Applications of Taylor Series

Lecture Notes

These notes discuss three important applications of Taylor series: 1. Using Taylor series to find the sum of a series. 2. Using Taylor series to evaluate limits. 3. Using Taylor polynomials to approximate functions.

Evaluating Infinite Series

It is possible to use Taylor series to find the sums of many different infinite series. The following examples illustrate this idea. EXAMPLE 1 Find the sum of the following series: "
_ 8!

" " " " " " 8x "x #x $x %x

SOLUTION

Recall the Taylor series for /B : " " " # " $ " % B B B B /B . "x #x $x %x

The sum of the given series can be obtained by substituting in B ": " " " " " /. "x #x $x %x

In the above example, note that we get a different series for every value of B that we plug in. For example, " and
_ " " " " a"b8 " " " /" . "x #x $x %x 8x / 8!

# ## #$ #% /# . "x #x $x %x

EXAMPLE 2 Find the sums of the following series: (a) " " " " " . # $ % & (b) " " " " " $ & ( *

SOLUTION

(a) Recall that B Substituting in B " yields " (b) Recall that B Substituting in B " yields " " " " " 1 tan" a"b . $ & ( * % B B B B tan" aBb. $ & ( * " " " " lna#b. # $ % & B B B B lna" Bb. # $ % &

This is known as the Gregory-Leibniz formula for 1.

Limits Using Power Series

When taking a limit as B !, you can often simplify things by substituting in a power series that you know. EXAMPLE 3 Evaluate lim
SOLUTION

sin B B . B! B$

We simply plug in the Taylor series for sin B: sin B B lim lim B! B! B$ B " $ " " B B & B ( B $x &x (x B$

lim
B!

" $ " " B B& B( $x &x (x B$ " " " " " B# B% $x &x (x $x '

lim
B!

EXAMPLE 4 Evaluate lim

SOLUTION

B # /B . B! cos B "

We simply plug in the Taylor series for /B and cos B: B # /B lim lim B! cos B " B! " B # " B B # # " # " % " ' " B B B " # %x 'x

" B# B$ B% # lim " # " % " B! B B B' # %x 'x " " B B# " # # lim " " % " # B! "# B B # #% 'x

Sometimes a limit will involve a more complicated function, and you must determine the Taylor series: lnacos Bb . B! B#

EXAMPLE 5 Evaluate lim

SOLUTION

lnacos Bb are:

Using the Taylor series formula, the first few terms of the Taylor series for " " % lnacos Bb B# B . # "#

(Really, we only need that first term.) Therefore, " " B# B% lnacos Bb " " " "# lim lim # lim B# # # B! B! B! B B # "# #

Limits as B + can be obtained using a Taylor series centered at B +: ln B . B" B " " " a B " b # aB " b$ # $

EXAMPLE 6 Evaluate lim

SOLUTION

Recall that ln B aB "b

Plugging this in gives " " a B "b a B " b # a B " b$ ln B # $ lim lim B" B " B" B" " " lim " aB "b aB "b# " B" # $

Taylor Polynomials
A partial sum of a Taylor series is called a Taylor polynomial. For example, the Taylor polynomials for /B are: X ! aB b " X " aB b " B

X # aB b " B

" # B # " " X $ aB b " B B # B $ # ' You can approximate any function 0 aBb by its Taylor polynomial: 0 a B b X 8 aB b If you use the Taylor polynomial centered at +, then the approximation will be particularly good near B +.

TAYLOR POLYNOMIALS

Let 0 aBb be a function. The Taylor polynomials for 0 aBb centered at B + are: X ! aB b 0 a+ b X " a B b 0 a + b 0 w a + b aB + b X# aBb 0 a+b 0 w a+baB +b You can approximate 0 aBb using a Taylor polynomial.

0 ww a+b a B + b# #x

Note that the 1st-degree Taylor polynomial is just the tangent line to 0 aBb at B +: This is often called the linear approximation to 0 aBb near B +, i.e. the tangent line to the graph. Taylor polynomials can be viewed as a generalization of linear approximations. In particular, the 2nd-degree Taylor polynomial is sometimes called the quadratic approximation, the 3rd-degree Taylor polynomial is the cubic approximation, and so on. EXAMPLE 7 (a) (b) Find the 5th-degree Taylor polynomial for sin B. Use the answer from part (a) to approximate sina!$b. X " a B b 0 a + b 0 w a + b aB + b

SOLUTION

(a) This is just all term terms of the Taylor series up to B& : X & aB b B " $ " " " & B B& B B$ B $x &x ' "#!

" " (b) sina!$b X& a!$b a!$b a!$b$ a!$b& !#*& &#! #& ' "#!

EXERCISES
12 Find the sum of the given series. 1. " " " " $x &x (x 1# 1% 1' #x %x 'x 11. lim
B1

" cos B aB 1b#

12. lim

B"

ln B B "

13. (a) Find the 3rd-degree Taylor polynomial for the function (b) Use your answer from part (a) to approximate lna""&b. 14. (a) Find the 4th-degree Taylor polynomial for /B . (b) Use your answer from part (a) to approximate /!$ . 15. (a) Find the quadratic approximation for the function (b) Use your answer from part (a) to approximate a%#b$# . 16. (a) Find the quadratic approximation for the function $ 0 aBb B centered at + ). $ (b) Use your answer from part (a) to approximate )'. 0 aBb B$# centered at + %. 0 aBb ln B centered at + ".

2. "

312 Evaluate the following limits. cos B " 3. lim B! B# 5. lim lna" B b B! B#
#

B 4. lim $B B! / " 6. lim B B! tan" a%Bb cos B " " B# # B! B% tan" aBb B B! sinaBb B

7. lim

sina%Bb B! B /#B " B! sin B

8. lim

9. lim

10. lim