Taylor Polynomials

Recall in the first quarter of Calculus, we discussed how to find the tangent line
approximation of a function. That is, we said that near x =a,

( ) ( ) ( )( ) f x f a f a x a ' ~ +

Pictorially, we have the following diagram. (The true function f(x) appears in blue and
the tangent line approximation appears in red.)

a x
x
fa fa
f'ax-a
x-a
Approximate
value of fx
True value of fx

Figure 1: Tangent line approximation of f(x) near x = a

This tangent line approximation is a special case of a Taylor Polynomial. In particular,
it is defined as the Degree 1 Taylor Polynomial approximation of f(x) for x near a. We
shall denote this by P
1
(x). We record this as the following:


Degree 1 Taylor Polynomial approximation of f(x) for x near a

1
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )( ) f x P x f a f a x a ' ~ = +



Example 1:

Find the Degree 1 Taylor Polynomial approximation of f(x) =e
x
for x near 0.

Solution:

Notice that f(0) =e
(0)
=1, and ( )
x
f x e

' = , so
(0)
(0) 1 f e

' = = . Thus, we have

that e
x
1 1(x 0) =1 x.


1
The reason we use this approximation is so that not only does the approximation agree
with the function at x =a, but the first derivatives agree as well.

At this point, it may seem natural to wonder if we can find a better fit. There is. Rather
than just having the function value and the first derivative agree, why not require that the
second derivative agrees as well?


Returning to the previous example, suppose we wanted to fit a quadratic function
instead of a linear function. Like we just remarked, we would like to find a quadratic
function, P
2
(x), such that P
2
(a) =f(a),
2
( ) ( ) P a f a ' ' = and
2
( ) ( ) P a f a '' '' = . As was the case
with the linear approximation, it makes sense to center our function at the point x =a. To
do that, we consider a function of the form

P
2
(x) =C
0
+C
1
(x a) +C
2
(x a)
2
.

In order for P
2
(a) =f(a), we must have that P
2
(a) =C
0
+C
1
(a a) +C
2
(a a)
2
=f(a).
That is, we must have that C
0
=f(a).

In order for , we must have that
2
( ) ( ) P a f a ' ' =
2 1 2
( ) 2 ( ) ( ) P a C C a a f a ' ' = + = . That is,
we must have that .
1
( ) C f a ' =

In order for , we must have that
2
( ) ( ) P a f a '' '' =
2 2
( ) 2 ( ) P a C f a '' '' = = . That is, we must
have that
2
( )
2
f a
C
''
= .

This gives us the Degree 2 Taylor Polynomial approximation of f(x) for x near a:


Degree 2 Taylor Polynomial approximation of f(x) for x near a

2
2
( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )( ) ( )
2
f a
f x P x f a f a x a x a
''
' ~ = + +



Example 2:

Find the Degree 2 Taylor Polynomial approximation of f(x) =e
x
for x near 0.

Solution:

To determine the coefficients, we need to compute the first two derivatives of the
function f(x) =e
x
and evaluate them at x =0. We have the following table of values

2
( )
( )
0 1 2
( )
(0) 1 1 1
n x x
n
n
f x e e e
f

x


So, we have that
2
2
2
1
( ) 1 1
2! 2
x
x
e P x x x x

~ = + = + .


There is no reason why we need to stop with only a degree 2 polynomial. Using
exactly the same approach as above, we can derive the Degree n Taylor Polynomial of f(x)
for x near a.


Degree n Taylor Polynomial approximation of f(x) for x near a

( )
2 3
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )( ) ( ) ( ) ... ( )
2! 3! !
n
n
n
f x P x
f a f a f a
f a f a x a x a x a x a
n
~
'' '''
' = + + + + +



Recall, n! =n(n 1)(2)(1).


Example 3:

Construct the Degree 5 Taylor polynomial of sin(x) for x near p.

Solution:

To determine the coefficients, we need to compute the first five derivatives of the
function f(x) =sin(x) and evaluate them at x =p. We have the following table of values

( )
( )
0 1 2 3 4 5
( ) sin( ) cos( ) sin( ) cos( ) sin( ) cos( )
( ) 0 1 0 1 0 1
n
n
n
f x x x x x x x
f t




So, we have that

2 3 4 5
5
3 5
0 1 0 1
sin( ) ( ) 0 1( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (
2! 3! 4! 5!
1 1
( ) ( ) ( )
3! 5!
x P x x x x x x
x x x
) t t t t t
t t t
~ = + + +
= +


3
Example 4:

Construct the Degree n Taylor polynomial of e
x
for x near 0.

Solution:

Since the derivative of e
x
is equal to e
x
, we have that
( ) 0
(0) 1
n
f e = = for all n. Thus, it
follows that
2 3
1 1
( ) ( ) 1 ...
2! 3! !
n
0
1 1
!
n
n k
k
f x P x x x x ~ = + + + + + x x
n k
=
=

, where we used the

fact that 0! =1! =1 to write all of the terms inside a single sum.


Because of the fact that the Degree n Taylor Polynomial P
n
(x) of f(x) has n derivatives
that agree with f(x), we can use the Taylor Polynomial to list information about f(x).


Example 5:

Suppose f(x) is a function whose Degree 5 Taylor Polynomial for x near 0 is given by

P
5
(x) =x x
2
+x
3
x
4
+x
5
.

(a) Is f(x) increasing or decreasing at x =0? Explain.
(b) What is the concavity of f(x) at x =0? Explain.
(c) What is the value of
(4)
(0) f ?
(d) Suppose that you are also given that
(6)
(0) 72 f = . Find the Degree 6 Taylor
Polynomial of f(x) for x near 0.

Solution:

(a) Since , we see that f(x) is increasing at x =0.
5
(0) (0) 1 0 P f ' ' = = >
(b) Since , we see that f(x) is concave down at x =0.
5
(0) (0) 2 0 P f '' '' = = <
(c) Recall that . In particular,
(4) (4)
5
(0) (0) P f =
(4)
5
(0) 4! 24 P = = , so .
(4)
(0) 24 f =
(d) The Degree 6 Taylor Polynomial of f(x) for x near 0 will be the same as the Degree
5 Taylor Polynomial, except it will have an additional term, namely
(6)
6
(0)
6!
f
x .
But we are told that
(6)
(0) 72 f = . And since 6! =720, we have that the Degree 6
Taylor polynomial is equal to
6 2 3 4 5 6
1
10
x
5
( ) P x
72
720
x x x x x x

+ = + + .
4