Module 2: Lecture 11 Comments: Typically used for a series similar to a geometric p-

series. It can sometimes be difficult to find an appropriate

infinite series: Summary
series
Divergence Test
Limit Comparison Test

For any series , evaluate lim 𝑎𝑛 . For with positive terms, compare with a series
𝑛→∞

Conclusions: by evaluating

» lim 𝑎𝑛 = 0, the test is inconclusive Conclusions:

𝑛→∞
» lim 𝑎𝑛 ≠ 0, the series diverges
𝑛→∞
» If 𝐿 is a real number and 𝐿 ≠ 0, then and both
Comments: This test cannot prove convergence of a series.
converge or both diverge.
Geometric Series
» If 𝐿 = 0 and converges, then converges.

» If 𝐿 = ∞ and diverges, then diverges.

Conclusions:
» If |𝑟| < 1, the series converges to
𝑎 Comments: Typically used for a series similar to a geometric or
1−𝑟
» If |𝑟| ≥ 1, the series diverges. p-series. Often easier to apply than the comparison test.
Integral Test
Comments: Any geometric series can be reindexed to be
If there exists a positive, continuous, decreasing function 𝑓
written in the form 𝑎 + 𝑎𝑟 + 𝑎𝑟 2 + ⋯, where a is the initial ∞
such that 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑓(𝑛) for all 𝑛 ≥ 𝑁, evaluate ∫𝑁 𝑓(𝑥)𝑑𝑥 .
term and r is the ratio.
Conclusions:
P-Series
∞
» ∫𝑁 𝑓(𝑥)𝑑𝑥 and both converge or both diverge.

Comments: Limited to those series for which the corresponding

Conclusions: function 𝑓 can be easily integrated.
» If 𝑝 > 1, the series converges. Alternating Series
» If 𝑝 ≤ 1, the series diverges.

Comments: For 𝑝 = 1 , we have the harmonic series

Comparison Test Conclusions:

» If 𝑏𝑛+1 ≤ 𝑏𝑛 for all 𝑛 ≥ 1 and 𝑏𝑛 → 0, then the series

For with nonnegative terms, compare with a known converges.

Comments: Only applies to alternating series.

series
Ratio Test
Conclusions:

For any series with nonzero terms, let

» If 𝑎𝑛 ≤ 𝑏𝑛 for all 𝑛 ≥ 𝑁 and converges, then
converges.

Conclusions:
» If 𝑎𝑛 ≥ 𝑏𝑛 for all 𝑛 ≥ 𝑁 and diverges, then
diverges. » If 0 ≤ 𝑝 < 1, the series converges absolutely

» If 𝑝 > 1 𝑜𝑟 𝑝 = ∞, the series diverges.

» If 𝑝 = 1, the test is inconclusive. Divergence test - if lim ≠ 0, then the series diverges
𝑛→∞

Comments: Often used for series involving factorials or Divergent sequence – a sequence that is not convergent is
exponentials. divergent
Root Test
Explicit Formula – a sequence may be defined by an explicit
formula such that 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑓(𝑛)
For any series , let 𝜌 = 𝑛√|𝑎𝑛|
𝑎𝑛+1
Geometric sequence – a sequence {𝑎𝑛 } in which the ratio is
Conclusions:
𝑎𝑛
the same for all positive integers 𝑛 is called a geometric
» If 0 ≤ 𝑝 < 1, the series converges absolutely sequence

» If 𝑝 > 1 𝑜𝑟 𝑝 = ∞, the series diverges. Geometric Series – a series that can be written in the form

» If 𝑝 = 1, the test is inconclusive.

