Chapter-Four: Sequences and Series

4.1 Definition of Infinite Sequence

Definition: A sequence is a function whose domain is the collection of all
integers greater than or equal to a given integer m (usually 0 or 1).
It is usually denoted by

 The functional values: a1 , a2 , a3 , .... , , . . . are called terms of a sequence.

The number is called the first term, is the second term, and is the term or the

general term.

 Depending on the last term, there are two types of sequences.

1. Finite Sequence: a sequence that has a last term.

2. Infinite sequence: a sequence that does not have a last term.

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Example:

a) The set of numbers 1,6,11,16,… is an infinite sequence

b) The set of numbers ,,,,…. is an infinite sequence

c) The set of numbers 1, 3,5,….,15 is a finite sequence

Types of sequence
There are different types of sequence. Some of them are:

1. Arithmetic sequence or arithmetic progression

2. Geometric sequence or geometric progression

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3. Harmonic sequence

4. Fibonacci sequence

5. Mulatu sequence
1) Arithmetic sequence
, with common difference for
2) Geometric sequence
, with common ratio r for
Example: Find a formula for the general term of the following sequence
a) (Arithmetic sequence, )
b) (Geometric sequence, )
c)

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d)

Exercise:

a) Given an arithmetic sequence with first term 5 and common

difference 4. Find the twentieth term.

b) What is the term of a sequence whose third and eighth terms are
respectively 7 and 22.

c) If the third term and the sixth term of a given AP are respectively
10 and 1. Find the nth term and the 10th term of the sequence.

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d) Find the seventh term of a geometric sequence whose first term is 4 and
whose fourth term is 108.
e) Find a5 and an for the geometric sequence 4, –12, 36, –108 , …

f) Find the 9th term of the geometric sequence 7, 21, 63, . . .

• A Harmonic Progression (HP) is defined as a sequence of real numbers which

is determined by taking the reciprocals of the arithmetic progression .
Example:

• The nth term of H

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• Example: Determine the 4th and 8th term of the H.P 6, 4, 3,…
• Solution: 4th term of an H.P = 1/4th term of an A.P = 12/5
8th term of an H.P = 1/8th term of an A.P = 12/9 = 4/3
Exercise; Compute the 16th term of HP if the 6th and 11th term of HP are 10 and
18, respectively. Ans. 90.
 The Fibonacci Sequence is a series of numbers that starts with 0 and 1, and
each subsequent number is the sum of the two preceding numbers
 Example: for and
(Fibonacci sequence)

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 Mulatu Sequence
• Mulatu numbers are a sequence of numbers of the form

• The sequence of the Mulatu numbers is defined by the following recurrence

relation:

Convergent Sequences
Definition: If exists and equal to a number L, then converges and converges to L.
Otherwise, it is divergent.

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Example:
a) as
 Therefore, converges
b)
 Hence, and diverges
c) imply that and converges
d) does not imply (Counter example: , )
Convergence properties of sequence: Suppose that the sequences and are
convergent. Then
i) iii)
ii) =c iv)

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v) ;
vi) ;
Example: Find the limit of the following sequence if it converges
a) g)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

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Solution: a)
b)
c) …By L’Hopital’s rule
d) …By L’Hopital’s rule
e) …By rationalization
f)
g)

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 Note that the geometric sequence

is convergent for or and is divergent for
 Because
Squeezing Theorem: If is any sequence such that and , then converges and .
Example: Evaluate a) b) c)
Solution: a) We have, and

 Thus,

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b) We have,

 Thus,
Bounded sequence: A sequence is bounded if such that for every Otherwise, it
is unbounded.
Note that:
1) Any convergent sequence is bounded.
2) Bounded sequence may not convergent. e.g. is bounded, is not convergent
3) Unbounded sequence is divergent.
Definition: A sequence is increasing if (or ) and is decreasing if (or ).
 A sequence which is either increasing or decreasing is called monotone.

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Example:
a) is increasing sequence because for
b) is decreasing sequence because for
c) is not monotone sequence
Subsequence: Let be a strictly increasing sequence of natural numbers. Then the
sequence is called subsequence of a given sequence
 If a given sequence is convergent, then its subsequence is also convergent.
Example: and are subsequences of a given sequence
Note that:
A bounded monotone sequence is convergent.

