CHAPTER 1 : INFINITE SEQUENCE AND SERIES MAT455

1.1 SEQUENCES

Introduction to sequences

 A sequence can be defined as an unending succession of numbers

 The numbers in a sequence are called the term of the sequence
 A sequence can be represented by a formula and can be written in bracket notation

Sequence can be classified into two groups:

1) Finite sequence : a sequence that contains finite number of terms.

E.g.

2) Infinite sequence : a sequence with infinite number of terms.

E.g.

Exercise : Express the following sequence in the form

Term of Sequence Formula Notation

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Definition 1
1) A sequence is said to converge iff

2) A sequence that does not converge to some finite number is said to be divergent

Theorem 1
If and when is an integer, then .
Properties of Limit
If and are convergent sequences and is a constant, then:
a)
b)
c)

d)

e) if

f) if and
g) If , then
h) If and the function is continuous at , then

Theorem 2 L’Hôpital’s Rule for form

Suppose that and are differentiable functions on an open interval containing , except
possibly at , and that
and

If exists, or if this limit is or , then

This statement also applies if the limit of as approaches produces any one of the
indeterminate forms , , or

Example 1
Determine whether the following sequences converge or diverge.

a) b) c)

Dec 2014
1 a) Determine whether the sequence converges or diverges. (3 marks)
Dec 2015
1 a) Determine the convergence or divergence of the sequence . (4 marks)

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Definition 2
A sequence is called increasing if for all , that is It is called
decreasing if for all . It is called monotonic if it is either increasing or decreasing.
Theorem 3
A sequence is
a) Increasing if for all that is
b) Decreasing if for all that is
c) Monotonic if it is neither increasing nor decreasing that is

Example 2
Show that each of the following sequence is decreasing
a) b)

1.2 INFINITE SERIES

If we add the terms of an infinite sequence we will get an expression of the form

which is called an infinite series (or just series) and is denoted by

Definition 3
An infinite series is the summation of terms in an infinite sequence. If is the summation of terms,
then

etc

The number is called the th partial sum of the series and is the sequence of partial sum.

Definition 4
Given a series , and let denotes its th partial sum, then

If the sequence of the partial sum is convergent and exist as a real number, then
the series is called convergent and we write

or

The number is called the sum of the series. Otherwise the series is called divergent.
Thus, the sum of a series is the limit of the sequence of the partial sums. So when we write , we mean that by adding
sufficiently many terms of the series, we can get as close as we like to the number .

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Types of series

1) The Geometric series:

is convergent if and its sum is

If , the geometric series is divergent.

Example 3
Determine whether the following series is convergent or divergent

a) b) c)

2) The Harmonic series:

is a divergent series.

3) The -series (also known as hyperharmonic series):

i. converges if
ii. diverges if

Example 4
Determine if the following series is convergent or divergent

a) b) c)

4) Telescoping series:

Series of the form

known as the telescoping series can be written in the form of using the method of
partial fraction.

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Example 5
Show that the series is convergent and find its sum.
Example 6
Show that the series is convergent and find its sum.
June 2016
1 b) Use a telescoping series argument to show that (4 marks)

1.3 TESTS FOR CONVERGENCE

We have discussed the method of determining the convergence and divergence of a particular
series by first writing the th partial sum, of the series in closed form, and then investigate the
.

However, some series cannot be written in the closed form. Thus, the following tests are used to
determine the convergence and divergence of these series.

1) The Divergence Test

Theorem 4
i. If , the series diverges.
ii. If , the series may either converge or diverge.
Note: If you can see at a glance that , then the Divergence Test should be used.

Example 7
Use the Divergence Test to determine if the following series is divergent.

a) b) c) d) e)

2) The Integral Test

Theorem 5
Suppose is a continuous, positive, decreasing function on and let . Then the
series is convergent if and only if the improper integral is convergent. In other
words,

i. If is convergent, then is convergent.

ii. If is divergent, then is divergent.

Note:
i. , where if is easily evaluated, then the Integral Test is effective.

ii.

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Example 8
Use the Integral Test to determine if the following series is convergent or divergent.

a) b) c) d)

3) The Comparison Test

The idea is to compare a given series with a series that is known to be convergent or divergent.
e.g. -series, geometric series.

Theorem 6
Suppose that and are series with positive terms.

i. If is convergent and for all , then is also convergent.

ii. If is divergent and for all , then is also divergent.

