Taylor Polynomials and Infinite Series. III.

Operations on Taylor Series

Basic Taylor Series at 0:
1
1 x x 2 xn ,
1 x 1;
1 x
1
1 x x 2 (1) n x n ,
1 x 1;
1 x
1
1
1
ln(1 x) x x 2 x 3 x n ,
1 x 1;
2
3
n
1
1
(1) n1 n
x ,
ln(1 x) x x 2 x3
1 x 1;
n
2
3
1
1
x ;
e x 1 x x 2 xn ,
n!
2!
1 2
(1) n n
x
e 1 x x
x ,
x .
n!
2!

Addition and Multiplication

Property 1 (Addition). Two Taylor series at 0 can be added term by term:
If
f ( x) a0 a1 x a2 x 2 an x n
and
g ( x) b0 b1 x b2 x 2 bn x n ,
then
f ( x) g ( x) (a0 b0 ) (a1 b1 ) x (a2 b2 ) x 2 (an bn ) x n .
This operation is valid in the intersection of the intervals of convergence of the series for f and g.

Example 1 (Addition of Taylor Series). Find the Taylor series at 0 for f ( x) e x ln(1 x) ,
and find the interval of convergence.
Solution. As we know
ex 1 x

1 2 1 3
1
x x xn ,
2!
3!
n!

x ,

and
1 2 1 3
(1) n1 n
ln(1 x) x x x
x ,
2
3
n

1 x 1 .
1

Adding the coefficients of corresponding powers of x, we have

1 (1) n 1 n
1 1 2 1 1 3
x
f ( x) e ln(1 x) 1 2 x x x
x .
n
2! 2
3! 3
n!
The series for e x converges for all x; however, the series for ln(1 x) converges only for
1 x 1 . Thus, the combined series converges for 1 x 1 , the intersection of these two
intervals of convergence.
Property 2 (Multiplication). A Taylor series at 0 can be multiplied term by term by an
expression of the form cx r , where c is a nonzero constant and r is a nonnegative integer:
If
f ( x) a0 a1 x a2 x 2 an x n ,
then
cx r f ( x) ca0 x r ca1 x r 1 ca2 x r 2 can x r n .
The Taylor series for cx r f ( x) has the same interval of convergence as the Taylor series for f.
Example 2 (Multiplication of Taylor Series). Find the Taylor series at 0 for f ( x) 2 x 2e x , and
find the interval of convergence.
Solution. As we know
1 2
(1) n n
e 1 x x
x ,
x .
2!
n!
Multiplying each term of this series by 2x 2 , the series for f ( x) is
x

1 2
(1)n n
2 4
2(1) n n 2
2
3
f ( x) 2 x e 2 x 1 x x
x 2 x 2 x x
x .
n!
n!
2!
2!

Since the series for e x converges for all x, the series for f ( x) also converges for x .
2 x

Differentiation and Integration

Property 3 (Differentiation). A Taylor series at 0 can be differentiated term by term:
If
f ( x) a0 a1 x a2 x 2 an x n ,
then
f ( x) a1 2a2 x 3a3 x 2 nan x n1 .
The Taylor series for f has the same interval of convergence as the Taylor series for f.
Example 3 (Differentiation of Taylor Series). Find the Taylor series at 0 for f ( x)

1
,
(1 x) 2

and find the interval of convergence.

Solution. We want to relate f to the derivative of one of the functions from the basic Taylor
series, so that we can apply property 3. Since
d 1 d
1
1
2
f ( x) ,

1 x 1 x (1)
dx 1 x dx
(1 x) 2
2

we can apply property 3 to the series for

1
. We know that
1 x

1
1 x x 2 xn ,
1 x 1 .
1 x
Differentiating both sides of this equation,
d 1 d
1 x x 2 xn ,

dx 1 x dx
1
d
d
d
d
1 x x 2 xn ,
2
(1 x)
dx dx
dx
dx

f ( x) 1 2 x 3x 2 nx n 1 .
Since the series for
1 x 1 .

1
converges for 1 x 1 , the series for f ( x) also converges for
1 x

Property 4 (Integration). A Taylor series at 0 can be integrated term by term:

If
f ( x) a0 a1 x a2 x 2 an x n ,
then
1 2 1
1
3
n 1
f ( x)dx C a0 x 2 a1 x 3 a2 x n 1 an x ,
where C is the constant of integration. The Taylor series for f ( x)dx has the same interval of
convergence as the Taylor series for f.
Example 4 (Integration of Taylor Series). If f is a function that satisfies f ( x) x 2e x and
f (0) 2 , find the Taylor series at 0 for f. Find the interval of convergence.
Solution. Using the series for e x and property 2, the series for f is
1
1

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

1
1
x 2 x3 x 4 x n 2 ,
x .
2!
n!
Integrating term by term produces a series for f:
1
1

f ( x) f ( x)dx x 2 x3 x4 x n 2 dx
2!
n!

1
1
x 2dx x3 dx x4 dx x n 2 dx
n!
2!
1
1
1 5
1
C x3 x 4
x
xn 3 .
3
4
5 2!
(n 3)n !
Now we use the condition f (0) 2 to evaluate the constant of integration C:
2 f (0) C 0 0 0 C .
Thus,
1
1
1
f ( x ) 2 x3 x 4
xn 3 .
3
4
(n 3)n !
Since the series for f converges for x , the series for f converges for x .
3

Substitution
Example 5 (Using Substitution to Find Taylor Series). Find the Taylor series at 0 for
2
f ( x) e x , and find the interval of convergence.
Solution. Suppose we try to solve this problem by finding the general form of the nth derivative
of f:
2
2
2
2
2
2
f ( x) e x , f ( x) 2 xe x , f ( x) 2 xe x 4 x 2e x , f (3) ( x) 12 xe x 8 x3e x ,
f (4) ( x) 12e x 48 x 2e x 16 x 4 e x .
Since the higher-order derivatives are becoming very complicated and no general pattern is
emerging, we will try another approach. How can we relate f to one of the functions from basic
Taylor series? If we let g ( x) e x , then f and g are related by
2

f ( x) e x g ( x 2 ) .
2

As we now,
1 2 1 3
(1)n n
x x
x ,
x .
2!
3!
n!
Substituting x 2 for x in the series for g, we have
1
1
(1) n 2 n
f ( x ) g ( x 2 ) 1 x 2 ( x 2 ) 2 ( x 2 )3
(x )
2!
3!
n!
1 4 1 6
(1) n 2n
2
1 x x x
x .
2!
3!
n!
g ( x) e x 1 x

Since the series for g converges for x , the series for f must also converge for
x .
Example 6 (Using Substitution to Find Taylor Series). Find the Taylor series at 1 for
1
f ( x)
, and find the interval of convergence.
2 x
Solution. In order to find a Taylor series for f in powers of x 1 , we will use the substitution
t x 1 to express f as a function of t. If we find the Taylor series at 0 for this new function and
then replace t with x 1 , we will have obtained the Taylor series at 1 for f.
Solve t x 1 for x:
x t 1.
1
Substitute for x in f ( x)
:
2 x
1
1
1

.
2 x 2 (t 1) 1 t
Find the Taylor series at 0 for this function of t:
1
1 t t 2 t n , 1 t 1 .
1 t
Substitute x 1 for t:
f ( x) 1 ( x 1) ( x 1) 2 ( x 1)n .
Since t x 1 and the series in powers of t converges for 1 t 1 , the series in powers of x 1
converges for
1 x 1 1, 0 x 2.
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