Calculus 2 : Ratio Test

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Calculus 2

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Example Questions

Example Question #13 : Ratio Test And Comparing Series

Determine what the following series converges to using the Ratio Test, and whether the series is convergent, divergent or neither. 

Possible Answers:

, and Divergent

, and Neither

, and Convergent

, and Divergent

, and Convergent

Correct answer:

, and Divergent

Explanation:

To determine if

is convergent, divergent or neither, we need to use the ratio test.

The ratio test is as follows.

Suppose we a series  . Then we define,

.

If

  the series is absolutely convergent (and hence convergent).

  the series is divergent.

 the series may be divergent, conditionally convergent, or absolutely convergent.

 

Now lets apply this to our situtation.

Let

and

Now

We can rearrange the expression to be

We can simplify the expression to

 

When we evaluate the limit, we get.

.

Since , we have sufficient evidence to conclude that the series is divergent.

Example Question #81 : Ratio Test

Determine if the following series is Convergent, Divergent or Neither.

Possible Answers:

Neither

Divergent

Not enough information.

Convergent

More tests are needed.

Correct answer:

Divergent

Explanation:

To determine if

is convergent, divergent or neither, we need to use the ratio test.

The ratio test is as follows.

Suppose we a series  . Then we define,

.

If

  the series is absolutely convergent (and hence convergent).

  the series is divergent.

 the series may be divergent, conditionally convergent, or absolutely convergent.

 

Now lets apply this to our situtation.

Let

and

Now

We can rearrange the expression to be

We can simplify the expression to

 

When we evaluate the limit, we get.

.

Since , we have sufficient evidence to conclude that the series is Divergent.

Example Question #82 : Ratio Test

Determine if the following series is divergent, convergent or neither by using the ratio test.

Possible Answers:

Convergent

Neither

Not enough information.

Divergent

More tests are needed.

Correct answer:

Neither

Explanation:

To determine if

is convergent, divergent or neither, we need to use the ratio test.

The ratio test is as follows.

Suppose we a series  . Then we define,

.

If

  the series is absolutely convergent (and hence convergent).

  the series is divergent.

 the series may be divergent, conditionally convergent, or absolutely convergent.

 

Now lets apply this to our situtation.

Let

and

Now

We can rearrange the expression to be

When we evaluate the limit, we get.

.

Since , we have sufficient evidence to conclude that the series neither divergent or convergent.

Example Question #83 : Ratio Test

Determine if the following series is convergent, divergent or neither.

Possible Answers:

Neither

Not enough information.

Divergent

More tests are needed.

Convergent

Correct answer:

Convergent

Explanation:

To determine if

is convergent, divergent or neither, we need to use the ratio test.

The ratio test is as follows.

Suppose we a series  . Then we define,

.

If

  the series is absolutely convergent (and hence convergent).

  the series is divergent.

 the series may be divergent, conditionally convergent, or absolutely convergent.

 

Now lets apply this to our situtation.

Let

and

Now

We can rearrange the expression to be

We can simplify the expression to

 

When we evaluate the limit, we get.

.

Since , we have sufficient evidence to conclude that the series is convergent.

Example Question #11 : Ratio Test And Comparing Series

Determine if the following series is Convergent, Divergent or Neither.

Possible Answers:

Convergent

Not enough information.

Divergent

More tests are needed.

Neither

Correct answer:

Convergent

Explanation:

To determine if

is convergent, divergent or neither, we need to use the ratio test.

The ratio test is as follows.

Suppose we a series  . Then we define,

.

If

  the series is absolutely convergent (and hence convergent).

  the series is divergent.

 the series may be divergent, conditionally convergent, or absolutely convergent.

 

Now lets apply this to our situtation.

Let

and

Now

We can rearrange the expression to be

We can simplify the expression to

 

When we evaluate the limit, we get.

.

Since , we have sufficient evidence to conclude that the series is convergent.

Example Question #84 : Ratio Test

Determine whether the following series is Convergent, Divergent or Neither.

Possible Answers:

Divergent

Convergent

Neither

Not enough information.

More tests are needed.

Correct answer:

Convergent

Explanation:

To determine if

is convergent, divergent or neither, we need to use the ratio test.

The ratio test is as follows.

Suppose we a series  . Then we define,

.

If

  the series is absolutely convergent (and hence convergent).

  the series is divergent.

 the series may be divergent, conditionally convergent, or absolutely convergent.

 

Now lets apply this to our situtation.

Let

and

Now

We can rearrange the expression to be

We can simplify the expression to

 

When we evaluate the limit, we get.

.

Since , we have sufficient evidence to conclude that the series is convergent.

Example Question #85 : Ratio Test

Determine whether the following series converges or diverges:

Possible Answers:

The series conditionally converges.

The series (absolutely) converges.

The series diverges.

The series may converge, diverge, or be conditionally convergent.

Correct answer:

The series (absolutely) converges.

Explanation:

To determine whether the given series is convergent or divergent, we must use the Ratio Test, which states that for

if L is less than 1, then the series is absolutely convergent, and therefore convergent;

if L is greater than 1, then the series is divergent;

if L is equal to 1, the series may be convergent, divergent, or conditionally convergent.

Now, use the above formula and evaluate the limit:

which simplified becomes

Because L is less than 1, the series is (absolutely) convergent.

Example Question #121 : Series In Calculus

Consider the series 

.

Using the ratio test, what can we conclude regarding its convergence?

Possible Answers:

Ratio test implies that the series is conditionally convergent.

Ratio test implies that the series is absolutely convergent.

We can conclude nothing using the ratio test. Another test will have to be used to test its convergence.

Ratio test implies that the series is divergent.

Correct answer:

We can conclude nothing using the ratio test. Another test will have to be used to test its convergence.

Explanation:

Let's use the ratio test to see what we can conclude:

Since the ratio test limit results in one, we cannot conclude anything about the series' convergence/divergence by definition of the ratio test.

Example Question #87 : Ratio Test

Find the radius of convergence of the following power series:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Let's use the ratio test to find the radius of convergence of 

independent of . This means the series converges for all , so the radius of convergence is .

Example Question #81 : Ratio Test

Find the radius of convergence of the power series.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We can find the radius of convergence of 

using the ratio test:

 

So then we have 

Which means 

is the radius of convergence.

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