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PaulsOnlineNotes:CalculusIITaylorSeries
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CalculusII(Notes)/Series&Sequences/TaylorSeries[Notes][PracticeProblems][Assignment
Problems]
CalculusIINotes
TaylorSeries
Intheprevioussectionwestartedlookingatwritingdownapowerseriesrepresentationofafunction.
Theproblemwiththeapproachinthatsectionisthateverythingcamedowntoneedingtobeableto
relatethefunctioninsomewayto
andwhiletherearemanyfunctionsouttherethatcanberelatedtothisfunctiontherearemanymorethat
simplycantberelatedtothis.
So,withouttakinganythingawayfromtheprocesswelookedatintheprevioussection,whatweneedto
doiscomeupwithamoregeneralmethodforwritingapowerseriesrepresentationforafunction.
So,forthetimebeing,letsmaketwoassumptions.First,letsassumethatthefunction
doesin
facthaveapowerseriesrepresentationabout
,
Next,wewillneedtoassumethatthefunction,
,hasderivativesofeveryorderandthatwecanin
factfindthemall.
Nowthatweveassumedthatapowerseriesrepresentationexistsweneedtodeterminewhatthe
coefficients,cn,are.Thisiseasierthanitmightatfirstappeartobe.Letsfirstjustevaluateeverything
at
.Thisgives,
So,allthetermsexceptthefirstarezeroandwenowknowwhatc0is.Unfortunately,thereisntany
othervalueofxthatwecanplugintothefunctionthatwillallowustoquicklyfindanyoftheother
coefficients.However,ifwetakethederivativeofthefunction(anditspowerseries)thenplugin
weget,
andwenowknowc1.
Letscontinuewiththisideaandfindthesecondderivative.
So,itlookslike,
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Usingthethirdderivativegives,
Usingthefourthderivativegives,
Hopefullybythistimeyouveseenthepatternhere.Itlookslike,ingeneral,wevegotthefollowing
formulaforthecoefficients.
Thisevenworksforn=0ifyourecallthat
anddefine
So,providedapowerseriesrepresentationforthefunction
about
.
about
existstheTaylorSeriesfor
is,
TaylorSeries
Ifweuse
,sowearetalkingabouttheTaylorSeriesabout
Seriesfor
or,
MaclaurinSeries
,wecalltheseriesaMaclaurin
BeforeworkinganyexamplesofTaylorSerieswefirstneedtoaddresstheassumptionthataTaylor
Serieswillinfactexistforagivenfunction.Letsstartoutwithsomenotationanddefinitionsthatwell
need.
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TodetermineaconditionthatmustbetrueinorderforaTaylorseriestoexistforafunctionletsfirst
definethenthdegreeTaylorpolynomialof
as,
Notethatthisreallyisapolynomialofdegreeatmostn.Ifweweretowriteoutthesumwithoutthe
summationnotationthiswouldclearlybeannthdegreepolynomial.Wellseeaniceapplicationof
Taylorpolynomialsinthenextsection.
NoticeaswellthatforthefullTaylorSeries,
thenthdegreeTaylorpolynomialisjustthepartialsumfortheseries.
Next,theremainderisdefinedtobe,
So,theremainderisreallyjusttheerrorbetweenthefunction
foragivenn.
Withthisdefinitionnotethatwecanthenwritethefunctionas,
andthenthdegreeTaylorpolynomial
WenowhavethefollowingTheorem.
Theorem
Supposethat
.Thenif,
for
then,
on
Ingeneralshowingthat
isasomewhatdifficultprocessandsowewillbeassumingthat
thiscanbedoneforsomeRinalloftheexamplesthatwellbelookingat.
Nowletslookatsomeexamples.
Example1FindtheTaylorSeriesfor
about
.
Solution
ThisisactuallyoneoftheeasierTaylorSeriesthatwellbeaskedtocompute.TofindtheTaylor
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Seriesforafunctionwewillneedtodetermineageneralformulafor
functionswherethisiseasytodorightfromthestart.
Togetaformulafor
allweneedtodoisrecognizethat,
andso,
Therefore,theTaylorseriesfor
.Thisisoneofthefew
aboutx=0is,
Example2FindtheTaylorSeriesfor
about
.
Solution
Therearetwowaystodothisproblem.Botharefairlysimple,howeveroneofthemrequires
significantlylesswork.Wellworkbothsolutionssincethelongeronehassomeniceideasthatwell
seeinotherexamples.
Solution1
Aswiththefirstexamplewellneedtogetaformulafor
.However,unlikethefirstoneweve
gotalittlemoreworktodo.Letsfirsttakesomederivativesandevaluatethematx=0.
Afteracoupleofcomputationswewereabletogetgeneralformulasforboth
oftenwontbeabletogetageneralformulafor
and
.We
sodontgettooexcitedaboutgettingthat
formula.Also,aswewillseeitwontalwaysbeeasytogetageneralformulafor
.
So,inthiscasewevegotgeneralformulassoallweneedtodoisplugtheseintotheTaylorSeries
formulaandbedonewiththeproblem.
Solution2
Theprevioussolutionwasnttoobadandweoftenhavetodothingsinthatmanner.However,inthis
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casethereisamuchshortersolutionmethod.Intheprevioussectionweusedseriesthatwevealready
foundtohelpusfindanewseries.Letsdothesamethingwiththisone.WealreadyknowaTaylor
Seriesfor about
andinthiscasetheonlydifferenceiswevegotaxintheexponentinstead
ofjustanx.