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Example: Let be the sequence defined by and for all Show that is convergent
and find .
Solution: WTS: =bounded + monotone
To show is bounded:

 If , then
 By mathematical induction we conclude that is bounded
To show is monotone:
 . It is true for
 Assume that it is true for then we need to show it is true for
 iff
 Thus, Hence, is increasing. So, it is convergent. Let as then and iff

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 Exercise
1. Determine whether the sequences are monotone or not.

a) b)

c) d)
2. Prove that the sequence with term

a) is monotonic increasing

b) is bounded

c) has a limit

3. Determine whether the sequenceis convergent or divergent.

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 4.2 Convergence and divergence properties of series
Definition: An infinite series is an expression of the form
, where is an infinite sequence.
Example: Common series are:
a) (Geometric series)
b) (Telescoping series)
c) (Harmonic series)
d) (Arithmetic series)
e) (p-series for )
Definition (Convergent and -partial sum of series):
Let be the -partial sum of a given series .
 If converges and its limit , then the series converges and its sum . Otherwise,
diverges and has no sum.

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Example: Determine whether the following series is convergent (if it converges

find its sum)
a) c)
b) d) e)
Solution:
a) Let be the -partial sum of . If and , then .
 Then the -partial sum is: ;
 Case i: ,
 Thus, Geometric series converges for and its sum
 Case ii: ,
 Therefore, Geometric series divergs for and has no sum

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b) The -partial sum is:

as
 Therefore, the telescoping series converges and its sum
c) The -partial sum is:

 Since then the series diverges

d)
as

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 Hence, the series converges and its sum
e) as
 Therefore, the series diverges.
Remark: If is the -partial sum of the series then the -term for
Example: If the -partial sum of a series is , then find
a) -term b) series c) sum of
Solution:
a) for
b)
c) sum

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Theorem: If the series is convergent, then But, the converse is not true.
Example: but diverges.

Divergent Test: If or , then the series diverges.

Example: , , and are divergent series (Justify them by Divergent Test).
Combination of series: If and converge, then
a) converges and
b) converges and
Example: Show that the following series is convergent and find its sum if it
converges.
a) b)

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Solution:
a)
as
 Hence, the given series converges and its sum.
b) as
 Hence, the given series converges and its sum.

 Exercise: Show that converges 1.

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 A ball dropped from a height 3 ft begins bouncing. Each time it strikes the
ground it bounces vertically to a height that is of the preceding height. Find the
total distance the ball will travel if it is assumed to bounce infinity often.
 Solution: as
 Hence, the total distance the ball will travel is 33 ft.

 Repeating decimal can be written as fraction. For example:

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4.3 Nonnegative term Series and Convergence Test

Definition: A series is nonnegative term series if for all .

Convergence Tests for nonnegative term series:
A) Integral Test
Suppose is continuous, positive, decreasing function on and let for .
i) If the integral converges, then the given series converges.
ii) If the integral diverges, then the series diverges.
Example: Test the following series for convergence or divergence
a) b) c) (p-series for )
Solution: a) Let
 is positive for all , because for all

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 is continuous on , because for every
 is decreasing for , because for
 By Integral Test:

 Hence, converges and the given series converges.

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b) Let
 is positive, continuous and decreasing function for all
 By Integral Test:
 Hence, diverges and the given series diverges.
c) Let
 is positive, continuous and decreasing function for all and (Justify!)
 By Integral Test: exists for and doesn't exist for .
 Therefore, the given p-series converges for and diverges for .

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B) Comparison Test
i) If the integral converges and , then the given series converges.
ii) If the integral diverges and >0, then the given series diverges.
Example: Determine whether the following series convergence and divergence
a) b) c)
Solution: a) for
 converges (p-series )
 Therefore, the given series converges by CT
b) for
 diverges (p-series ). Hence, diverges by CT

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c) diverges by CT (Justify!)
C) Limit Comparison Test
 If , then both series ( and ) converge or diverge. That means: if converges,
then the given series converges, or if diverges, then the given series diverges.
Example: Determine the convergence of
a) b) c)
Solution: a) Let , and
 Since converges, then the given series converges by LCT
b) Let , and
 Since diverges, then the given series diverges by LCT

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c) converges by LCT (Justify!)

D) Ratio Test
 Let be the next consecutive term of such that .
i) If , then converges
ii) If , then diverges
iii) If , then the ratio test fails to show the convergence or divergence
 Note that Try to use ratio test when contains factorials or powers.
Example: Determine the convergence of
a) b) c)
Solution: a) Let , and
.
 Hence the given series converges by RT

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b) Let , and
.
 Hence the given series diverges by RT
c) converges by RT (Justify!)
E) Root Test
 Let .
i) If , then converges
ii) If , then diverges
iii) If , then the root test fails to show the convergence or divergence
 Note that try to use root test when contains powers but not factorials.
Example: Determine the convergence of
a) b) c)

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Solution: a) and
.
 Hence the given series converges by Root T
b) and
.
 Hence the given series diverges by Root T
c) diverges by Root T (Justify!)

