Power Series

Lecture Notes

A power series is a polynomial with infinitely many terms. Here is an example:

0 aB b " B B # B $

Like a polynomial, a power series is a function of B. That is, we can substitute in different
values of B to get different results. For example,
0 a!b " ! ! ! ".

and

0 "
" " " "
#.
# # % )

Though power series may seem complicated, they are actually not much more difficult to deal
with than polynomials. For example, it is easy to take the derivative of a power series:

" B B# B$ B% " #B $B# %B$

.
.B
and it is just as easy to take the integral:

( " B B B .B B B B $ B % G
# $ " # " "
# $ %

As you can see, a power series is not much more complicated than a polynomial.

Taylor Series
Consider again the power series
0 a B b " B B # B $ .

As we have seen, it is easy to compute the sum of this series for different values of B. For
example,

0 "
" " " " " $
.
$ $ * #( " "$ #

In fact, no matter what value of B we plug in, the result is always a geometric series. The first
term of this series is ", and the common ratio is always B.
 Indeed, the entire power series

" B B# B$

can be thought of as a geometric series with a common ratio of B. This gives us a simple formula
for the sum:

"
" B B# B$
"B

This is our first example of a Taylor seriesa power series that adds up to a known function.
So which functions can be expressed as power series? The answer may surprise you:

" # " "

/B " B B B$ B%
# $x %x

" # " "

cos B " B B% B'
#x %x 'x

" $ " "

sin B B B B& B(
$x &x (x

" $ " "

tan" B B B B& B(
$ & (

lna" Bb B
" # " "
B B$ B%
# $ %

All of these functionsthe exponential, the sine, the cosine, the logarithm, the inverse tangent
all of them are really just polynomials!
This result seems to good to be true. How is it possible that something like /B is a
polynomial? According to the table above,
" # " " % " &
/B " B B B$ B B .
# ' #% "#!
Why would this be true? Well, the defining property of /B is that it is equal to its own derivative:

a / b /B .
. B
.B
However, the Taylor series for /B is also equal to its own derivative:

" B B B B
. " # " $ " % " &
B
.B # ' #% "#!
" # " " %
"B B B$ B .
# ' #%

Based on this observation alone, it seems reasonable that the two functions might be the same.
Unfortunately, we are not yet in a position to fully explain the formulas above. The goal of
the next two sections is to learn how to express various functions as power series. By the time
we are done, you will understand all five of these formulas.

Geometric Power Series

Recall the formula for the sum of a geometric series:
+
+ +< +<# +<$
"<
As we have seen, this formula works perfectly well when + and < are functions of B. For
example, plugging in + " and < B gives the formula
"
" B B # B $ .
"B
There are many more series we can get this way. For example, using + " and < B gives
"
" B B # B $ ,
"B
and using + B and < #B gives,
B
B #B# %B$ )B%
" #B

EXAMPLE 1 Find a formula for the sum of the following series:

B# #B& %B) )B"" "'B"%
SOLUTION This is a geometric series with a common ratio of #B$ . The first term is B# , so
B#
B# #B& %B) )B"" "'B"%
" #B$
EXAMPLE 2 Find a power series representation for each of the following functions:
B "
(a) (b)
" $B " B#
SOLUTION

(a) This should be the sum of a geometric series with + B and < $B:
B
B $B# *B$ #(B%
" $B

(b) This is the sum of a geometric series with + " and < B# :
"
" B# B% B'
" B#

Differentiation and Integration

You can differentiate an integrate power series term-by-term, just as you would a polynomial:

-! -" B -# B# -$ B$ -" #-# B $-$ B#

.
.B

( -! -" B -# B .B -! B B B $ G
# -" # -#
# $

"
a" B b#
EXAMPLE 3 Find a power series representation for .

SOLUTION Observe that:

# .B " B
" . "
a" B b

But:
"
" B B# B$
"B
Therefore:
"
" #B $B# %B$
a" B b#

We now come to our first major task: finding a power series for the natural logarithm.
EXAMPLE 4 Find a Taylor series for lna" Bb.
SOLUTION Observe that

( .B lna" Bb G .
"
"B
"
But is the sum of a geometric power series:
"B
"
" B B# B$
"B
Integrating both sides gives:

lna" Bb B B# B$ B% G
" " "
# $ %

Plugging in B ! reveals that G !. Therefore:

a"b8" 8
"
_
lna" Bb B B B B
" # " $ " %
B
# $ % 8"
8

The formula we just derived is our first really important result:

lna" Bb B
" # " "
B B$ B%
# $ %

We can find a power series for the inverse tangent using the same method:

EXAMPLE 5 Find a Taylor series for tan" B.

SOLUTION Recall that

(
"
#
.B tan" B G .
"B
"
But is the sum of a geometric series with + " and < B# :
" B#
"
" B # B % B ' .
" B#
Integrating both sides gives:

tan" B B B$ B& B( G
" " "
$ & (

Plugging in B ! reveals that G !, so:

" $ " "
tan" B B B B& B(
$ & (
The result was:

" $ " "

tan" B B B B& B(
$ & (

EXAMPLE 6 Express the integral:

"
(
"
.B
! " B(

as the sum of an infinite series.

