Taylor Polynomials and Infinite Series. I.

Taylor Polynomials
Higher-Order Derivatives
The symbol f ( n ) is used to represent the nth derivative of the function f. When stating
formulas involving a function and its higher-order derivatives, it is convenient to let f (0)
represent the function f (that is, the zeroth derivative of a function is just the function itself).

Example 1 (Finding nth Derivatives ). Find the nth derivative of

1
f ( x)
(1 x) 1 .
1 x
Solution. We begin by finding the first four derivatives of f:
f ( x) (1 x)1 ,
f ( x) (1)(1 x) 2 ,
f ( x) (1)(2)(1 x) 3 ,
f (3) ( x) (1)(2)(3)(1 x) 4 ,
f (4) ( x) (1)(2)(3)(4)(1 x) 5 .
Notice that we did not multiply out the coefficient of (1 x) k in each derivative. Our objective
is to look for a pattern in the form of each derivative. We observe that each coefficient is a
product of successive negative integers that can be written as follows:
(1) (1)1 (1),
(1)(2) (1)2 (1)(2),
(1)(2)(3) (1)3 (1)(2)(3),
(1)(2)(3)(4) (1) 4 (1)(2)(3)(4).
Next we note that the product of natural numbers in each expression on the right can be written
in terms of a factorial (For n a natural number, n ! n(n 1)! n(n 1)(n 2) 2 1 , and 0! 1 ):
(1) (1)11!,
(1)(2) (1) 2 2!,
(1)(2)(3) (1)3 3!,
(1)(2)(3)(4) (1) 4 4!.
Substituting these last expressions in the derivatives of f, we have
f ( x) (1)11!(1 x) 2 , n 1,

f ( x) (1) 2 2!(1 x) 3 , n 2,
f (3) ( x) (1)3 3!(1 x) 4 , n 3,
f (4) ( x) (1)4 4!(1 x)5 , n 4.
This suggests that
f ( n ) ( x) (1)n n !(1 x) ( n 1) .
1

Approximating ex with Polynomials

Given the function
f ( x) e x ,
we would like to construct a polynomial function p whose values are close to the values of f, at
least for some values of x. If we are successful, then we can use the values of p (which are easily
computed) to approximate the values of f. We begin by trying to approximate f for values of x
near 0 with a first-degree polynomial of the form
(1)
p1 ( x) a0 a1 x .
We want to place conditions on p1 that will enable us to determine the unknown coefficients a0
and a1 . Since we want to approximate f for values near 0, it is reasonable to require that f and
p1 agree at 0. Thus,
a0 p1 (0) f (0) e0 1 .

This determines the value of a0 . To determine the value of a1 , we require that both functions
have the same slope at 0. Since p1 ( x) a1 and f ( x) e x , this implies that
a1 p1 (0) f (0) e0 1 .

Thus, after substituting a0 1 and a1 1 into (1), we obtain

p1 ( x) 1 x ,
which is a first-degree polynomial satisfying
p1 (0) f (0) and p1 (0) f (0) .
How well does 1 x approximates e x ? Examining the graph, it appears that 1 x is a
good approximation to e x for x very close to 0. However, as x moves away from 0, in either
direction, the distance between the values of 1 x and e x increases and the accuracy of the
approximation decreases.
Now we will try to improve this approximation by using a second-degree polynomial of
the form
p2 ( x) a0 a1 x a2 x 2 .
(2)
We need three conditions to determine the coefficients a0 , a1 , and a2 . We still require that
p2 (0) f (0) and p2 (0) f (0) , and add the condition that p2 (0) f (0) . This ensures that
the graphs of p2 and f have the same concavity at x 0 . Proceeding as before, we compute the
first and second derivatives of p2 and f and apply these conditions:
p2 ( x) a0 a1 x a2 x 2 ,

f ( x) e x ,

p2 ( x) a1 2a2 x,

f ( x) e x ,

p2 ( x) 2a2 ,

f ( x) e x .

Thus,
a0 p2 (0) f (0) e0 1 implies a0 1 ,
a1 p2 (0) f (0) e0 1 implies a1 1 ,
1
2a2 p2 (0) f (0) e0 1 implies a2 ,
2

and substituting in (2), we obtain

1 2
x .
2
1
For values of x near 0, the graph of p2 ( x) 1 x x 2 is closer to the graph of f ( x) e x
2
1
than was the graph of p1 ( x) 1 x . Thus, the polynomial 1 x x 2 can be used to
2
x
approximate e over a larger range of x values than the polynomial 1 x .
p2 ( x) 1 x

It seems reasonable to assume that a third-degree polynomial would yield a still better
approximation. We state the required condition as:
Find
p3 ( x) a0 a1 x a2 x 2 a3 x3 ,

(3)

satisfying
p3( k ) (0) f ( k ) (0),

k 0, 1, 2, 3 .

