Sequences and Series (Type 10)

Posted on April 12, 2022 by Lin McMullin

AP Questions Type 10: Sequences and Series (BC Only)

The last BC question on the exams usually concerns sequences and series. The question may ask students to write a Taylor or Maclaurin series and to answer questions about it and its interval of convergence, or about a related series found by differentiating or integrating. The topics may appear in other free-response questions and in multiple-choice questions. Questions about the convergence of sequences may appear as multiple-choice questions. With about 8 multiple-choice questions and a full free-response question this is one of the major topics on the BC exams.

Convergence tests for series appear on both sections of the BC Calculus exam. In the multiple-choice section, students may be asked to say if a sequence or series converges or which of several series converge.

The Ratio test is used most often to determine the radius of convergence and the other tests to determine the exact interval of convergence by checking the convergence at the end points. Click here for a convergence test chart students should be familiar with; this list is also on the resource page.

Students should be familiar with and able to write a few terms and the general term of a Taylor or Maclaurin series. They may do this by finding the derivatives and constructing the coefficients from them, or they may produce the series by manipulating a known or given series. They may do this by substituting into a series, differentiating it, or integrating it.

The general form of a Taylor series is $\displaystyle \sum\limits_{{n=0}}^{\infty }{{\frac{{{{f}^{{\left( n \right)}}}\left( a \right)}}{{n!}}{{{\left( {x-a} \right)}}^{n}}}}$ ; if a = 0, the series is called a Maclaurin series.

What Students Should be Able to Do

Use the various convergence tests to determine if a series converges. The test to be used is rarely given so students need to know when to use each of the common tests. For a summary of the tests click: Convergence test chart. and the posts “What Convergence Test Should I use?” Part 1 and Part 2. In 2022 BC 6 (a) students were asked to state the condition (hypotheses) of the convergence test they were asked to use.
Understand absolute and conditional convergence. If the series of the absolute values of the terms of a series converges, then the original series is said to be absolutely convergent (or converges absolutely). If a series is absolutely convergent, then it is convergent. If the series of absolute values diverges, then the original series may or may not converge; if it converges it is said to be conditionally convergent.
Write the terms of a Taylor or Maclaurin series by calculating the derivatives and constructing the coefficients of each term.
Distinguish between the Taylor series for a function and the function. DO NOT say that the Taylor polynomial is equal to the function (this will lose a point); say it is approximately equal.
Determine a specific coefficient without writing all the previous coefficients.
Write a series by substituting into a known series, by differentiating or integrating a known series, or by some other algebraic manipulation of a series.
Know (from memory) the Maclaurin series for sin(x), cos(x), e^x and $\displaystyle \frac{1}{{1-x}}$ and be able to find other series by substituting into one of these.
Find the radius and interval of convergence. This is usually done by using the Ratio test to find the radius and then checking the endpoints. for a geometric series, the interval of convergences is the open interval $\displaystyle -1<r<1$ where r is the common ration of the series.
Be familiar with geometric series, its radius of convergence, and be able to find the number to which it converges, $\displaystyle {{S}_{\infty }}=\frac{{{{a}_{1}}}}{{1-r}}$ . Re-writing a rational expression as the sum of a geometric series and then writing the series has appeared on the exam.
Be familiar with the harmonic and alternating harmonic series. These are often useful series for comparison.
Use a few terms of a series to approximate the value of the function at a point in the interval of convergence.
Determine the error bound for a convergent series (Alternating Series Error Bound or Lagrange error bound). See my posts on Error Bounds and the Lagrange Highway
Use the coefficients (the derivatives) to determine information about the function (e.g., extreme values).

This list is quite long, but only a few of these items can be asked in any given year. The series question on the free-response section is usually quite straightforward. Topics and convergence tests may appear on the multiple-choice section. As I have suggested before, look at and work as many past exam questions to get an idea of what is asked, how it is a sked, and the difficulty of the questions. Click on Power Series in the “Posts by Topic” list on the right side of the screen to see previous posts on Power Series or any other topic you are interested in.