So,allweneedtodoisreplacethexintheTaylorSeriesthatwefoundinthefirstexamplewithx.
Thisisamuchshortermethodofarrivingatthesameanswersodontforgetaboutusingpreviously
computedserieswherepossible(andallowedofcourse).
Example3FindtheTaylorSeriesfor
about
.
Solution
ForthisexamplewewilltakeadvantageofthefactthatwealreadyhaveaTaylorSeriesfor about
.Inthisexample,unlikethepreviousexample,doingthisdirectlywouldbesignificantlylonger
andmoredifficult.
TothispointweveonlylookedatTaylorSeriesabout
(alsoknownasMaclaurinSeries)solets
takealookataTaylorSeriesthatisntabout
.Also,wellpickontheexponentialfunctionone
moretimesinceitmakessomeoftheworkeasier.ThiswillbethefinalTaylorSeriesforexponentialsin
thissection.
Example4FindtheTaylorSeriesfor
about
.
Solution
Findingageneralformulafor
isfairlysimple.
TheTaylorSeriesisthen,
Okay,wenowneedtoworksomeexamplesthatdontinvolvetheexponentialfunctionsincethesewill
tendtorequirealittlemorework.
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Example5FindtheTaylorSeriesfor
about
.
Solution
Firstwellneedtotakesomederivativesofthefunctionandevaluatethematx=0.
Inthisexample,unlikethepreviousones,thereisnotaneasyformulaforeitherthegeneralderivative
ortheevaluationofthederivative.However,thereisaclearpatterntotheevaluations.So,letsplug
whatwevegotintotheTaylorseriesandseewhatweget,
So,weonlypickuptermswithevenpowersonthexs.Thisdoesntreallyhelpustogetageneral
formulafortheTaylorSeries.However,letsdropthezeroesandrenumberthetermsasfollowsto
seewhatwecanget.
ByrenumberingthetermsaswedidwecanactuallycomeupwithageneralformulafortheTaylor
Seriesandhereitis,
Thisideaofrenumberingtheseriestermsaswedidinthepreviousexampleisntusedallthatoften,but
occasionallyisveryuseful.Thereisonemoreserieswhereweneedtodoitsoletstakealookatthatso
wecangetonemoreexampledownofrenumberingseriesterms.
Example6FindtheTaylorSeriesfor
about
.
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Solution
Aswiththelastexamplewellstartoffinthesamemanner.
So,wegetasimilarpatternforthisone.LetsplugthenumbersintotheTaylorSeries.
Inthiscaseweonlygettermsthathaveanoddexponentonxandaswiththelastproblemoncewe
ignorethezerotermsthereisaclearpatternandformula.Sorenumberingthetermsaswedidinthe
previousexamplewegetthefollowingTaylorSeries.
Wereallyneedtoworkanotherexampleortwoinwhichf(x)isntabout
Example7FindtheTaylorSeriesfor
about
.
Solution
Herearethefirstfewderivativesandtheevaluations.
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Notethatwhilewegotageneralformulahereitdoesntworkfor
.Thiswillhappenonoccasion
sodontworryaboutitwhenitdoes.
InordertoplugthisintotheTaylorSeriesformulawellneedtostripoutthe
termfirst.
Noticethatwesimplifiedthefactorialsinthiscase.Youshouldalwayssimplifythemifthereare
morethanoneanditspossibletosimplifythem.
Also,donotgetexcitedaboutthetermsittinginfrontoftheseries.Sometimesweneedtodothat
whenwecantgetageneralformulathatwillholdforallvaluesofn.
Example8FindtheTaylorSeriesfor
about
Solution
Again,herearethederivativesandevaluations.
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Noticethatallthenegativesignswillcanceloutintheevaluation.Also,thisformulawillworkforall
n,unlikethepreviousexample.
HereistheTaylorSeriesforthisfunction.
Now,letsworkoneoftheeasierexamplesinthissection.Theproblemformoststudentsisthatitmay
notappeartobethateasy(ormaybeitwillappeartobetooeasy)atfirstglance.
Example9FindtheTaylorSeriesfor
about
.
Solution
Herearethederivativesforthisproblem.
ThisTaylorserieswillterminateafter
.ThiswillalwayshappenwhenwearefindingtheTaylor
Seriesofapolynomial.HereistheTaylorSeriesforthisone.
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WhenfindingtheTaylorSeriesofapolynomialwedontdoanysimplificationoftherighthandside.
Weleaveitlikeitis.Infact,ifweweretomultiplyeverythingoutwejustgetbacktotheoriginal
polynomial!
WhileitsnotapparentthatwritingtheTaylorSeriesforapolynomialisusefultherearetimeswhere
thisneedstobedone.Theproblemisthattheyarebeyondthescopeofthiscourseandsoarent
coveredhere.Forexample,thereisoneapplicationtoseriesinthefieldofDifferentialEquations
wherethisneedstobedoneonoccasion.
So,weveseenquiteafewexamplesofTaylorSeriestothispointandinallofthemwewereabletofind
generalformulasfortheseries.Thiswontalwaysbethecase.Toseeanexampleofonethatdoesnt
haveageneralformulacheckoutthelastexampleinthenextsection.
BeforeleavingthissectiontherearethreeimportantTaylorSeriesthatwevederivedinthissectionthat
weshouldsummarizeupinoneplace.InmyclassIwillassumethatyouknowtheseformulasfromthis
pointon.
CalculusII(Notes)/Series&Sequences/TaylorSeries[Notes][PracticeProblems][Assignment
Problems]
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