Comments: Often used for series where Harmonic Series – series that takes the form

Key Terms

Absolute Converge - If the series
is said to converge absolutely.
Alternating Series - a series of the form
converges, the series Index Variable – the subscript used to define the terms in a
sequence is called the index
Infinite series – a series is an expression of the form

where 𝑏𝑛 ≥ 0 is called an
alternating series. p-series – a series of the form

Arithmetic sequence – a sequence in which the difference

between every pair of consecutive terms is the same. Partial sum – the kth partial sum of the infinite series is

Bounded above – a sequence {𝑎𝑛 } is bounded above if there

the finite sum
exists a constant 𝑀 such that 𝑎𝑛 ≤ 𝑀 for all positive integers
𝑛 Recurrence relation – a recurrence relation is a relationship in
which a term 𝑎𝑛 in a sequence is defined in terms of earlier
Bounded below - a sequence {𝑎𝑛 } is bounded below if there
terms in the sequence
exists a constant 𝑀 such that 𝑀 ≤ 𝑎𝑛 for all positive integers
𝑛 Sequence – an ordered list of numbers of the form 𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , 𝑎3 , …

Bounded sequence – a sequence {𝑎𝑛 } is bounded if there exists

Telescoping series – a telescoping series is one which most of
a constant M such that |𝑎𝑛 | ≤ 𝑀 for all positive integers n
the terms cancel in each of the partial sums

Convergence of a series – a series converges if the sequence of

Term – a number 𝑎𝑛 in the sequence {𝑎𝑛 } is called the nth term
partial sums for that series converges
of the sequence

Convergent sequence – a convergent sequence is a sequence

Unbounded sequence – a sequence that is not bounded
{𝑎𝑛 } for which there exists a real number 𝐿 such that 𝑎𝑛 is
arbitrarily close to 𝐿 as long as 𝑛 is sufficiently large Key Equations
Harmonic Series
Divergence of a series – a series diverges if the sequence of
partial sums for that series diverges
Sum of a geometric series given by 𝑆𝑘 = 𝑏1 − 𝑏𝑘+1 . The series will converge if and only if
lim 𝑏𝑘+1 exists. In that case,
𝑘→∞

Divergence Test

The Divergence and Integral Tests

p-series
» lim 𝑎𝑛 ≠ 0, then the series diverges.
𝑛→∞

» lim 𝑎𝑛 = 0, the series may converge or diverge.

𝑛→∞
Alternating series

» If is a series with positive terms 𝑎𝑛 and 𝑓 is a

Key Equations
Sequences
» To determine the convergence of a sequence given by an
explicit formula 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑓(𝑛), we use the properties of limits for
continuous, decreasing functions such that 𝑓(𝑛) = 𝑎𝑛 for all
positive integers 𝑛, then
Either both converge or both diverge. Furthermore, if
converges, then the Nth partial sum approximation 𝑆𝑁 is

functions.
accurate up to an error 𝑅𝑁 where
» If {𝑎𝑛 } and {𝑏𝑛 } are convergent sequence that converge to 𝐴 Comparison Tests
and 𝐵, respectively, and 𝑐 is any real number, then the
» The comparison test are used to determine convergence or
sequence {𝑐𝑎𝑛 } converges to 𝑐 ∙ 𝐴, the sequences {𝑎𝑛 ± 𝑏𝑛 }
divergence of series with positive terms.
converge to 𝐴 ± 𝐵, the sequence {𝑎𝑛 ∙ 𝑏𝑛 } converges to 𝐴 ∙ 𝐵,
and the sequence {𝑎𝑛 /𝑏𝑛 } converges to 𝐴/𝐵, provided 𝐵 ≠ 0.
» When using the comparison tests, a series is often
» If a sequence is bounded and monotone, then it converges, compared to a geometric or p-series.
but not all convergent sequences are monotone.

» If a sequence is unbounded, it diverges but not all divergent

sequences are unbounded.

» The geometric sequence {𝑟 𝑛 } converges if and only if |𝑟| < 1

or 𝑟 = 1

Infinite Series

» Given the infinite series and the

corresponding sequence of partial sums {𝑠𝑘 } where

the series converges if and only if the sequence {𝑠𝑘 } converges.

A series of the form

is a telescoping series. The kth partial sum of this series is