Tips for applying the comparison test:

1. Delete the constant in the denominator of (as this will not affect the convergence or
divergence of the series).
2. If the numerator or the denominator of appears in a polynomial form, eliminate all except for
the term with the highest power.
3. Make a guess as to whether the series converge or diverge.
- If the guess is convergence, then choose a bigger series for comparison.
- If the guess is divergence, then choose a smaller series for comparison.

The Comparison Test works well for comparing “messy” algebraic series to a -series, geometric
series or any other series that is known to converge. In choosing an appropriate -series, we must
choose one with th term of the same magnitude as the th term of the given series.

E.g.: 1. If , compare with

2. If , compare with

3. If , compare with

4. If , compare with

5. If , compare with

Example 9
Use the Comparison Test to determine if the series converges or diverges.

a) b) c) d)

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4) The Limit Comparison Test

Theorem 7
Suppose that and are series with positive terms. If

where is a finite number and , then either both series converge or both diverge.

Example 10
Use the Limit Comparison Test to determine whether the series converge or diverge.

a) b) c) d)

5) The Ratio Test

Theorem 8
Let be a series with positive terms such that
i. If , then the series is convergent.
ii. If , then the series is divergent.
iii. If , then the Ratio test is inconclusive; that is no conclusion can be drawn about the
convergence or divergence of the series .

Note: This test is usually used when involves factorials or th power.

Example 11
Use the Ratio Test to determine if the following series is convergent or divergent.

a) b) c) d) e)

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6) The Alternating Series Test (AST)

The convergence tests that we have looked at so far apply only to series with positive terms. An
alternating series is a series whose terms are not all positive, but alternate in sign (alternately
positive and negative).

Theorem 9
The series of the form

or

converges if
i. for all (the sequence is decreasing)
ii.

Otherwise, the series diverges.

Example 12
Determine if the following series converge or diverge.

a) b) c)

6.1) Absolute Convergence

We have convergence tests for series with positive terms and for alternating series. What if the signs
of the terms switch back and forth irregularly? We will see that the idea of absolute convergence
sometimes helps in such cases.

Given any series , we can consider the corresponding series

whose terms are the absolute values of the terms of the original series.

Definition 5
A series is called absolutely convergent if the series of absolute values is convergent.

Note: if is a series with positive terms, then = and so absolute convergence is the same as convergence in this case.

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Example 13
The series is absolutely convergent because
is a convergent -series ( ).

Definition 6
A series is called conditionally convergent if it is convergent but not absolutely convergent.

Example 14
We know that the alternating harmonic series is convergent (as
discussed earlier), but it is not absolutely convergent because the corresponding series of absolute
values is is a divergent harmonic series. (apply AST to
check for conditional convergence)

Example 15
Determine whether the following series is absolutely convergent, conditionally convergent, or
divergent.

a) b) c)

Oct 2010
1 b) Determine whether the series converges absolutely, converges conditionally or
diverges. (6 marks)

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A FLOW CHART OF STEPS TO CHECK THE CONVERGENCE OF SERIES

Regular/Irregular alternate series

or positive series
(original series)

Consider

Test the convergence

of the series

converges diverges

converges, thus Check using AST for Satisfy both

original series converges conditionally convergence conditions
absolutely

Not satisfy both Original series

conditions converges
conditionally

Original series
diverges

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1.4 POWER SERIES

A power series is a series of the form

where is a variable and the are constants called the coefficients of the series.

A power series may converge for some values of and diverge for other values of . The
convergence interval can be obtained by first using the Ratio Test for absolute convergence and
supplemented by other tests for the endpoints of the convergence interval.

Example 16
a) For what values of x are the series converge?

b) Find the interval of convergence for .

c) Find the interval of convergence for .

d) For what values of x is the series convergent?

TRY THIS
Determine the interval of convergence for the series . (Ans: (-1,3])

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TUTORIAL

Exercise 1
1. Determine whether the following sequence converges or diverges.

 2n 
   1 
a.  2 , C f. sin   , C
 n 1
 
   n 

 1   3 
b. 5  3  , C g. cos   , C
 n    n 

 3n 3  n 2  4 
c. 3 , D
n
h.  , C
 2n  1 
3

d.
 2  n 
    , C
 3  
i. (0.3) n

1 , C

 5n 2   3n 
e.  2 , C j.  n , C
n  2  4 
2. Determine whether the following sequence is strictly increasing (I) or strictly decreasing (D) :

1 n
a.   (D) d.  n  (D)
n  e 
 1  n 
b. 2   (I) e.   (D)
 n   4n  1

 n   3n 
c.   (I) f.  n  (D)
 3n  1 4 
3. Classify each series as a Geometric Series or a -series. Determine whether it is a
convergent or divergent series.

 n 
4
 
1
a. 3  (conv) e. (div)
1 5 1 n
 
3n
 n  2n 1
1
b. (conv) f. (div)
1 1

 n 
 1
c.  3  
 2
(conv) g.  2(0.6)n 1 (conv)
1 1

 
  n3
1
d. n 4 / 3 (conv) h. (conv)
1 1

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4. Apply the divergence test (the th term test) to show that the series diverges.
 