SOLUTION Note that this integral would be very difficult to evaluate on its own. However, the
integrand is the sum of a geometric series:
"
" B( B"% B#"
" B(
Therefore:

" B( B"% B#" .B

" "
( (
"
.B
! " B( !

"
B B) B"& B##
" " "
) "& ## !

" " " "

"
) "& ## #*

Substitution and Multiplication

There are two more important tricks for working with power series. The first is substitution:

EXAMPLE 7 Find a power series representation for tan" aB# b.

SOLUTION The power series for tan" B is:
" $ " "
tan" B B B B& B(
$ & (
All we need to do is substitute B# in for B:

tan" B# B# B B# & B# (
" # $ " "
$ & (
" ' " "
B# B B"! B"%
$ & (
 Though this method is very simple, it often comes off as confusing because of the two
different B's. The idea here is that:
" $ " "
tan" ? ? ? ?& ?(
$ & (
for any ?. All we are doing is substituting in ? B# .
You can think of many geometric series this way. For example, the series:
"
" B( B"% B#"
" B(
"
can be obtained by substituting B( into the power series for .
"B

EXAMPLE 8 Find a power series representation for lna" B& b.

SOLUTION We know that:

lna" Bb B
" # " "
B B$ B%
# $ %
Substituting in B& for B yields:

ln" B& B&

" "! " "
B B"& B#!
# $ %

Power series can also be added, subtracted, and multiplied like polynomials.

EXAMPLE 9 Find a power series representation for B$ tan" B.

SOLUTION We have:

B$ tan" B B$ B B B & B (
" $ " "
$ & (
" ' " "
B% B B) B"!
$ & (
Summations for Power Series
It is sometimes difficult to express a power series in summation notation. We give a few
examples.

EXAMPLE 10 Express the series:

" ( " " "
B$ B B"" B"& B"*
# $ % &
using summation notation.
SOLUTION For this series, it seems easiest to have the first term be 8 ", the second term be
8 #, and so on:

8 " # $ % &
" ( " "" " "& " "*
8th term B$ B B B B
# $ % &
"
As you can see, the coefficient is always . The power of B is increasing by % each time, so it
8
should be similar to %8. Indeed, it looks like the power of B is %8 ", so:

B B"" B"& B"* " B%8"

_
" ( " " " "
B$
# $ % & 8"
8

EXAMPLE 11 Express the series:

" $ " "
tan" B B B B& B(
$ & (
using summation notation.
SOLUTION This time we start with 8 !:

8 ! " # $
" " & "
8th term B B$ B B(
$ & (

The alternating and signs can be taken care of with a a"b8 . It is important here that the
even-numbered terms are positive (which is why we decided to start at 8 !). If the odd-
numbered terms were positive, we would need a a"b8" .
The power of B is an arithmetic sequence that increases by # each time. In particular, the
formula for the power is, so it should be similar to #8 ", so
a"b8 #8"
tan" B "
_
B
8!
#8 "
 The following table shows the summation notation for each of our five primary series:

"
_
B " 8 " "
/ B " B B# B$
8!
8x # $x

a"b8 #8
cos B "
_
" " "
B " B# B% B'
8!
a#8bx # %x 'x

a"b8 #8"
sin B "
_
" "
B B$ B&
a#8 "bx
B
8!
$x &x

a"b8 #8"
tan" B "
_
" " "
B B B$ B& B(
8!
#8 " $ & (

a"b8" 8
lna" Bb "
_
" " "
B B B# B$ B%
8"
8 # $ %

EXERCISES
1
lna" Bb "
21. ( 22. (
14 Find a power series representation for the function using "
.B .B
the formula for the sum of a geometric series. ! B " " B"!

1. 0 aBb 2. 0 aBb
B B# !&
23. Use power series to estimate the integral (
"
"B " B% .B to
! " B'
within !!!!!".
3. 0 aBb 4. 0 aBb
$
" %B
" %B# " B& !#
24. Use power series to estimate the integral (
#
/B .B to
516 Find a power series representation for the given function. !
within !!!!!".
5. 0 aBb lna" Bb 6. 0 aBb tan" B&

7. 0 aBb lna& Bb 8. 0 aBb lna" #Bb 2530 Express the given series using summation notation.
" $ " & " (
9. 0 aBb /$B 10. 0 aBb sin #B 25. B
$
B
&
B
(
B

11. 0 aBb cosB# 12. 0 aBb /B

#

" " " # " $

26. B B B
13. 0 aBb B# /B 14. 0 aBb B tan" a$Bb
"# #$ $% %&
) $ "' $# '%
B # B& # B( # B*
15. 0 aBb 16. 0 aBb
tan" B sin B B 27. %B
## $ % &
B B$
%$ # %% % %& ' %' )
1722 Express the integral as an infinite series. 28. B B B B
& ( * ""

17. ( 18. (
" B " $ " ( " "
.B .B 29. B B B"" B"&
" B% " B& $ $x ( &x "" (x "&

ln" ># .>

B B
19. ( 20. (
sin > " ) " "
.> 30. B# B B"% B#!
! > ! #x ( %x "$ 'x "*