Math 115 HW #3 Solutions

From §12.2
20. Determine whether the geometric series
∞
X en
3n−1
n=1

is convergent or divergent. If it is convergent, find its sum.

Answer: I can re-write the terms as
en en−1  e n−1
=e = e .
3n−1 3n−1 3
Therefore, the series
∞ ∞   ∞  
X en X e n−1 X e n
n−1
= e = e ,
3 3 3
n=1 n=1 n=0
e
where the second equality comes from shifting the index by one. Since 3 < 1, we know that
the geometric series
∞  
X e n 1 3
= e = .
3 1− 3 3−e
n=0

Therefore, the given series converges and the sum is given by

∞ ∞  
X en X e n 3 3e
n−1
= e =e = .
3 3 3−e 3−e
n=1 n=0

24. Determine whether the series

∞
X k(k + 2)
(k + 3)2
k=1

is convergent or divergent. If it is convergent, find its sum.

Answer: This series diverges. To see this, I will show that the terms in the sequence do not
go to zero:
k(k + 2) k 2 + 2k
lim = lim .
k→∞ (k + 3)2 k→∞ k 2 + 6k + 9

Dividing numerator and denominator by k 2 yields

1
1 + k2 1 + k2


k2
lim = lim = 1.
k→∞ 12 1 + 6 + 92 k→∞ 1 + 6 + 9


k k k k k2

Therefore, using the nth term test (a.k.a. Test for Divergence), the series diverges.

1
38. Determine whether the series
∞
X n
ln
n+1
n=1
is convergent or divergent by expressing sn as a telescoping sum. If it is convergent, find its
sum.
Answer: We can re-write the terms in the series as
 
n
ln = ln(n) − ln(n + 1).
n+1
Therefore, the partial sum

sn = a1 + a2 + a3 + . . . + an
= (ln(1) − ln(2)) + (ln(2) − ln(3)) + (ln(3) − ln(4)) . . . + (ln(n) − ln(n + 1))
= ln(1) + (− ln(2) + ln(2)) + (− ln(3) + ln(3)) + . . . + (− ln(n) + ln(n)) − ln(n + 1)
= ln(1) − ln(n + 1)
= − ln(n + 1).

Therefore,
∞  
X n
ln = lim sn = lim (− ln(n + 1)) = −∞,
n+1 n→∞ n→∞
n=1
so the given series diverges.

48. Find the values of x for which the series

∞
X
(x − 4)n
n=1

converges. Find the sum of the series for those values of x.

Answer: Notice that this is a geometric series, so the series converges when |x − 4| < 1,
meaning that
3 < x < 5.
Moreover, for such values of x, the series converges to
1 1
= .
1 − (x − 4) 4−x
P P P
70. If an and bn are both divergent, is (an + bn ) necessarily divergent?
Answer: No. Let an = 1 for all n and let bn = −1. Then
∞
X ∞
X
an = 1 diverges
n=1 n=1

and
∞
X ∞
X
bn = (−1) diverges
n=1 n=1

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 However,
∞
X ∞
X ∞
X
(an + bn ) = (1 + (−1)) = 0=0
n=1 n=1 n=1

certainly converges.

From §12.3
16. Determine whether the series
∞
X n2
n3 + 1
n=1

is convergent or divergent.
2
Answer: If we let f (x) = x3x+1 , then the terms of the series and the function f satisfy the
hypotheses of the Integral Test, so the series will converge if and only if
Z ∞ Z ∞
x2
f (x)dx = dx
1 1 x3 + 1

is finite.
Letting u = x3 + 1, we have that du = 3x2 dx, so I can re-write the above integral as
∞
1 ∞ du
Z 
1
= ln |u| ,
3 u=2 u 3 2

which diverges since ln(u) → ∞ as u → ∞. Therefore, the series diverges by the Integral
Test.

22. Determine whether the series

∞
X 1
n(ln n)2
n=2

is convergent or divergent.
Answer: If we let f (x) = x(ln1x)2 , then the terms of the series and the function f satisfy the
hypotheses of the Integral Test, so the series will converge if and only if
Z ∞ Z ∞
1
f (x)dx = dx
2 2 x(ln x)2

is finite.
Letting u = ln x, we have that du = x1 dx, so I can re-write the above integral as
Z ∞ ∞
du 1
= − u−1 = ,
u=ln 2 u2 u=ln 2 ln 2

which is finite. Therefore, the series converges by the Integral Test.

