∞

Explaining the divergence of∑ 1n

n=0

1
Introduction
A geometric series is a continuous series with a constant ratio between any two consecutive
terms. A geometric series will be of the form u1 ,u 2 , u3 , u4 , u5 ......... . and so on. The property that
makes a series geometric is that the successive terms have common ratio(r ) given by
u 2 u3 u4
r= = = ... .
u1 u2 u3
And nth term is given by:
n−1
un =u1 r

For ex: 1,2,4,8,16………, this is a geometric series in which there is a common ratio of 2
between two successive terms.

We can also find the sum of first n terms of a geometric series by using the formula:

u1 (1−r n)
Sn=
1−r

The case which was the most interesting was the sum of infinite terms of a GP. The way I
understood it was if the terms in a geometric series are increasing in magnitude the sum of ∞
terms would keep on increasing and just be infinite itself. For example in the series mentioned
above the terms themself keep on increasing and from that it follows that the sum of infinite
terms will reach ∞ itself:
S∞ =1+2+4 +8+16+.........=∞

But there was a specific condition when met, the sum of infinite terms of the GP will actually
converge to a specific value.The condition is when −1<r <1. An intuitive way to understand why
the series will converge is that if the common ratio is −1<r <1 then the number of terms go
towards ∞ the terms will be reaching the value of 0. So the terms wont be significant if we keep
adding them on later in the series. For ex:

1 1 1
Let's consider a GP 1 , , , , .........
2 4 8
In here the common ratio is 0.5 which is less than one and as one can readily observe the terms
in the series are getting smaller. So the nth terms for large values of n will approach 0.
u∞ =u1 r ∞−1

∞ −1
r will approach 0 as the value of common ratio is −1<r <1.
Therefore u∞ =u1 r ∞−1=0

So when we are trying to calculate the sum of infinite terms. For very large values of n, the
terms themself will approach 0 and the sum will therefore approach a specific value.

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And in fact the sum of infinite terms in this series can be given by using this formula:
∞
u (1−r )
S∞ = 1
1−r

Since r ∞ =0 {−1<r <1 } the sum will be

u1
S∞ =
1−r

1 1 1
For our example GP 1 , , , , .........
2 4 8

u1 1
S∞ = = =2
1−r 1−0.5

So we can say that the series is convergent.

After completing this topic in school it was my understanding that the condition that u∞
approaching 0 was the necessary condition for the sum of the series to be converging and any
such series will have a specific sum of infinite terms.

Rationale for choosing the topic:

As described above, based on my understanding , the simple explanation of why a geometric
series with −1<r <1 is convergent is that as n approaches ∞ the terms approach value 0.

lim un=0
n→∞

It follows that as the terms are approaching 0 , the sum of infinite terms should approach a
specific value. Any such series should be convergent.
So this alone should be a sufficient condition to answer whether a series is convergent or
divergent.

Now comes the interesting part, based on this definition someone asked me whether infinite
∞
1
series∑ is convergent or divergent. I was provided with the information that this is a
n =1 n
harmonic series.

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Confident in my basic understanding of the concept of convergence and my intuition, I
answered that as the terms in this series are in fact getting smaller and smaller as the value of n
gets larger so the terms themselves are approaching 0 which implies that the sum should
approach a constant value so it should be convergent. I was confident in the answer I gave and
took pride in my mathematical understanding of the concept and intuition but much to my
disbelief the actual answer is that the series is in fact divergent.

This conundrum of why a series which looks like it should converge is actually diverging led me
to investigate this problem.

Aim:
1
I will investigate why the series un = is divergent. I will be using basic algebra to showcase
n
why this series is divergent and also make use of a graphing software to verify the same.

Investigation:
1
The series in question is un =
n

First few terms of this series can be written down by substituting the values of n=1,2,3,4 , ......
and so on.

1 1 1 1 1 1
Then the series we are dealing with is : u= , , , , , ,....... . and so on.
1 2 3 4 5 6

My intuition is still screaming that this should be a converging series but I will try to keep that at
bay for the time being. The sum of n terms in this series can be written as:

∞
1 1 1 1 1 1
∑ u n=¿ ¿ 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 +........
n=0

As mentioned above , my understanding was that if nlim

→∞
un=0 then the series must be
convergent , First I will check on whether this condition is being met.

lim 1
n→∞
lim un= =0
n→∞ n

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So the condition nlim
→∞
un=0 is being satisfied but as i researched online that this series is not

convergent, it's divergent. So the first thing i can now definitively say now is that nlim
→∞
un=0 in
itself is not a sufficient enough condition for a series to be converging.

