Section 10.

9
Error Estimates
 The Problems
• Say
  we want to calculate the value of a power
series for a specified x-value
• We have to use a finite sum to approximate
the value, since , where denotes the sum .
• This problem really has two parts
– How close can we get with minimal effort?
– How many terms are needed to get a good
estimate?
 Error Estimates
• There are two cases where we can get useful
error estimates:
– Alternating series
– Taylor series
 Alternating Series Estimates
•  We saw before, but now it matters . . .
 
If is a convergent alternating series, then

• We can use this to estimate the sum to within

a specified error tolerance
– find a value n for which . Then
– will provide the “good” estimate we want
 Example
 
• This
  series starts out as and it converges AST.
Calculate the sum of the series to the nearest .
0001.
• Since , once we find n with , will be close
enough
– We need n for which
– We need , so
– In other words, if we add at least 99 terms we will
be within .0001 of the sum of the (infinite) series
 Example: Calculating
 
• We
  will see later that is the Taylor series for ,
centered at 0
• As a result, How many terms do we need to use
this series to estimate to the nearest 0.001?
– By the AST error condition, we need to find n for
which , which is , which simplifies to

• This will take a while!

 Turn the last example around
•  Again, use the result

• If we only have time to add up 20 terms, what

is the maximum error we could be making in
estimating ?
– We know that , which is
– For , this error is
– Not a very good estimate!
 Taylor Series Estimates
 
When we derived the Taylor and MacLaurin
series for a function, I showed you an
expression for the difference
 

LaGrange Remainder Theorem

where is some unknowable number

between
 Estimating
  (1)
•  Remember the TS:

• We want to estimate . If we use to estimate,

what is the max error possible?
• The error
 Estimating
  (2)
• The
  error
• Since , we max this factor by choosing .
– This gives - a snake chasing its tail!
• Time for some really gross estimates
– Since and ,

• Our estimate is correct to 4 decimal places!

 Use AST when you can!
• We
  know that .
• What is the max error if we use , centered at
0, to estimate the value?
–
– The Lagrange error estimate, would be , which is
• But since this is an alternating series we can
use the AST bound instead!
  11− 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥
Ch 10.9 #20 approximate to 𝑑𝑥
4 decimal places
∫ 𝑥2
 𝑟 ( 𝑥 ) < .00005
𝑛
0
  𝑥2 𝑥 4 𝑥6
1 1−(1 − + − + ⋯)
2! 4 ! 6 !
∫ 2
𝑑𝑥
0 𝑥
𝑥2 𝑥4 𝑥6 𝑥8
− + − +⋯   1 2 4 6
1
1 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥
∫
0
2! 4! 6! 8!
𝑥
2
𝑑𝑥 ¿ ∫
0
 
( − +
2! 4! 6! 8!
− )
+ ⋯ 𝑑𝑥

  1 𝑥
3
𝑥
5
𝑥
7   1 1 1 1
( 2!
𝑥− + −
3 ∙ 4 ! 5 ∙6 ! 7 ∙ 8 ! )
+⋯   ¿ 2 − 3∙ 4 ! + 5 ∙ 6 ! − 7 ∙ 8 ! +⋯  

0
How many terms do we need?
  1
When is <.00005 ?
( 2 𝑛 −1 ) ( 2 𝑛 ) !
   1
We want: <.00005
( 2𝑛 −1 ) ( 2 𝑛 ) !
  1
𝑛
  ( 2𝑛 −1 ) ( 2 𝑛 ) !
 

𝑛=4
  is sufficient , therefore we only need 3terms .
  1 1 1
S≈ − +
2 3∙ 4 ! 5 ∙ 6 ! ≈ .4863888889  ≈ .486 4
 

No guaranteed accuracy past the 4th decimal place...

 Ch 10.9 #26 Use a power series   𝑒 𝑥 −𝑒 − 𝑥 − 2 𝑥
lim
to evaluate the limit 𝑥→ 0 𝑥 − 𝑎𝑟𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑥

  𝑥2 𝑥3 𝑥4 𝑥2 𝑥3 𝑥4
(1+ 𝑥 + + + +⋯) − (1− 𝑥 + − + + ⋯)− 2 𝑥
2! 3 ! 4 ! 2! 3! 4!
¿ lim 3 5 7
𝑥→ 0 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥
𝑥 −( 𝑥 − + − + ⋯)
3 5 7

  2 𝑥3 2 𝑥5   2 𝑥 3 2 𝑥5 2 𝑥 7
(2 𝑥 + + + ⋯) − 2 𝑥 + + +⋯
3! 5! 3! 5 ! 7 !
¿ lim 3 5 7
¿ lim 3 5 7
𝑥→ 0 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥→ 0 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥
− + +⋯ − + +⋯
3 5 7 3 5 7

  12 1 2 0 𝑥2 4 2 0 𝑥 4   12
+ + +⋯ 3!
3! 5! 7! =¿  1
¿ lim 2 4
¿
6
𝑥→ 0 6 60 𝑥 210 𝑥
− + +⋯ 3
3 5 7
  Ch 10.9 #32 Calculate , centered at , to 6 dec. places

  𝜋
∞ 𝑓 (𝑛 )
3 ( ) 𝜋
𝑛   𝜋
58 °= −
2𝜋
𝑓 ( 𝑥 )= ∑
𝑛=0 𝑛! ( 𝑥−
3 ) 3 18 0
 
  When we substitute

How many terms are needed

so that

  √ 3 1 𝜋 √ 3 𝜋 2 1 𝜋 3
𝑓 𝑥=
( ) + 𝑥−
2
−
2 (
𝑥− −
3 ) 2∙ 2 ! ( 3 ) (
2 ∙ 3!
𝑥−
3 )+⋯
  √ 3 1 𝜋 √ 3 𝜋 2 1 𝜋 3
𝑓 ( 𝑥 )= + 𝑥− −
2
𝑥−
2 (
−
3 ) 2∙ 2 ! ( 3 ) 2 ∙ 3!(𝑥−
3 )+⋯

( 𝑛 +1)
  𝑓 ( 𝑧) 𝑛+1 Need 6 decimal place
𝑅𝑛 ( 𝑥 )= ( 𝑥 −𝑎 )
( 𝑛+1 ) ! accuracy
𝑛 +1
  𝜋 𝜋 ± 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑧 𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑧 − 𝜋
𝑅𝑛 ( −
3 90
= ) ( 𝑛+1 ) ! 90 ( ) ¿ .0000005
 

𝑛+1
  1 𝜋
𝑛 ( )   1 𝜋 𝑛 +1
 

 
( 𝑛+ 1 ) ! 9 0 |𝑅 𝑛 ( 58 ° )|≤ (
𝑛+1 ) ! 9 0 ( )
  √ 3 1 −𝜋 √ 3 −𝜋 2 1 −𝜋 3
𝑠𝑖𝑛 58 ° ≈
( )
2
+ ( )
−
2 90
−( )
2 ∙ 2! 90 ( )
2∙ 3 ! 90
already good
enough! ≈ .8480480428  ≈ .8 48048
 

≈  .84 80480962