As before, we obtain the value of the additional coefficient a3 by adding the requirement that
p3(3) (0) f (3) (0) .

Thus,
p3 ( x) a0 a1 x a2 x 2 a3 x3 ,

f ( x) e x ,

p3 ( x) a1 2a2 x 3a3 x 2 ,

f ( x) e x ,

p3 ( x) 2a2 6a3 x,

f ( x) e x ,

p3(3) ( x) 6a3 ,

f (3) ( x) e x .

Applying the conditions p3( k ) (0) f ( k ) (0) , we have

a0 p3 (0) f (0) e0 1 implies a0 1 ,
a1 p3 (0) f (0) e0 1 implies a1 1 ,
1
2a2 p3 (0) f (0) e0 1 implies a2 ,
2
1
6a3 p3 (3) (0) f (3) (0) e0 1 implies a3 .
6

Substituting in (3), we obtain

p3 ( x) 1 x

1 2 1 3
x x .
2
6

The approximations provided by p3 are an improvement over those provided by p2 and p1 .

Taylor Polynomials at 0

The process we have used to determine p1 , p2 , and p3 can be continued. Given any
positive integer n, we define
pn ( x) a0 a1 x a2 x 2 an x n ,
and require that
pn ( k ) (0) f ( k ) (0),
k 0,1, 2, , n .
The polynomial pn is called a Taylor polynomial. Before determining pn for f ( x) e x , it will
be convenient to make some general statements concerning the relationship between ak ,
pn ( k ) (0) , and f ( k ) (0) for an arbitrary function f. First, pn ( x) is differentiated n times to obtain
the following relationships:
pn ( x) a0 a1 x a2 x 2 a3 x3 an x n ,

pn ( x) a1 2a2 x 3a3 x 2 nan x n1 ,

pn ( x) 2a2 3 2a3 x n(n 1)an x n 2 ,

pn (3) ( x) 3 2a3 n (n 1)(n 2)an x n 3 ,

pn ( n ) ( x) n (n 1)(n 2) 1 an n !an .

Evaluating each derivative at 0 and applying the requirement that pn ( k ) (0) f ( k ) (0) leads to the
following equations:
a0 pn (0) f (0),
a1 pn (0) f (0),
2a2 pn (0) f (0),
3 2 a3 pn (3) (0) f (3) (0),

n !an pn ( n ) (0) f ( n ) (0).

Solving each equation for ak , we have
pn ( k ) (0) f ( k ) (0)
ak
.

k!
k!
This relationship enables us to state the general definition of a Taylor polynomial.

Taylor Polynomial at 0. If f has n derivatives at 0, then the nth-degree Taylor polynomial

for f at 0 is
n

pn ( x) a0 a1 x a2 x 2 an x n ak x k ,
k 0

where
pn ( k ) (0) f ( k ) (0)

and

ak

f ( k ) (0)
,
k!

k 0,1, 2, , n .

(Taylor polynomials at 0 are also often referred to as Maclaurin polynomials, but we will not use
this terminology).
4

Taylor Polynomial at 0: Concise Form. The nth-degree Taylor polynomial for f at 0 is

f (0) 2
f ( n ) (0) n n f ( k ) (0) k
pn ( x) f (0) f (0) x
x
x
x ,
n!
k!
2!
k 0
provided f has n derivatives at 0.

Returning to our original function f ( x) e x , it is now an easy matter to find the nthdegree Taylor polynomial for this function. Since (d / dx)e x e x , it follows that
f ( k ) (0) 1

k!
k!
for all values of k. Thus, for any n, the nth-degree Taylor polynomial for e x is
n
1
1
1
1
pn ( x) 1 x x 2 x3 x n x k .
2!
3!
n!
k 0 k !
f ( k ) ( x) e x ,

f ( k ) (0) e0 1,

ak

Example 2 (Approximating Using a Taylor Polynomial). Find the third-degree Taylor

polynomial at 0 for f ( x) x 4 . Use p3 to approximate 5 .
Solution.
Step 1. Find the derivatives:
f ( x) ( x 4)1/2 ,

f ( x)

1
( x 4) 1/2 ,
2

Step 2. Evaluate the derivatives at 0:

1
1
f (0) 41/2 2, f (0) 41/2 ,
2
4

1
f ( x) ( x 4)3/2 ,
4

1
1
f (0) 4 3/ 2 ,
4
32

3
f (3) ( x) ( x 4)5/2 .
8
3
3
f (3) (0) 4 5/2
.
8
256

Step 3. Find the coefficients of the Taylor polynomial:

1
3

(3)
f (0)
f (0) 1
f (0)
1
f (0) 256
1
a0
2, a1
, a2
32 , a3

.
0!
1!
4
2!
2
64
3!
6
512
Step 4. Write down the Taylor polynomial:
1
1 2
1 3
p3 ( x) 2 x
x
x
4
64
512
To use p3 to approximate

(Taylor polynomial).