5n3  6
 
n
a. , (an  1) f. , (an  5)
1
n 1 1 n6
 
n3
b.  n2  1 , (an  ) g.  n  2 en , (an  )
1 1

 
n 2  3n
 n2  4n  3  ln (n  1) ,
n
c. , (an  1) h. (an  )
1 1

 
3n  5 4n  1
d.  2 n 1
, (an  ) i.  1 3n , (an  34 )
1 1


3n
e.  n
cos (n)
, (an  ) j.  n3  1 ,
1
(an  )

Exercise 2
Determine whether the following series is convergent or divergent.
1. Use the Algebraic Properties of Infinite Series
  2 n1 1    3n2  1
a.     
 3  n
(D) d.   4 
( C)
1  1  n 
  1  1    3n  1
b.     3 / 2 
 3n  n 
(D) e.   n 2  (D)
1 1  3 
   22n
1 1 2 
c.   n2  3n 
 
(C) f.   n 2  5 / 2  (C)
1 1  5 3n 
2. Use Integral Test

 n en 
 
 1 

2
a.  5n  2  (D) d. (C)
1   1

 n en 
  2n2  
b.   3
(D) e. ( C)
1 1  n  1

 n2en 
   

1
c.  2
( C) f. (D)
2  n (ln n)  1

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3. Use Comparison Test

 
 1   n 
a.   2 
n  n 
( C) e.   n2  1 (D)
1 1

 
 1   
   3n3  2n  5 
4
b.  3n  5  ( C) f. (C)
1   1

 
 1   1 
c.   5n2  3 
 
( C) g.   n  1
(D)
1 1

   
 
   n4n  2n 
1 n
d.   ( C) h. ( C)
 n3  1 
1   1

4. Use Limit Comparison Test

  4n2  2n  6  
 n 
a.   7 
 8n  n  8 
( C) e.   n2  1 (D)
1 1

 
 5   4n  1 
b.   3n  5 
 
( C) f.   3n3  2n  5  (C)
1 1

     2 n 
   (n  1)3  1
1
c.   (D) g. (C)
 3 8n2  3n   
1   1


 n(n  3)    
 
n
d.  (n  1)(n  2)(n  5)  (D) h.   (D)
   n4  2n 
1 1  

5. Use Ratio Test

   (n ! )2 
 n! 
a.   3n 
 
(D) e.    ( C)
1 1  (3n)! 
   6 n  
n
b.  n   
  5  
( C) f.   4n  ( C)
1 1

  2n  
 4n ! 
c.   
 (2n)! 
(C) g.   nn  (C)
1 1

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   n! 2n 
 n! 
d.   n3n 
 
(C ) h.   
 (2n  2)! 
(C)
1 1

6. Use Alternating Series Test

 
n2
 (1)  (1)
n 1 1 n 1
a. (C) d. (D)
1
n 1 1 n2  5
 
( 1)n
  (1)n
2
b. (C) e. (C)
1 3n 1 n
 
n  5n  1
 (1)  (1)n1 en
n
c.  4n  1 (D) f. ( C)
1   1

7. Determine whether the series converges absolutely, conditionally or diverges.

 
  (1)n1 3n  5
1 1
a. ( 1)n1 ( AC ) e. (CC)
1 (n  3)
2 2
1

 
( 1)n n2
b.  2 n
( AC ) f.  (1)n n(n  3) (CC)
1 1

 
2
  (1)n1 en
n
c. ( 1)n   (CC) g. ( AC )
1 n  1

 
n 
  (4)n n2
n
d. ( 1)  3  ( AC ) h. (D)
1 n  5  1

 
5  n3
 ( 1)n1 nen 
2
e. ( AC ) i. ( 1)n (CC)
1 1 (3n4  1)

8. Find the interval of convergence of the following power series.

 
xn ( x  1)n
a.  n 1
, [-1,1) d.  ( 1)n1
2n
, (-3,1)
1 1

 
xn ( x  1)n
b.  n(n  1)
, (-1,1] e.  (2n  1)!
, (  ,  )
1 1

 
( x  1)n (2x  3)n
c.  ( 1) n
n
, (-2,0] f.  42n
, (-6,10)
1 1

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