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30. Find the values of p for which the series
∞
X ln n
np
n=1

is convergent.
Answer: When p ≤ 0 the terms in the series do not go to zero, so the series will diverge.
When p > 0, the function f (x) = lnxpx and the series satisfy the hypotheses of the Integral
Test, so the series will converge if and only if
Z ∞ Z ∞
ln x
f (x)dx = dx (*)
1 1 xp

is finite.
When p = 1, I can write the above integral as
Z ∞
ln x
dx.
1 x

Letting u = ln x, we have du = x1 dx, so this is equal to

∞ ∞
u2
Z
udu = ,
u=0 2 0

which is infinite.
When p 6= 1, I will use integration by parts to evaluate the integral in (*). Letting u = ln x
and dv = dx
xp , I have that

u = ln x dv = x−p dx
1 x1−p
du = dx v= ,
x 1−p
so the anti-derivative is given by

x1−p
Z Z
ln x 1 1
p
dx = (ln x) − dx
x 1−p 1−p xp
x1−p 1 x1−p
= (ln x) −
1−p 1−p1−p
(1 − p) ln x − 1
= x1−p .
(1 − p)2

Hence, ∞
∞
(1 − p) ln x − 1
Z
ln x
p
dx = x1−p ,
1 x (1 − p)2 1
which is finite only when 1 − p < 0.
Therefore, the series converges when p > 1.

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 P∞ 5
34. Find the sum of the series n=1 1/n correct to three decimal places.
Answer: If we estimate the sum by the nth partial sum sn , then we know that the remainder
Rn is bounded by Z ∞ Z ∞
1 1
5
dx ≤ Rn ≤ 5
dx.
n+1 x n x

This means that Z ∞ ∞

1 1 1 1
Rn ≤ 5
dx = − 4 = ,
n x 4x n 4n4
so the estimate will be accurate to 3 decimal places when this expression is less than 0.001.
In other words, we want to know for what n is it true that
1 1
4
< .
4n 1000
Solving for n, we get that √
4
n> 250 ≈ 3.98.
So letting n = 4, we have that
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
s4 = 5
+ 5 + 5 + 5 =1+ + + ≈ 1.036
1 2 3 4 32 243 1024
is an estimate of the sum of the series that is correct to three decimal places.

From §12.4
18. Determine whether the series
∞
X 1
2n + 3
n=1
converges or diverges.
P 1
Answer: Use the Limit Comparison Test to compare this series to n. We see that
1
2n+3 n 1
lim 1 = lim = .
n→∞ n→∞ 2n + 3 2
n
P 1 P 1
Therefore, since n diverges, the Limit Comparison Test tells us that the series 2n+3 also
diverges.

26. Determine whether the series

∞
X n+5
√
3
n=1
n7 + n2
converges or diverges.
P 1
Answer: Use the Limit Comparison Test to compare this series to n4/3
. We see that

√ n+5
3 7
n +n2 (n + 5)n4/3 n7/3 + 5n4/3
lim 1 = lim √ = lim √ .
n→∞ n→∞ 3 n7 + n2 n→∞ 3
n7 + n2
n4/3

5
 Therefore, dividing both numerator and denominator by n7/3 , we see that this limit is equal
to
1 7/3 + 5n4/3


7/3 n 1 + n5
lim n 1 √ 3
= lim q = 1.
n→∞
n7/3
n7 + n2 n→∞ 3
1 + 15 n
P 1
Therefore, since n4/3
converges, the Limit Comparison Test tells us that the given series
also converges.

32. Determine whether the series

∞
X 1
n 1+1/n
n=1

converges or diverges.
P 1
Answer: Use the Limit Comparison Test to compare this series to n. We see that
1
n1+1/n n n 1
lim 1 = lim = lim = lim √ =1
n→∞
n
n→∞ n1+1/n n→∞ n·n 1/n n→∞ n
n
√ P1
since limn→∞ n n = 1. Therefore, since n diverges, the Limit Comparison test tells us that
P 1
n1+1/n
also diverges.