Let’s try to prove and understand why is this series diverging:

∞
1 1 1 1 1 1
∑ u n=¿ ¿ 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 +........
n=0

I will be doing some abstract algebraic manipulation which may be a bit confusing at first but it
will all make sense at the end.

The most simple way to prove that a series is diverging is to prove that a series smaller than it is
diverging.

To help increase the understanding of this lets take an analogy.

Let's say we needed to confirm whether a person’s height let’s call him Mr. X, is larger than 6
feet or not but without using a ruler or any length measuring device. The most simple way this
can be done is find a person let’s call him Mr.Y, whose height is already known to be greater
than 6 feet but this guy should be smaller than Mr. X.

If we can do that it would mean that Mr. X stands higher than someone whose height is already
more than 6 feet then by simple logic Mr. X’s height should also be more than 6 feet.

In mathematical terms it can be written as:

Height of Mr . X > Height of Mr . Y

If , Height of Mr . Y >6 feet

Then by comparison we can say that:

Height of Mr . X > Height of Mr . Y >6

Which proves that Height of Mr . X >6 feet .

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 1
I will be applying a similar logic to prove that un = is diverging. As explained in the analogy, i
n
1 1
will prove that a series smaller than un = is divergent then by comparison un = should also
n n
diverge.

Let’s get back to our series whose sum can be given by:

∞
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
∑ u n=¿ ¿ 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 +........
n=0

And compare it with another somewhat similar series:

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
G=¿ , , , , , , , , , ,
1 2 4 4 8 8 8 8 16 16

The sum of terms of this series can be given by:

∞
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
∑ G n=¿ ¿ 1 + 2 + 4 + 4 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 16 + 16 +¿
n =1

As one can notice I substituted some of the terms present in the series un with different terms in
series G n.

There was a very specific reason as to why this was done.

Let’s focus our attention on the series G .

If we group the similar terms in a specific order something amazing will happen:

∞
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
∑ G n=¿ ¿ 1 + 2 +( 4 + 4 )+( 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 )+¿
n =1

1
As we can see the terms inside the brackets are all adding up to , which means that the
2
series essentially becomes :

∞
1 1 1 1 1
∑ G n=¿ ¿ 1 + 2 +( 2 )+( 2 )+( 2 )+............. .
n =1

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 ∞

∑ G n=∞ …………………...1
n =1

As is readily apparent now, the sum of ∞ terms in this series will be ∞ and therefore the series
is diverging.
Now let's compare both the series:In essence what i

In essence what i did was

1 1 1 1
Replace with and >
3 4 3 4

1 1 1 1
with and >
5 8 5 8

1 1 1 1
with and >
6 8 6 8

And so on , one can notice that all the numbers were substituted with smaller numbers, which
means that:

∞ ∞

∑ u n> ∑ G n ……………….2
n =1 n=1

∞
Now we have all everything necessary to prove that ∑ u n is divergent.
n =1

Combining equation 1 and 2 gives us:

∞ ∞ ∞

∑ u n> ∑ G n and ∑ G n=∞

n =1 n=1 n =1

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 ∞ ∞
By comparison one can definitely say that as ∑ G n is diverging and ∑ u n is even greater than
n =1 n =1
∞ ∞

∑ G n, logic dictates that∑ u n is also diverging.

n =1 n =1

Graphical approach to prove ∑ u is diverging: n =1

n

I will be using desmos to plot the points on the graph which represent sum of n terms where n
can vary from 1 to infinity.

1 1 1 1 1 1
u= , , , , , ,....... .
1 2 3 4 5 6

Let Sn represent the sum of first n terms, then lets take f (n)=Sn , so the series can be written as
be written as

f (n)=S1 , S 2 , S3 , S 4 , S 5 , S6 , S 7 ,................ . for n=1,2,3,4,5,6,7...... .

