1 Problems

1.1
Determine whether the sequence converges or diverges. If it converges, find the limit.
√
1 n+1 (−1)n+1 n
(1) an = e n (2) an = (3) an = √
9n + 1 n+ n

(ln n)2 n!
(4) an = 2−n cos nπ (5) an = (6) an =
n 2n

1.2 (⋆)
Show that the sequence defined by
1
a1 = 2 an+1 =
3 − an
satisfies 0 < an ≤ 2 and is decreasing. Deduce that the sequence is convergent and
find its limit.

1.3 (⋆)
Let a and b be positive numbers with a > b. Let a1 be their arithmetic mean and b1
their geometric mean:
a+b √
a1 = b1 = ab
2
Repeat this process so that, in general,
an + bn √
an+1 = bn+1 = an bn
2
(a) Use mathematical induction to show that
an > an+1 > bn+1 > bn

(b) Deduce that both {an } and {bn } are convergent.

(c) Show that lim an = lim bn . Gauss called the common value of these limits the
n→∞ n→∞
arithmetic-geometric mean of the numbers a and b.

1.4
(⋆) (a) Show that if lim a2n = L and lim a2n+1 = L, then {an } is convergent and
n→∞ n→∞
lim an = L.
n→∞

(b) If a1 = 1 and
1
an+1 = 1 +
1 + an
find the first
√ eight terms of the sequence an . Then use part (a) to show that
lim an = 2. This gives the continued fraction expansion
n→∞
√ 1
2=1+ 1
2 + 2+···

Calculus (II) — 2016.2.23 Sections 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3 1

 1.5 (⋆) → (?)
Determine whether the series is convergent or divergent. If it is convergent, find its
sum.
∑∞
k(k + 2) ∑∞
1 + 2k ∑∞
√
k
(1) 2
(2) k
(3) 2
k=1
(k + 3) k=1
3 k=1

∑
∞ ∑
∞ ∞ (
∑ )
k 1 1
(4) (cos 1) (5) arctan k (6) +
k=1 k=1 k=1
ek k(k + 1)

∑
∞
2 ∑
∞
k ∑∞
1
(7) (8) ln (9)
k=2
k −1
2
k=1
k+1 k=2
k −k
3

1.6 (⋆) → (?)

Find the values of x for which the series converges. Find the sum of the series for
those values of x.
∑
∞
2n ∑
∞
sinn x ∑
∞
(1) (2) (3) enx
n=0
xn n=0
3n n=0

1.7
∑
∞
Find an and an .
n=1

∑
∞
n−1
(⋆) (1) If the nth partial sum of a series an is sn =
n=1
n+1

∑
∞
n
(2) If the nth partial sum of a series an is sn = 3 −
n=1
2n

1.8 (⋆)
What is wrong with the following calculation?

0 = 0 + 0 + 0 + ···
= (1 − 1) + (1 − 1) + (1 − 1) + · · ·
= 1 − 1 + 1 − 1 + 1 − 1 + ...
= 1 + (−1 + 1) + (−1 + 1) + (−1 + 1) + · · ·
= 1 + 0 + 0 + 0 + ··· = 1

(Guido Ubaldus thought that this proved the existence of God because “something
has been created out of nothing.”)

Calculus (II) — 2016.2.23 Sections 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3 2

1.9 (⋆)
Use the Integral Test to determine whether the series is convergent or divergent.
∑∞
1 ∑
∞
1 ∑
∞
k 2 e−k
3
(1) (2) √ (3)
k=1
k5 k=1
k+4 k=1

1.10 (⋆) → (?)

Explain why the Integral Test can’t be used to determine whether the series is con-
vergent.
∑∞
cos πk ∑∞
cos2 k
(1) √ (2)
k=1
k k=1
1 + k2

1.11 (⋆)
Find the values of p for which the series is convergent.
∑
∞
1 ∑
∞
(1) (2) n(1 + n2 )p
n=2
n(ln n)p n=1

2 Problems Plus
1. A sequence that arises in ecology as a model for population growth is defined
by the logistic difference equation

pn+1 = kpn (1 − pn )

where pn measures the size of the population of the nth generation of a single
species. To keep the numbers manageable, is a fraction of the maximal size
of the population, so 0 ≤ pn ≤ 1. Notice that the form of this equation is
similar to the logistic differential equation in Section 9.4. The discrete model-
with sequences instead of continuous functions-is preferable for modeling insect
populations, where mating and death occur in a periodic fashion.
An ecologist is interested in predicting the size of the population as time goes
on, and asks these questions: Will it stabilize at a limiting value? Will it change
in a cyclical fashion? Or will it exhibit random behavior?
Write a program to compute the first n terms of this sequence starting with an
initial population p0 , where 0 < p0 < 1. Use this program to do the following.

1. Calculate 20 or 30 terms of the sequence for p0 = 21 and for two values of

k such that 1 < k < 3. Graph each sequence. Do the sequences appear
to converge? Repeat for a different value of p0 between 0 and 1. Does the
limit depend on the choice of p0 ? Does it depend on the choice of k?
2. Calculate terms of the sequence for a value of k between 3 and 3.4 and
plot them. What do you notice about the behavior of the terms?
3. Experiment with values of k between 3.4 and 3.5. What happens to the
terms?

Calculus (II) — 2016.2.23 Sections 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3 3

 4. For values of k between 3.6 and 4, compute and plot at least 100 terms and
comment on the behavior of the sequence. What happens if you change
p0 by 0.001? This type of behavior is called chaotic and is exhibited by
insect populations under certain conditions.

2. The Cantor set, named after the German mathematician Georg Cantor (1845-
1918), is constructed as follows. We start with the closed interval [0, 1] and
remove the open interval ( 13 , 23 ). That leaves the two intervals [0, 13 ] and [ 23 , 1]
and we remove the open middle third of each. Four intervals remain and again
we remove the open middle third of each of them. We continue this procedure
indefinitely, at each step removing the open middle third of every interval that
remains from the preceding step. The Cantor set consists of the numbers that
remain in [0, 1] after all those intervals have been removed.

(a) Show that the total length of all the intervals that are removed is 1. Despite
that, the Cantor set contains infinitely many numbers. Give examples of
some numbers in the Cantor set.
(b) The Sierpinski carpet is a two-dimensional counterpart of the Cantor
set. It is constructed by removing the center one-ninth of a square of side
1, then removing the centers of the eight smaller remaining squares, and
so on. (The figure shows the first three steps of the construction.) Show
that the sum of the areas of the removed squares is 1. This implies that
the Sierpinski carpet has area 0.

Calculus (II) — 2016.2.23 Sections 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3 4