009C Sample Final 2, Problem 4

(a) Find the radius of convergence for the power series

$\sum _{n=1}^{+\infty }(-1)^{n}{\frac {x^{n}}{n}}.$

(b) Find the interval of convergence of the above series.

Foundations:
Ratio Test
Let  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 \sum a_n}   be a series and  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 L=\lim_{n\rightarrow \infty}\bigg|\frac{a_{n+1}}{a_n}\bigg|.}
Then,
If  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 L<1,}   the series is absolutely convergent.
If  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 L>1,}   the series is divergent.
If  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 L=1,}   the test is inconclusive.

Solution:

(a)

Step 1:
We use the Ratio Test to determine the radius of convergence.
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 \begin{array}{rcl} \displaystyle{\lim_{n\rightarrow \infty}\bigg|\frac{a_{n+1}}{a_n}\bigg|} & = & \displaystyle{\lim_{n\rightarrow \infty} \bigg|\frac{(-1)^{n+1}(x)^{n+1}}{(n+1)}\frac{n}{(-1)^n(x)^n}\bigg|}\\ &&\\ & = & \displaystyle{\lim_{n\rightarrow \infty} \bigg|(-1)(x)\frac{n}{n+1}\bigg|}\\ &&\\ & = & \displaystyle{\lim_{n\rightarrow \infty} |x|\frac{n}{n+1}}\\ &&\\ & = & \displaystyle{|x|\lim_{n\rightarrow \infty} \frac{n}{n+1}}\\ &&\\ & = & \displaystyle{|x|.} \end{array}}

Step 2:
The Ratio Test tells us this series is absolutely convergent if  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.}
Hence, the Radius of Convergence of this series 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 R=1.}

(b)

Step 1:
First, note that  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}   corresponds to the interval  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).}
To obtain the interval of convergence, we need to test the endpoints of this interval
for convergence since the Ratio Test is inconclusive when  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 R=1.}

Step 2:

Final Answer:
(a)     The radius 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 R=1.}
(b)

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