Math 115 HW #3 Solutions

From 12.2
20. Determine whether the geometric series

X
en
3n1

n=1

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

Answer: I can re-write the terms as
en
3n1
Therefore, the series

=e

 e n1
en1
=
e
.
3n1
3

 
 

X
X
X
e n1
e n
en
=
e
=
e
,
n1
3
3
3
n=1

n=1

n=0

where the second equality comes from shifting the index by one. Since
the geometric series
 
X
e n
1
3
.
=
e =
3
1 3
3e

e
3

< 1, we know that

n=0

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

 
X
X
e n
en
3
3e
=
e
=e
=
.
n1
3
3
3e
3e

n=1

24. Determine whether the series

n=0

X
k(k + 2)
k=1

(k + 3)2

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
k 12 1 + 6 + 92
k 1 + 6 +
k
k
k
k

9
k2

= 1.

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

38. Determine whether the series

ln

n=1

n
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=1


ln

n
n+1


= lim sn = lim ( ln(n + 1)) = ,
n

so the given series diverges.

48. Find the values of x for which the series

(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)
4x
70. If

an and

bn are both divergent, is

P
(an + bn ) necessarily divergent?

Answer: No. Let an = 1 for all n and let bn = 1. Then

an =

n=1

and

X
n=1

bn =

1 diverges

n=1

X
n=1

(1) diverges

However,

(an + bn ) =

n=1

(1 + (1)) =

n=1

0=0

n=1

certainly converges.

From 12.3
16. Determine whether the series

X
n=1

n2
n3 + 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
x3 + 1
1
1
is finite.
Letting u = x3 + 1, we have that du = 3x2 dx, so I can re-write the above integral as


Z
1 du
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
n=2

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

u=ln 2

du
= u1
u2


=
u=ln 2

1
,
ln 2

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

30. Find the values of p for which the series

X
ln n
n=1

np

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
(*)
xp
1
1
is finite.
When p = 1, I can write the above integral as
Z
ln x
dx.
x
1
Letting u = ln x, we have du = x1 dx, so this is equal to

u2
udu =
2
u=0


,
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
du =

1
dx
x

dv = xp dx
v=

x1p
,
1p

so the anti-derivative is given by

Z
Z
ln x
x1p
1
1
dx = (ln x)

dx
p
x
1p 1p
xp
x1p
1 x1p
= (ln x)

1p 1p1p
(1 p) ln x 1
.
= x1p
(1 p)2
Hence,
Z
1

ln x
(1 p) ln x 1
dx = x1p
p
x
(1 p)2

which is finite only when 1 p < 0.

Therefore, the series converges when p > 1.
4


,
1

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
dx Rn
dx.
5
5
n+1 x
n x
This means that

Rn
n

1
1 1
dx = 4
5
x
4x


=
n

1
,
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
n>

250 3.98.

So letting n = 4, we have that

s4 =

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
+ 5 + 5 + 5 =1+
+
+
1.036
5
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
n=1

1
2n + 3

converges or diverges.
Answer: Use the Limit Comparison Test to compare this series to
1
2n+3
1
n
n

lim

Therefore, since
diverges.

1
n

1
n.

We see that

n
1
= .
n 2n + 3
2

= lim

diverges, the Limit Comparison Test tells us that the series

26. Determine whether the series

n=1

1
2n+3

n+5
n7 + n2

converges or diverges.
Answer: Use the Limit Comparison Test to compare this series to
n+5

3 7
n +n2
lim
1
n
n4/3

1
.
n4/3

(n + 5)n4/3
n7/3 + 5n4/3

=
lim
.
3
n 3 n7 + n2
n
n7 + n2

= lim

We see that

also

Therefore, dividing both numerator and denominator by n7/3 , we see that this limit is equal
to


1
7/3 + 5n4/3
n
1 + n5
7/3
q
=
lim
lim n 1
= 1.
3
n 3
n
n7 + n2
1 + 15
n7/3
n

Therefore, since
also converges.

1
n4/3

converges, the Limit Comparison Test tells us that the given series

32. Determine whether the series

1
1+1/n
n
n=1
converges or diverges.
Answer: Use the Limit Comparison Test to compare this series to
1
n1+1/n
lim
1
n
n

= lim

n
n1+1/n

= lim

1
n.

We see that

n
1
= lim
=1
n
1/n
n
n
nn

P1

since limn n n = 1. Therefore, since

n diverges, the Limit Comparison test tells us that
P
1
also
diverges.
n1+1/n