Calculus 2 : Taylor Series

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Calculus 2

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Example Questions

Example Question #41 : Taylor And Maclaurin Series

Write the first three terms of the Taylor series about a= for the following function:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The Taylor series about x=a for a function is given by

So, for the first three terms (n=0, 1, 2), we must find the zeroth, first, and second derivatives. The zeroth derivative is just the function itself.

The derivatives were found using the following rules:

Now, using the above formula, we can write out the first three terms:

which simplifies to

 

Example Question #287 : Series In Calculus

Find the third degree Maclaurin Polynomial of the function

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The formula for the Maclaurin Series of a function is defined as follows

 where  is the n-th derivative when 

For the third degree polynomial we solve find the sum with the upper bound 

First we evaluate 

We must also solve for the first, second, and third derivative of 

When  we find the derivative values of

Using these values we find the third degree Maclaurin Polynomial to be

Example Question #288 : Series In Calculus

Find the Taylor series about a=7 for the following function:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The Taylor series about x=a for any function is given by

We must take the nth derivative of the given function and determine the trend as n goes to infinity. To determine this, we start at n=0 (the zeroth derivative, or the function itself), and go further:

The derivatives were found using the following rules:

We must now find a pattern for the derivatives we took. The zeroth and first derivatives do not follow a pattern, but the derivatives after do follow a pattern: the sign alternates, the power of x decreases by 1, and the coefficient is the factorial of  starting at the n=2 derivative. 

The derivative can then be expressed as 

for n greater than or equal to 2.

For the Taylor series itself, we must evaluate the derivative at x=a=7. When we do this, and write the pattern elements for the derivatives past n=1, we get

Example Question #41 : Taylor Series

Find an expression for the Taylor Series of .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To obtain the Taylor Series for , we start with the Taylor Series for , and substitute  on both sides with , and simplify.

.

Example Question #3071 : Calculus Ii

Find the expression for the Taylor Series of .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To obtain the Taylor Series for , we start with the Taylor Series for .

. (Substitute  with  on both sides)

. (Multiply both sides by ,

.

Example Question #42 : Taylor Series

Use Taylor Expansion of  around  and determine the value of 

 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We can write  as a Mclaurin series by saying that:

Since y is just a polynomial expression:

The reason we must bring the lower bound to 2 is because Taylor Series can ONLY be written as a summation of polynomials and no rational components. 

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