Taylor’s Series &

Maclaurin’s Series
Compiled by: Nyasha P. Tarakino (Trockers)

+263772978155/+263717267175

ntarakino@gmail.com

30 October 2018

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Tarakino N.P. (Trockers) ~ 0772978155/ 0717267175
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SYLLABUS (6042) REQUIREMENTS
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  use Taylor’s and Maclaurin’s series for
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approximation
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  solve problems involving method of
 differences as well as Taylor’s and
 Maclaurin’s series
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

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 Taylor’s and Maclaurin’s Series

NOTES
A Tailor series is a specific mathematical recipe for constructing a polynomial of
degree that approximates a given function near a point .
To obtain the Taylor expansion of a function about the point :
(i) Decide how many terms of the series you are going to generate (Unless it’s already
specified in the question). Call this number .
(ii) Obtain the derivatives of the function:

(iii)Evaluate these at to obtain

(iv) The resulting Taylor expansion is given by:

This can be simplified as:

NB: In the special case where , the Taylor expansion above is called Maclaurin
Expansion, but this is a mere terminological matter. Hence the Maclaurin expansion
becomes:

This can be simplified as:

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 EXAMPLES
Question 1
Find the first four terms in the Taylor series for the function near

Suggested Solution

Method 1

Find the Taylor series for and then multiply by .

Now

Now

Method 2

Find the Tailor series for . This method requires more work than method 1.

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Now

Question 2
Find the first four terms in the Maclaurin’s series for the function near

Suggested Solution

Now

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Question 3
Find the first four terms in the Taylor series for the function centred at

Suggested Solution

Now

Question 4

Find the first four terms in the Taylor series for the function centred at

Suggested Solution

NB: Since the fourth derivative of Sin is just Sin , then the sequence repeats forever.
Now

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 Past Exam Questions
Question 4
Given that .

a) Show that .

b) Find a Taylor series expansion of in ascending powers of , up to and

including the term in .

Suggested Solution

4a)

For , differentiate .

NB:

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NB: and

4b) For , differentiate .

Now

Now

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Question 5

Given that , at . Use Taylor’s series to find a solution of the

differential equation in ascending powers of up to and including the term in

Suggested Solution

Now to find we use the equation (i)

Substituting and into equation (i) above:

i.e

To find we differentiate equation (i) above:

(i)

Now differentiating equation (i) we get: (ii)

Substituting and in equation (ii) above:

Now

since

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 ZIMSEC 2018
 a) Use the series expansion of to expand up to and including the
term in . [4]
 b) Given that , where . Use
Taylor’s series to find the first three terms of . [4]

Suggested Solution

a) From tables:

Now

b)

Now to find we use the equation (i)

Substituting and into equation (i) above:

i.e

To find we differentiate equation (i) above:

(i)

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Now differentiating equation (i) we get: (ii)

Substituting and in equation (ii) above:

Now

since

Practice Questions

QUESTION 1

The displacement of a particle at time is given by the differential equation

when . Find a Taylor’s series solution for the in

ascending powers of up to and including the term in .

QUESTION 2

Given that

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 a) Show that where is a constant to be

found.

Given that at .

b) find a series solution for in ascending powers of up to and including the term in

QUESTION 3

Given that

a) Show that .

Given that at

b) find a series solution for in ascending powers of up to and including the term in

QUESTION 4

Given that , find a series expansion for , up to and

including the term in .

QUESTION 5

Given that

a) Find in terms of , and

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Given that

b) find a series solution for in ascending powers of up to and including the term in

QUESTION 6

Given that , at . Use Taylor’s series to find a solution

of the differential equation in ascending powers of up to and including the term in

QUESTION 7

Given that , show that

a) ,

b) .

