Section 10.

2: Series

Definition: An infinite series is a sum of the terms of an infinite sequence {an }∞

n=1 .

∞
X
an = a1 + a2 + a3 + · · · + an + · · · .
n=1

The nth partial sum of the series is given by

n
X
s n = a1 + a2 + a3 + · · · + an = aj .
j=1

That is,

s 1 = a1
s 2 = a1 + a2
s 3 = a1 + a2 + a3
..
.

These partial sums form a new sequence {sn }∞

n=1 , called the sequence of partial sums.

∞
X
Definition: The series an is said to converge with sum S if the sequence of partial sums
n=1
{sn }∞
n=1 converges to S. Otherwise, the series diverges.

∞
X
Example: List the first four partial sums of 1n . Does the series converge or diverge?
n=1

The partial sums of this series are

s1 = 1
s2 = 1+1=2
s3 = 1+1+1=3
s4 = 1+1+1+1=4
..
.
sn = n.

The sequence of partial sums diverges:

lim sn = lim n = ∞.
n→∞ n→∞

Therefore, the series diverges.

 ∞
X
Example: List the first four partial sums of (−1)n . Does the series converge or diverge?
n=1

The partial sums for this series are

s1 = −1
s2 = −1 + 1 = 0
s3 = −1 + 1 − 1 = −1
s4 = 0.
In general, 
−1, n odd
sn =
0, n even
Since the limit lim sn does not exist, the series diverges.
n→∞

∞
X 1
Example: Show that the series converges.
n=1
2n

The partial sums for this series are

 
1 1
s1 = s1 = 1 −
2  2
1 1 3 1
s2 = + = s2 = 1 − 2
2 4 4  2 
1 1 1 7 1
s3 = + + = s3 = 1 − 3
2 4 8 8 2
.. ..
.  . 
1 1 1 1
sn = + + ··· + n sn = 1 − n .
2 4 2 2
The sequence of partial sums is convergent
 
1
lim sn = lim 1− n = 1.
n→∞ n→∞ 2
Thus, the series converges with sum 1.

∞
X n+1
Example: If the nth partial sum of the series an is sn = , find the sum of the series
n=1
2n + 4
and a general formula for the nth term an .

The sum of the series is

n+1 1
lim sn = lim = .
n→∞ n→∞ 2n + 4 2
The general term an is given by
an = sn − sn−1
n+1 n
= −
2n + 4 2n + 2
n+1 n
= −
2(n + 2) 2(n + 1)
(n + 1)(n + 1) − n(n + 2)
=
2(n + 1)(n + 2)
1
= .
2(n + 1)(n + 2)

Note: There are certain types of series whose sum can be computed easily, provided that the
series is convergent.

Definition: A series is called a telescoping series if there is an internal cancellation in the

partial sums.

Example: Determine whether the given series converge. If so, find the sum of the series.
∞  
X 1 1
(a) cos − cos
n=1
n n+1

The nth partial sum of this series is

       
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
sn = cos 1 − cos + cos − cos + cos − cos + · · · + cos − cos
2 2 3 3 4 n n+1
1
= cos 1 − cos .
n+1
Since  
1
lim sn = lim cos 1 − cos = cos 1 − 1,
n→∞ n→∞ n+1
the series converges with sum cos 1 − 1.

∞  
X n+1
(b) ln
n=1
n+2

Using properties of logarithms,

∞   X ∞
X n+1
ln = [ln(n + 1) − ln(n + 2)].
n=1
n + 2 n=1
 The nth partial sum of this series is

sn = (ln 2 − ln 3) + (ln 3 − ln 4) + (ln 4 − ln 5) + · · · + [ln(n + 1) − ln(n + 2)]

= ln 2 − ln(n + 2)
 
2
= ln .
n+2

Since lim sn = −∞, the series diverges.

n→∞

∞
X 1
(c)
n=1
n(n + 1)

Using partial fraction decomposition,

∞ ∞  
X 1 X 1 1
= − .
n=1
n(n + 1) n=1 n n+1

The nth partial sum of this series is

         
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
sn = 1 − + − + − + − +···+ − = 1− .
2 2 3 3 4 4 5 n n+1 n+1

Since lim sn = 1, the series converges with sum 1.

n→∞

Definition: A geometric series is a series of the form

∞
X
arn = a + ar + ar2 + ar3 + · · · ,
n=0

where a is a constant and r is called the ratio of the series.

