All AP Calculus BC Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Ratio Test
Which of these series cannot be tested for convergence/divergence properly using the ratio test? (Which of these series fails the ratio test?)
None of the other answers.
The ratio test fails when . Otherwise the series converges absolutely if , and diverges if .
Testing the series , we have
Hence the ratio test fails here. (It is likely obvious to the reader that this series diverges already. However, we must remember that all intuition in mathematics requires rigorous justification. We are attempting that here.)
Example Question #2 : Convergence And Divergence
Assuming that , . Using the ratio test, what can we say about the series:
We cannot conclude when we use the ratio test.
It is convergent.
We cannot conclude when we use the ratio test.
As required by this question we will have to use the ratio test. if L<1 the series converges absolutely, L>1 the series diverges, and if L=1 the series could either converge or diverge.
To do so, we will need to compute : . In our case:
Therefore
.
We know that
This means that
Since L=1 by the ratio test, we can't conclude about the convergence of the series.
Example Question #3 : Convergence And Divergence
Using the ratio test,
what can we say about the series.
where is an integer that satisfies:
We can't conclude when we use the ratio test.
We can't use the ratio test to study this series.
We can't conclude when we use the ratio test.
Let be the general term of the series. We will use the ratio test to check the convergence of the series.
The Ratio Test states:
then if,
1) L<1 the series converges absolutely.
2) L>1 the series diverges.
3) L=1 the series either converges or diverges.
Therefore we need to evaluate,
we have,
therefore:
.
We know that
and therefore,
This means that :
By the ratio test we can't conclude about the nature of the series. We will have to use another test.
Example Question #2 : Ratio Test
Consider the following series :
where is given by:
. Using the ratio test, find the nature of the series.
The series is convergent.
We can't conclude when using the ratio test.
We can't conclude when using the ratio test.
Let be the general term of the series. We will use the ratio test to check the convergence of the series.
if L<1 the series converges absolutely, L>1 the series diverges, and if L=1 the series could either converge or diverge.
We need to evaluate,
we have:
.
Therefore:
. We know that,
and therefore
This means that :
.
By the ratio test we can't conclude about the nature of the series. We will have to use another test.
Example Question #41 : Series In Calculus
We consider the series,
.
Using the ratio test, what can we conclude about the nature of convergence of this series?
We can't use the ratio test here.
The series is divergent.
The series converges to .
The series is convergent.
We will need to know the values of to decide.
The series is convergent.
Note that the series is positive.
As it is required we will use the ratio test to check for the nature of the series.
We have .
Therefore,
if L>1 the series diverges, if L<1 the series converges absolutely, and if L=1 the series may either converge or diverge.
Since the ratio test concludes that the series converges absolutely.
Example Question #21 : Ratio Test And Comparing Series
Use the ratio test to determine if the series diverges or converges:
Unable to determine.
The series diverges.
The series converges.
The series diverges.
This limit is infinite, so the series diverges.
Example Question #22 : Ratio Test And Comparing Series
Use the ratio test to determine if this series diverges or converges:
The series converges
The series diverges
Unable to determine
The series converges
Since the limit is less than 1, the series converges.
Example Question #23 : Ratio Test And Comparing Series
Use the ratio test to determine if the series converges or diverges.
The series converges.
The series diverges.
Unable to determine
The series diverges.
The series diverges.
Example Question #24 : Ratio Test And Comparing Series
Use the ratio test to determine if the series diverges or converges:
The series converges.
The series diverges.
Unable to determine
The series converges.
The series converges.
Example Question #101 : Ap Calculus Bc
Find the Left Riemann sum of the function
on the interval divided into four sub-intervals.
The interval divided into four sub-intervals gives rectangles with vertices of the bases at
For the Left Riemann sum, we need to find the rectangle heights which values come from the left-most function value of each sub-interval, or f(0), f(2), f(4), and f(6).
Because each sub-interval has a width of 2, the Left Riemann sum is