5 , we must first determine the appropriate value of x:

f ( x) x 4 5 .

Square both sides:

x 4 5,

x 1.

Thus,
5 f (1) p3 (1) 2

1 1
1

2.2363281 .
4 64 512

Taylor Polynomials at a
Now we generalize the definition of the Taylor polynomial. Proceeding as we did before,
given a function f with n derivatives at a number a, we want to find an nth-degree polynomial
pn with the property that
pn ( k ) (a ) f ( k ) (a ),

k 0,1, 2, , n .

That is, we require that pn and its first n derivatives agree with f and its first n derivatives at the
number a. It turns out that it is much easier to find pn when it is expressed in powers of x a .
The general expression for an nth-degree polynomial in powers of x a and its first n
derivatives are as follows:
pn ( x) a0 a1 ( x a ) a2 ( x a )2 a3 ( x a )3 an ( x a )n ,
pn ( x) a1 2a2 ( x a ) 3a3 ( x a ) 2 nan ( x a ) n 1 ,
pn ( x) 2a2 3 2a3 ( x a ) n(n 1)an ( x a ) n 2 ,
pn (3) ( x) 3 2a3 n (n 1)(n 2)an ( x a ) n 3 ,

pn ( n ) ( x) n (n 1)(n 2) 1 an n !an .
Now we evaluate each function at a and apply the appropriate condition:
a0 pn (a ) f (a ),

a1 pn (a) f (a),
2a2 pn (a) f (a),
3 2 a3 pn (3) (a) f (3) (a),

n !an pn ( n ) (a ) f ( n ) (a).
Thus, each coefficient of pn satisfies ak

f ( k ) (a)
, k 0,1, 2, , n .
k!

Taylor Polynomial at a. The nth-degree Taylor polynomial at a for a function f is

pn ( x) f (a) f (a)( x a )

n
f (a)
f ( n ) (a)
f ( k ) (a)
( x a)2
( x a) n
( x a)k ,
2!
n!
k
!
k 0

provided f has n derivatives at a.

Example 3 (Taylor Polynomials at a). Find the third-degree Taylor polynomial at a 1 for
f ( x) 4 x . Use p3 to approximate 4 2 .
Solution.
Step 1. Find the derivatives:
f ( x) x1/4 ,

f ( x)

1 3/4
x ,
4

f ( x)

3 7/4
x ,
16

f (3) ( x)

21 11/4
x
.
64

Step 2. Evaluate the derivatives at a 1 :

f (1) 1,

1
f (1) ,
4

f (1)

3
,
16

f (3) (1)

21
.
64

Step 3. Find the coefficients of the Taylor polynomial:

3
21

(3)
1
f (1)
3
f (1) 64
7
16 , a3

a0 f (1) 1, a1 f (1) , a2
.
4
2!
2
32
3!
6 128
Step 4. Write down the Taylor polynomial:
1
3
7
p3 ( x) 1 ( x 1) ( x 1) 2
( x 1)3 .
4
32
128
Now we use the Taylor polynomial to approximate 4 2 :
1 3
7
4
2 f (2) p3 (2) 1
1.2109375 .
4 32 128

Applications
Example 4 (Average Price). Given the demand function
p D( x) 2,500 x 2 ,
use the second-degree Taylor polynomial at 0 to approximate the average price (in dollars) over
the demand interval [10, 40] .

Solution. The average price over the demand interval [10, 40] is given by
40

1
2,500 x 2 dx .

30 10
This integral cannot be evaluated by any of the techniques we have discussed. However, we can
use a Taylor polynomial to approximate the value of the integral. Omitting the details, the
Average price

second-degree Taylor polynomial at 0 for D( x) 2,500 x 2 is

1 2
p2 ( x) 50
x .
100
Assuming that D( x) p2 ( x) for 10 x 40 , we have

1
1 2
1
1 3
Average price
50
x dx 50 x
x

30 10
100
30
300
40

40

$ 43 .
10