Free-response questions:

2004 BC 6 (An alternate approach, not tried by anyone, is to start with $\displaystyle \sin \left( {5x+\tfrac{\pi }{4}} \right)=\sin \left( {5x} \right)\cos \left( {\tfrac{\pi }{4}} \right)+\cos \left( {5x} \right)\sin \left( {\tfrac{\pi }{4}} \right)$ ). See Good Question 16
2011 BC 6 (Lagrange error bound)
2016 BC 6
2017 BC 6
2019 BC 6
2021 BC 5 (a)
2021 BC 6 – note that in (a) students were required to state the conditions of the convergence test they were asked to use.
2022 BC 6 – Ratio test, interval of conversion with endpoint analysis, Alternating series error bound, series for derivative, geometric series.

Multiple-choice questions from non-secure exams:

2008 BC 4, 12, 16, 20, 23, 79, 82, 84
2012 BC 5, 9, 13, 17, 22, 27, 79, 90

These questions come from Unit 10 of the CED.

Revised March 12, 2021, April 12, 16, and May 14, 2022

Infinite Sequences and Series – Unit 10

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Lin McMullin

Unit 10 covers sequences and series. These are BC only topics (CED – 2019 p. 177 – 197). These topics account for about 17 – 18% of questions on the BC exam.

Topics 10.1 – 10.2

Topic 10.1: Defining Convergent and Divergent Series.

Topic 10. 2: Working with Geometric Series. Including the formula for the sum of a convergent geometric series.

Topics 10.3 – 10.9 Convergence Tests

The tests listed below are tested on the BC Calculus exam. Other methods are not tested. However, teachers may include additional methods.

Topic 10.3: The n^th Term Test for Divergence.

Topic 10.4: Integral Test for Convergence. See Good Question 14

Topic 10.5: Harmonic Series and p-Series. Harmonic series and alternating harmonic series, p-series.

Topic 10.6: Comparison Tests for Convergence. Comparison test and the Limit Comparison Test

Topic 10.7: Alternating Series Test for Convergence.

Topic 10.8: Ratio Test for Convergence.

Topic 10.9: Determining Absolute and Conditional Convergence. Absolute convergence implies conditional convergence.

Topics 10.10 – 10.12 Taylor Series and Error Bounds

Topic 10.10: Alternating Series Error Bound.

Topic 10.11: Finding Taylor Polynomial Approximations of a Function.

Topic 10.12: Lagrange Error Bound.

Topics 10.13 – 10.15 Power Series

Topic 10.13: Radius and Interval of Convergence of a Power Series. The Ratio Test is used almost exclusively to find the radius of convergence. Term-by-term differentiation and integration of a power series gives a series with the same center and radius of convergence. The interval may be different at the endpoints.

Topic 10.14: Finding the Taylor and Maclaurin Series of a Function. Students should memorize the Maclaurin series for $\displaystyle \frac{1}{{1-x}}$ , sin(x), cos(x), and e^x.

Topic 10.15: Representing Functions as Power Series. Finding the power series of a function by, differentiation, integration, algebraic processes, substitution, or properties of geometric series.

Timing

The suggested time for Unit 9 is about 17 – 18 BC classes of 40 – 50-minutes, this includes time for testing etc.

Previous posts on these topics:

Before sequences

Amortization Using finite series to find your mortgage payment. (Suitable for pre-calculus as well as calculus)

A Lesson on Sequences An investigation, which could be used as early as Algebra 1, showing how irrational numbers are the limit of a sequence of approximations. Also, an introduction to the Completeness Axiom.

Everyday Series

Convergence Tests

Reference Chart

Which Convergence Test Should I Use? Part 1 Pretty much anyone you want!

Which Convergence Test Should I Use? Part 2 Specific hints and a discussion of the usefulness of absolute convergence

Good Question 14 on the Integral Test

Sequences and Series

Graphing Taylor Polynomials Graphing calculator hints

Introducing Power Series 1

Introducing Power Series 2

Introducing Power Series 3

New Series from Old 1 substitution (Be sure to look at example 3)

New Series from Old 2 Differentiation

New Series from Old 3 Series for rational functions using long division and geometric series

Geometric Series – Far Out An instructive “mistake.”

A Curiosity An unusual Maclaurin Series

Synthetic Summer Fun Synthetic division and calculus including finding the (finite)Taylor series of a polynomial.

Error Bounds

Error Bounds Error bounds in general and the alternating Series error bound, and the Lagrange error bound

The Lagrange Highway The Lagrange error bound.

What’s the “Best” Error Bound?