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4.4 Alternating series and alternating series test
 Alternating series is a series with alternately positive and negative term.
Example: 1)
2)
 Alternating series test: Let be decreasing sequence of positive numbers such
that . Then the given alternating series or converges. If , then the alternating
series diverges.
Example: Test the convergence of
a) b) c)
Solution: a) which is decreasing positive sequence such that
 Hence the given series converges by AST

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b) which is decreasing positive sequence such that
 Hence the given series diverges by AST
c) converges by AST (Justify!)
4.5 Absolute and conditional convergence
 Let be any convergence series.
i) If converges, then the series converges absolutely.
ii) If diverges, then the series converges conditionally.
Example: Test the convergence of
a) b) c)
Solution: a) converges by AST
 which is convergent
 Hence, converges absolutely.

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b) converges by AST
 which is divergent
 Hence, converges conditionally.
c) converges absolutely (Justify!)
Generalized convergence test:
A) G.C.T
 If and converges, then converges (or absolutely)
B) G.L.C.T
 and converges, then converges (or absolutely)

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C) G. Ratio T
 Suppose (possibly )
i) If then converges (or absolutely)
ii) If then diverges
iii) If , this test fails
D) G. Root T
 Suppose (possibly )
i) If then converges (or absolutely)
ii) If then diverges
iii) If , this test fails
Example 1: Show that the series
a) converges absolutely for
b) converges conditionally for c) Diverges for and

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Solution: If , then the series coverges
 If , then , and …G. Ratio T
a) If , then converges absolutely
b) If , then converges conditionally
c) If then diverges and if , then diverges
Example 2: Show that the series
a) converges absolutely for
b) converges conditionally for c) Diverges for
Do it as homework!
 A repeating decimal can be written as geometric series:
Example: a)
b)

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 Chapter-Five: Power Series
5.1 Definition of power series
 A power series about is given by

where is variable, is constant coefficients.

Example:
1. power series about 0
2. power series about 3
5.2 Convergence and divergence, radius and interval of
convergence
Theorem: For a given power series there are three possibilities:
(i) Series converges only when
(ii) Series converges for all
(iii) Series converges if b) diverges if

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 The number in case (iii) is called radius of convergence of power series and
given by ,
where is written in standard form.
Example: in case (i), in case (ii)
 The interval that consists of all values of for which the series converges is called
interval of convergence of a power series .
Example: in case (i),) in case (ii), or
or or in case (iii).

Example: Find radius and interval of convergence of the following power sries
a) b) c)
Solution: a)
,

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 iff ={0}
b) ,
 iff
Case , converges conditionally
Case , diverges.
Hence,
c)
,
 iff

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5.3 Algebraic operations on convergence power series

 Some functions can be represented as the sum of power series by using
(i) manipulating geometric series
(ii) differentiating or
(iii) integrating
Example: a) The function can be represented as a sum of power series about 0.
i.e., ,
b) ,
c) ,
d) ,

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5.4 Differentiation and integration of power series

 Let, . Then
(i)
(ii)
 Note that remains the same when a power series is differentiated or integrated,
but may change.
Example: Express the following function as a power series and find
a) b)
Solution: a) We have
iff ,
, .

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b)
Solution: a) We have -
iff ,

5.5 Taylor, Maclaurin series, Taylor polynomial and application

We investigate more general problems which functions have
power series representations.
How can we find such representations?

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Let be any function represented by power series:

To find the coefficients

, , ,
Hence, . So, is called Taylor series about

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When the Taylor series is called Maclaurin series:

Example: Find Taylor series of the following function at and find

the radius of convergence
a)
b)
c)
Solution: a) = then and
;

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b) for odd and for even, then

;
c) ,
,
,

,
Therefore, ;

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Taylor’s Polynomial
 The constant polynomial is the simplest,
 The -degree Taylor’s Polynomial at is given by

Example1: Find the -degree Taylor’s Polynomial of at

a) b)
Solution:
a)
b)
Example 2: Find the -degree Taylor’s Polynomial of at
Solution:

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Application
Example: Use the Taylor series representation to evaluate
a) b) c)
Solution:
a)
Thus,
b)
Thus,
c),

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Summary
Function Taylor series at 0 Derives

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