009C Sample Final 1, Problem 5

Let

$f(x)=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }nx^{n}$

a) Find the radius of convergence of the power series.

b) Determine the interval of convergence of the power series.

c) Obtain an explicit formula for the function $f(x)$.

Foundations:
Review ratio test.

Solution:

(a)

Step 1:
To find the radius of convergence, we use the ratio test. We have
${\begin{array}{rcl}\displaystyle {\lim _{n\rightarrow \infty }{\bigg |}{\frac {a_{n+1}}{a_{n}}}{\bigg |}}&=&\displaystyle {\lim _{n\rightarrow \infty }{\bigg |}{\frac {(n+1)x^{n+1}}{nx^{n}}}}{\bigg |}\\&&\\&=&\displaystyle {\lim _{n\rightarrow \infty }{\bigg |}{\frac {n+1}{n}}x{\bigg |}}\\&&\\&=&\displaystyle {|x|\lim _{n\rightarrow \infty }{\frac {n+1}{n}}}\\&&\\&=&\displaystyle {|x|}\\\end{array}}$

Step 2:
Thus, we have $|x|<1$ and the radius of convergence of this series is $1$.

(b)

Step 1:
From part (a), we know the series converges inside the interval $(-1,1)$.
Now, we need to check the endpoints of the interval for convergence.

Step 2:
For Failed to parse (Conversion error. Server ("https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_") reported: "Cannot get mml. Server problem."): {\displaystyle x=1} , the series becomes $\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }n$, which diverges by the Divergence Test.

Step 3:
For $x=-1$, the series becomes $\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }(-1)^{n}n$, which diverges by the Divergence Test.
Thus, the interval of convergence is Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle (-1,1)} .

(c)

Step 1:
Recall we have the geometric series formula Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \frac{1}{1-x}=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} x^n} for Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |x|<1} .
Now, we take the derivative of both sides of the last equation to get
Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \frac{1}{(1-x)^2}=\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}nx^{n-1}} .

Step 2:
Now, we multiply the last equation in Step 1 by Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle x} .
So, we have Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \frac{x}{(1-x)^2}=\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}nx^{n}=f(x)} .
Thus, Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f(x)=\frac{x}{(1-x)^2}} .

Final Answer:
(a) Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 1}
(b) Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle (-1,1)}
(c) Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f(x)=\frac{x}{(1-x)^2}}

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