Review Notes

Type 10: Sequences and Series Questions

Sequences and Series (Type 10)

Posted on March 27, 2020 by Lin McMullin

AP Questions Type 10: Sequences and Series (BC Only)

Students should be familiar with and able to write several terms and the general term of a Taylor or Maclaurin series. They may do this by finding the derivatives and constructing the coefficients from them, or they may produce the series by manipulating a known or given series. They may do this by substituting into a series, differentiating it, or integrating it.

The general form of a Taylor series is $\displaystyle \sum\limits_{n=0}^{\infty }{\frac{{{f}^{\left( n \right)}}\left( a \right)}{n!}{{\left( x-a \right)}^{n}}}$ ; if a = 0, the series is called a Maclaurin series.

What Students Should be Able to Do

Use the various convergence tests to determine if a series converges. The test to be used is rarely given so students need to know when to use each of the common tests. For a summary of the tests click: Convergence test chart. and the posts “What Convergence Test Should I use?” Part 1 and Part 2
Understand absolute and conditional convergence. If the series of the absolute values of the terms of a series converges, then the original series is said to absolutely convergent (or converges absolutely). If a series is absolutely convergent, then it is convergent. If the series of absolute values diverges, then the original series may or may not converge; if it converges it is said to be conditionally convergent.
Write the terms of a Taylor or Maclaurin series by calculating the derivatives and constructing the coefficients of each term.
Distinguish between the Taylor series for a function and the function. DO NOT say that the Taylor polynomial is equal to the function (this will lose a point); say it is approximately equal.
Determine a specific coefficient without writing all the previous coefficients.
Write a series by substituting into a known series, by differentiating or integrating a known series, or by some other algebraic manipulation of a series.
Know (from memory) the Maclaurin series for sin(x), cos(x), e^x and $\displaystyle \tfrac{1}{1-x}$ and be able to find other series by substituting into one of these.
Find the radius and interval of convergence. This is usually done by using the Ratio test to find the radius and then checking the endpoints.
Be familiar with geometric series, its radius of convergence, and be able to find the number to which it converges, $\displaystyle {{S}_{\infty }}=\frac{{{a}_{1}}}{1-r}$ . Re-writing a rational expression as the sum of a geometric series and then writing the series has appeared on the exam.
Be familiar with the harmonic and alternating harmonic series. These are often useful series for comparison.
Use a few terms of a series to approximate the value of the function at a point in the interval of convergence.
Determine the error bound for a convergent series (Alternating Series Error Bound and Lagrange error bound). See my posts on Error Bounds and the Lagrange Highway
Use the coefficients (the derivatives) to determine information about the function (e.g. extreme values).

This list is quite long, but only a few of these items can be asked in any given year. The series question on the free-response section is usually quite straightforward. Topics and convergence test may appear on the multiple-choice section. As I have suggested before, look at and work as many past exam questions to get an idea of what is asked and the difficulty of the questions. Click on Power Series in the “Posts by Topic” list on the right side of the screen to see previous posts on Power Series or any other topic you are interested in.

Free-response questions:

2004 BC 6 (An alternate approach, not tried by anyone, is to start with $\displaystyle \sin \left( {5x+\tfrac{\pi }{4}} \right)=\sin (5x)\cos \left( {\tfrac{\pi }{4}} \right)+\cos (5x)\sin \left( {\tfrac{\pi }{4}} \right)$ )
2011 BC 6 (Lagrange error bound)
2016 BC 6
2017 BC 6
2019 BC 6

Multiple-choice questions from non-secure exams:

2008 BC 4, 12, 16, 20, 23, 79, 82, 84
2012 BC 5, 9, 13, 17, 22, 27, 79, 90,

These question come from Unit 10 of the 2019 CED.

Revised March 12, 2021

What’s the “Best” Error Bound?

Posted on January 28, 2020 by Lin McMullin

A know a lot of people like mathematics because there is only one answer, everything is exact. Alas, that’s not really the case. Numbers written as non-terminating decimals are not “exact;” they must be rounded or truncated somewhere. Even things like $\sqrt{7},\pi ,$ and 5/17 may look “exact,” but if you ever had to measure something to those values, you’re back to using decimal approximations.

There are many situations in mathematics where it is necessary to find and use approximations. Two if these that are usually considered in introductory calculus courses are approximating the value of a definite integral using the Trapezoidal Rule and Simpson’s Rule and approximating the value of a function using a Taylor or Maclaurin polynomial.