By further differentiation, or otherwise, obtain the expansion of as a series of ascending

powers of up to and including the term in . (JUNE 1980)

QUESTION 8

Given that and that when . Show that when . Find

the first three terms in the Maclaurin series for (NOV 1989) Check J2018

QUESTION 9

Given that , show that . By repeated differentiation of

this result, or otherwise, show that the series expansion of in ascending powers of , up to

and including the term in , is where the numerical value of k is to be

determined. (JUNE 1988). Check N2003

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QUESTION 10

If , find and show that . Find the expansion in ascending

powers of of up to and including the term in . Deduce that, if powers of

above the fourth are neglected, . (JUNE 1977)

QUESTION 11

If , prove that . By further differentiation of this result, or

otherwise, find the series expansion of in terms of up to and including the term in
(JUNE 1978). Check N2003 Specimen

QUESTION 12

The variable and are related by , and at .

(a) Show that at and Find Maclaurin’s series for up to

and including the term in and hence find an approximation to the value of at
, giving your answer to an appropriate accuracy.
(b) Prove by induction that, for all values of the positive integer ,

(NOV1992) Check June 2016

QUESTION 13

Let .

a) Show that

b) By successive differentiation of this result show

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 c) Find the series expansion of in ascending powers of up to and including the term
in (NOV 1985)

QUESTION 14

Given that express in terms of , and hence show that

By further differentiation of this result, or otherwise, show that if is small enough for

powers of above to be neglected , then . (JUNE 1979).

QUESTION 15

If , prove that . Differentiate three more times, and

find the values of the first five derivatives of at . Hence or otherwise, find the
first three non-zero terms of the Maclaurin expansion of . (NOV 1974).

QUESTION 16

Let . Show that may be expressed as where and

and state the numerical values of and . Hence, or otherwise, find ,

, and . Using these results, or otherwise, expand as a series in ascending powers of

up to and including the term in . (JUNE 1981).

QUESTION 17

Show that, if is so small that and higher powers of may be neglected,

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 .

Deduce that, for such values of , .

By giving a suitable value in this last result, prove that for large ,

Hence show that, for large , . (JUNE 1982). Check N2005

QUESTION 18

If , show that . By repeated differentiation of this result, or

otherwise, find the series expansion of in ascending powers of up to and including the
term in . When , the value of , correct to decimal places, is .
Verify that, in this case, the series expansion up to and including the term in gives an
estimate that is in error by about . (JUNE 1989).

ZIMSEC JUNE 2019 PAPER 1

Obtain, in terms of the constant , an expression for the first 3 simplified terms of the series
expansion for . [3]
If the coefficient of in the series expansion in (i) is , find the exact value of a. [2]

ZIMSEC JUNE 2019 PAPER 2

Use Taylor’s series expansion in ascending powers of to find up to and

including the term in ( [5]

ZIMSEC JUNE 2019 PAPER 1

Given that and that when .

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 (a) Show that . [3]
(b) Obtain the Maclaurin series for in ascending powers of as far as the term in . [3]

ZIMSEC NOVEMBER 2017 PAPER 1

a) Given that and find

1. , [2]

2. . [3]

b) Hence, or otherwise, obtain the Maclaurin series for up to the term in .[2]

ZIMSEC NOVEMBER 2017 PAPER 1

Given that , where ,

(i) 1. Show that

2. Find . [5]

(ii) Hence, or otherwise, obtain the Maclaurin series for up to and including the term
in . [4]

ZIMSEC NOVEMBER 2003 PAPER 1

Given that , show that .

By finding the second derivative, or otherwise, show that the series expansion of in
ascending powers of , up to and including the term in , is – . [5]

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ZIMSEC NOVEMBER 2003 PAPER 1 SPECIMEN

Given that , find and deduce that

By finding the second derivative, or otherwise, find the series expansion of in ascending
powers of , up to and including the term in . [8]

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ASANTE SANA

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*******THERE IS A LIGHT AT THE END OF EVERY TUNNEL *******

CONSTRUCTIVE COMMENTS ON THE FORM

OF THE PRESENTATION, INCLUDING ANY
OMISSIONS OR ERRORS, ARE WELCOME.

***ENJOY***

Nyasha P. Tarakino (Trockers)

+263772978155/+263717267175

ntarakino@gmail.com

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