S1=1
1 1 3
S2= + =
1 2 2
1 1 1 11
S3 = + + =
1 2 3 6
1 1 1 1 25
S4 = + + + =
1 2 3 4 12
1 1 1 1 1 137
S 5= + + + + =
1 2 3 4 5 60
1 1 1 1 1 1 147
S6 = + + + + + =
1 2 3 4 5 6 60
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 363
S7 = + + + + + + =
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 140

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 Fig 1: Plotting (n , Sn ) on a graph

While i was plotting the points (n , f (n)) on the graph using desmos , something unexpected
happened, the points being plotted if joined by a smooth curve were giving me an shape that
resembled that of a natural logarithmic curve y=ln x , so i plotted that too on the same graph.

Fig 2: Comparing the smooth curve made by joining the plotted points with y=ln x

To my surprise y=ln x had almost the exact same shape as the curve plotted by joining the
points (n , Sn ). It looked like it was just shifted up along the y axis by some value.

Coincidence? I think not!!!!!

An explanation as to why the graph of y=ln x was the first thing to pop into my mind is that
ever since the start of this investigation i have been having a nagging feeling that somehow
there should be a relationship between

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 ∞
Sn and ∫ 1 dx
1 x
∞
1
As we know that ∫ dx=ln x ,
1 x
That's why this was the first equation that popped into my mind to compare with the curve made
by plotting (n , Sn ).

I researched this further online to find if there actually is a relationship between y=ln x and our
series.

Bingo , my intuition was right and there is an actual relationship between the two curves.
I did try to understand and analyse the derivation of relation between the two but it turned out
way out of my abilities as a maths sl student, so I settled with just citing the results derived in
that paper here.
∞
1
“∑ =(lnx+ γ ), where γ isa constant at large values of n ¿
n=0 n
https://www.math.drexel.edu/~tolya/123_harmonic.pdf

As you can see in the graph that our plotted points are all above the values on y=ln x curve. As
we know that for y=ln x , increasing the value of x causes the value of y to keep on increasing
and even though it increases at a slower rate nonetheless it will keep on increasing.
∞
So y=ln x is diverging and as our curve has even larger values than by comparison ∑ 1n also
n=0
diverges.

Hence proved

Conclusion:
The aim of the investigation has been fulfilled and I was successful in proving and
∞
1
understanding the reason behind why ∑ is divergent. At first I thought nlim un=0 will be a
n=0 n →∞

sufficient condition to prove the convergence of a series but it turns out it's not sufficient on its
own. What we also have to consider is how fast will the consecutive terms in a series decrease
∞
1
in magnitude. For example ∑ 2
is convergent because the terms in this series decrease in
n=0 n
1
value much faster than in series .
n

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To better understand this let's have a look at both their graphs,

1 1
Fig 3: Graph showing the plots of y= (green) and y= 2 (blue)
x x
1 1
The values in y= 2 reach 0 much more rapidly as compared to y= , and it turns out that this
x x
is the necessary condition for convergence. The terms in the series should approach 0 rapidly.

This investigation has proved to me that although intuition is necessary in the field of maths, we
should tread carefully and not get overconfident. Some things are best left to prove using
rigorous mathematics.

To end I must say that this investigation was somewhat of an eye opener.
Intuition is a must but it has to backed by complete knowledge of the concepts,
“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing” I now truly understand the meaning of this proverb.

Bibliography:

Scipp.Ucsc.Edu, 2020, http://scipp.ucsc.edu/~haber/archives/physics116A10/harmapa.pdf .

Accessed 16 Feb 2020.
Math.Drexel.Edu, 2020, https://www.math.drexel.edu/~tolya/123_harmonic.pdf . Accessed
19 Feb 2020.

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"Calculus II - Convergence/Divergence Of Series". Tutorial.Math.Lamar.Edu, 2020,
http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcII/ConvergenceOfSeries.aspx . Accessed
15 Feb 2020.
"Desmos | Beautiful, Free Math". Desmos.Com, 2020, https://www.desmos.com . Accessed
14 Feb 2020.
"Harmonic Series". Qc.Edu.Hk, 2020,
https://www.qc.edu.hk/math/Advanced%20Level/Harmonic.htm . Accessed 11 Feb
2020.
"7.3 - Geometric Sequences". People.Richland.Edu, 2020,
https://people.richland.edu/james/lecture/m116/sequences/geometric.html . Accessed
11 Feb 2020.

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