Theorem: (Geometric Series Test)

If |r| < 1, the geometric series ∞ n
P
n=0 ar , where a 6= 0, converges with sum

a
.
1−r
If |r| ≥ 1, the series diverges.

Proof: The nth partial sum of the series is

sn = a + ar + ar2 + · · · + arn−1 .
Then rsn = ar + ar2 + ar3 + · · · + arn and

rsn − sn = ar + ar2 + ar3 + · · · + arn − (a + ar + ar2 + · · · + arn−1 )

sn (r − 1) = a(rn − 1)
a(rn − 1)
sn = .
r−1
If |r| < 1, then
a
lim sn = .
n→∞ 1−r
If |r| > 1, then limn→∞ sn = ∞.
If r = 1, then sn = an and {sn } diverges.
If r = −1, then {sn } = {a, 0, a, 0, . . .} and limn→∞ sn does not exist.

Example: Determine whether the given series converge. If so, find the sum.
∞  n
X 1 1
(a)
n=0
2 3

1
Since |r| = < 1, the series converges with sum
3
 
 
1 1  1 3 3
= = .
2
 1 
2 2 4
1−
3
∞  n
X 2
(b) 5
n=1
7

The series can be rewritten as

∞  n+1 X ∞    n X ∞  n
X 2 2 2 10 2
5 = 5 = .
n=0
7 n=0
7 7 n=0
7 7

2
Since |r| = < 1, the series converges with sum
7
 
 
10  1  10 7
= = 2.
7
 2 7 5
1−
7
 ∞
X 23n
(c)
n=0
5n+1

The series can be rewritten as

∞ ∞  n
X (23 )n X 1 8
= .
n=0
5 · 5n n=0
5 5

8
Since |r| = > 1, the series diverges.
5

1 1 1 1
(d) − + − + −···
2 4 8 16

The series can be rewritten as

  X ∞  n
1 1 1 1 1 1
1 − + − + −··· = − .
2 2 4 8 n=0
2 2

1
Since |r| = < 1, the series converges with sum
2
 
 
1 1  1 2 1
1 = = .
2 2 3 3

1+
2

∞
X
Example: Find all values of x for which the series (x − 3)n converges. Find the sum of
n=1
the series for these values of x.

By the Geometric Series Test, the series converges if |x − 3| < 1. That is,

−1 < x − 3 < 1
2 < x < 4.

For these values of x the sum is

x−3 x−3
= .
1 − (x − 3) 4−x
Note: In the following sections, we will discuss more general series and convergence tests
convergence. The following theorem provides a quick way to determine if a series diverges.

Theorem: (The
P Divergence Test)
The series an diverges if
lim an 6= 0.
n→∞

P
Proof: Suppose the series an converges with sum S. Then

lim sn = S,
n→∞
lim sn−1 = S.
n→∞

It follows that
lim an = lim (sn − sn−1 ) = S − S = 0.
n→∞ n→∞
P
We haveP shown that if an converges, then limn→∞ an = 0. Thus, if limn→∞ an 6= 0, the
series an diverges.

Note: If lim an = 0, the Divergence Test does not provide any information.
n→∞

Example: Determine whether the following series converge or diverge.

∞  
X 2n + 3
(a) ln
n=0
5n − 7

The series diverges by the Divergence Test

   
2n + 3 2
lim ln = ln 6= 0.
n→∞ 5n − 7 5

∞
X
(b) tan−1 (n)
n=1

The series diverges by the Divergence Test

π
lim tan−1 (n) = 6= 0.
n→∞ 2
 ∞
X n
(c)
n=1
ln n

The series diverges by the Divergence Test

n 1
lim = lim = lim n = ∞.
n→∞ ln n n→∞ 1 n→∞
n
∞  n
X 1
(d) 1+
n=1
n

The series diverges by the Divergence Test

 n
1
lim 1 + = e 6= 0.
n→∞ n