
xn =
n=1
3 · 6 · 9 · · · 3n n=1
3

which is geometric and converges for |x| < 3 and diverges otherwise. Therefore, the RoC is R = 3 and the IoC
is (−3, 3).

1
 ∞
X (x − 1)2n
iii. . For this series, also compute the total sum within the interval of convergence.
n=0
4n
Solution: The series is geometric, which can be seen by re-writing it as
∞ ∞  n
X (x − 1)2n X (x − 1)2
=
n=0
4n n=0
4

(x−1)2
Thus, it converges for 4 < 1 and diverges otherwise. The IoC is
(x − 1)2
<1
4
(x − 1)2 < 4
|x − 1| < 2
−2 < x − 1 < 2
−1 < x < 3
The IoC is centred at x = 1 and its radius is R = 2. Since the series is geometric, the total sum on the IoC is
∞
X (x − 1)2n 1 4
n
= (x−1)2
=
n=0
4 1− 4 3 + 2x − x2

2. (Taylor series/polynomials) Find the Taylor series or polynomials generated by the following functions:
√
i. f (x) = x, centred at x = 4, of order 3
Solution: The necessary derivatives are
√
f (4) = x =2
x=4
1 1
f ′ (4) = √ =
2 x x=4 4
1 3 1
f ′′ (4) = − x− 2 =−
4 x=4 32
3 5 3
f (3) (4) = − x− 2 =
8 x=4 256
The Taylor polynomial of order 3 is
f ′′ (4) f (3) (4)
P3 (x) = f (4) + f ′ (4)(x − 4) + (x − 4)2 + (x − 4)3
2! 3!
1 1 1
= 2 + (x − 4) − (x − 4)2 + (x − 4)3
4 64 512

ex + e−x
ii. f (x) = cosh x = , centred at x = 0
2
Solution: The derivatives follow the pattern
f (0) = 1
ex − e−x
f ′ (0) = =0
2 x=0
ex + e−x
f ′′ (0) = =1
2 x=0
..
.
(
(n) 1, n even
f (0) =
0, otherwise

2
 Therefore, the Maclaurin series is
∞
x2 x4 X x2n
1+ + + ··· =
2! 4! n=0
(2n)!

iii. f (x) = cos(2x + π/2), centred at x = π/4

Solution: The derivatives follow the pattern

f (π/4) = cos(2x + π/2) = −1

x=π/4

f ′ (π/4) = −2 sin(2x + π/2) =0

x=π/4

f ′′ (π/4) = −4 cos(2x + π/2) =4

x=π/4
..
.
f (2n) (π/4) = (−1)n 22n

Therefore, the Taylor series is

∞
4 16 X (−1)n 22n
−1 + (x − π/4)2 − (x − π/4)4 + · · · = (x − π/4)2n
2! 4! n=0
(2n)!

iv. f (x) = cos 5x2 , centred at x = 0. For this and subsequent questions you may use the formula for a frequently
used Taylor series.
Solution: Using the formula for the Taylor series of cos u,
∞
X (−1)n u2n
cos u =
n=0
(2n)!
∞
X (−1)n (5x2 )2n
cos 5x2 =
n=0
(2n)!

v. f (x) = x tan−1 x2 , centred at x = 0

Solution: Using the formula for the Taylor series of tan−1 x,
∞
X (−1)n x2n+1
tan−1 x =
n=0
2n + 1
∞ ∞
X (−1)n (x2 )2n+1 X (−1)n x4n+3
x tan−1 x2 = x =
n=0
2n + 1 n=0
2n + 1

1
vi. f (x) = √ , centred at x = 0, of order 4
1 + x3
Solution: The Taylor series of this function is the Binomial Series with m = −1/2 and evaluated at x3 ,
     
−1/2 3 −1/2 −1/2
P4 (x) = 1 + x + (x3 )2 + (x3 )3
1 2 3
1 (−1/2)(−1/2 − 1) 6 (−1/2)(−1/2 − 1)(−1/2 − 2) 9
= 1 − x3 + x + x
2 2! 3!
1 3 5
= 1 − x3 + x6 − x9
2 8 16

3
 x3
3. (error) For what values of x can you use sin x ≈ x − 6 with an error less than 5 × 10−4 ?
Solution: By Taylor’s Theorem,

sin x = P3 (x) + R3 (x)

d4
x3 dx4 sin x
sin x = x − + x=c
x4
6 4!
for some c ∈ R. The derivative(s) of sin x are bounded between −1 and 1, so

x3 1 4
sin x − x + ≤ x
6 24
√
For this error to be less than 5 × 10−4 we require |x| < 4 4! · 5 × 10−4 ≈ 0.33.
In fact, the range of x can be shown to be even bigger since P3 (x) = P4 (x) for the series generated by sin x. Then,

sin x = P4 (x) + R4 (x)

d5
x3 dx5 sin x
sin x = x − + x=c
x5
6 5!
√
5
Then we require |x| < 5! · 5 × 10−4 ≈ 0.569.