AP Calculus BC : AP Calculus BC

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Calculus BC

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Radius And Interval Of Convergence Of Power Series

Find the interval of convergence of  for the series .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Using the root test, 

Because 0 is always less than 1, the root test shows that the series converges for any value of x. 

Therefore, the interval of convergence is:

Example Question #1 : Taylor And Maclaurin Series

Find the interval of convergence for  of the Taylor Series .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Using the root test

 

and

. T

herefore, the series only converges when it is equal to zero.

This occurs when x=5.

Example Question #1 : Lagrange's Theorem

Let  be the fifth-degree Taylor polynomial approximation for , centered at .

What is the Lagrange error of the polynomial approximation to ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The fifth degree Taylor polynomial approximating  centered at  is: 

The Lagrange error is the absolute value of the next term in the sequence, which is equal to .

We need only evaluate this at  and thus we obtain 

Example Question #1 : Series In Calculus

Consider:  .   Will the series converge or diverge? If converges, where does this coverge to?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This is a geometric series.  Use the following formula, where  is the first term of the series, and  is the ratio that must be less than 1.  If  is greater than 1, the series diverges.

Rationalize the denominator.

Example Question #1 : Series Of Constants

Consider the following summation:  .  Does this converge or diverge?  If it converges, where does it approach?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The problem can be reconverted using a summation symbol, and it can be seen that this is geometric.

Since the ratio is less than 1, this series will converge.  The formula for geometric series is:

where  is the first term, and  is the common ratio.  Substitute these values and solve.

Example Question #3 : Series In Calculus

A worm crawls up a wall during the day and slides down slowly during the night. The first day the worm crawls one meter up the wall. The first night the worm slides down a third of a meter. The second day the worm regains one third of the lost progress and slides down one third of that distance regained on the second night. This pattern of motion continues...

Which of the following is a geometric sum representing the distance the worm has travelled after  12-hour periods of motion? (Assuming day and night are both 12 hour periods).

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The sum must be alternating, and after one period you should have the worm at 1m. After two periods, the worm should be at 2/3m. There is only one sum for which that is true.

Example Question #1 : Geometric Series

Determine whether the following series converges or diverges. If it converges, what does it converge to? 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, we reduce the series into a simpler form.

We know this series converges because

By the Geometric Series Theorem, the sum of this series is given by

Example Question #1 : Series Of Constants

Calculate the sum of a geometric series with the following values:,,. Round the answer to the nearest integer.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This is a geometric series.

The sum of a geometric series can be calculated with the following formula,

, where n is the number of terms to sum up, r is the common ratio, and  is the value of the first term.

For this question, we are given all of the information we need.

Solution:

Rounding, 

Example Question #2 : Series Of Constants

Calculate the sum, rounded to the nearest integer, of the first 16 terms of the following geometric series: 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This is a geometric series.

The sum of a geometric series can be calculated with the following formula,

, where n is the number of terms to sum up, r is the common ratio, and  is the value of the first term.

We have  and n and we just need to find r before calculating the sum.

Solution:

 

Example Question #4 : Geometric Series

Calculate the sum of a geometric series with the following values:

,, ,

rounded to the nearest integer.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This is a geometric series.

The sum of a geometric series can be calculated with the following formula,

, where n is the number of terms to sum up, r is the common ratio, and  is the value of the first term.

For this question, we are given all of the information we need.

Solution:

Rounding, 

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