If you are using an approximation, you need and want to know how good it is; how much it differs from the actual (exact) value. Any good approximation technique comes with a way to do that. The Trapezoidal Rule and Simpson’s Rule both come with expressions for determining how close to the actual value they are. (Trapezoidal approximations, as opposed to the Trapezoidal Rule and Simpson’s Rule per se, are tested on the AP Calculus Exams. The error is not tested.) The error approximation using a Taylor or Maclaurin polynomial is tested on the exams.

The error is defined as the absolute value of the difference between the approximated value and the exact value. Since, if you know the exact value, there is no reason to approximate, finding the exact error is not practical. (And if you could find the exact error, you could use it to find the exact value.) What you can determine is a bound on the error; a way to say that the approximation is at most this far from the actual value. The BC Calculus exams test two ways of doing this, the Alternating Series Error Bound (ASEB) and the Lagrange Error Bound (LEB). These two techniques are discussed in my previous post, Error Bounds. The expressions used below are discussed there.

Examining Some Error Bounds

We will look at an example and the various ways of computing an error bound. The example, which seems to come up this time every year, is to use the third-degree Maclaurin polynomial for sin(x) to approximate sin(0.1).

Using technology to twelve decimal places sin(0.1) = 0.099833416647

The Maclaurin (2n – 1)^th-degree polynomial for sin(x) is

$\displaystyle x-\frac{1}{{3!}}{{x}^{3}}+\frac{1}{{5!}}{{x}^{5}}-+\cdots \frac{1}{{\left( {2n-1} \right)!}}{{x}^{{2n-1}}}$

So, using the third degree polynomial the approximation is

$\sin \left( {0.1} \right)\approx 0.1-\frac{1}{6}{{\left( {0.1} \right)}^{3}}=0.099833333333...$

The error to 12 decimal places is the difference between the approximation and the 12 place value. The error is:

$\displaystyle 0.00000008331349=8.331349\times {{10}^{{-8}}}=Error$

Using the Alternating Series Error Bound:

Since the series meets the hypotheses for the ASEB (alternating, decreasing in absolute value, and the limit of the n^th term is zero), the error is less than the first omitted term. Here that is

$\displaystyle \frac{1}{{5!}}{{\left( {0.1} \right)}^{5}}\approx 0.0000000833333\approx 8.33333\times {{10}^{-8}}={{B}_{1}}$

The actual error is less than B₁ as promised.

Using the Legrange Error Bound:

For the Lagrange Error Bound we must make a few choices. Nevertheless, each choice gives an error bound larger than the actual error, as it should.

For the third-degree Maclaurin polynomial, the LEB is given by

$\displaystyle \left| {\frac{{\max {{f}^{{(4)}}}\left( z \right)}}{{4!}}{{{(0.1)}}^{4}}} \right|$ for some number z between 0 and 0.1.

The fourth derivative of sin(x) is sin(x) and its maximum absolute value between 0 and 0.1 is |sin(0.1)|. So, the error bound is

$\displaystyle \left| {\frac{{\sin (0.1)}}{{4!}}{{{(0.1)}}^{4}}} \right|\approx 4.15973...\text{ }\!\!\times\!\!\text{ }{{10}^{-7}}={{B}_{2}}$

However, since we’re approximating sin(0.1) we really shouldn’t use it. In a different example, we probably won’t know it.

What to do?

The answer is to replace it with something larger. One choice is to use 0.1 since 0.1 > sin(0.1). This gives

$\displaystyle \left| {\frac{{0.1}}{{4!}}{{{(0.1)}}^{4}}} \right|\approx 4.166666666\times {{10}^{{-7}}}={{B}_{3}}$

The usual choice for sine and cosine situations is to replace the maximum of the derivative factor with 1 which is the largest value of the sine or cosine.

$\displaystyle \left| {\frac{1}{{4!}}{{{(0.1)}}^{4}}} \right|\approx 4.166666666\times {{10}^{{-6}}}={{B}_{4}}$

Since the 4^th degree term is zero, the third-degree Maclaurin Polynomial is equal to the fourth-degree Maclaurin Polynomial. Therefore, we may use the fifth derivative in the error bound expression, $\displaystyle \left| {\frac{{\max {{f}^{{(5)}}}\left( z \right)}}{{5!}}{{{(0.1)}}^{5}}} \right|$ to calculate the error bound. The 5^th derivative of the sin(x) is cos(x) and its maximum value in the range is cos(0) =1.

$\displaystyle \left| {\frac{{\cos (0)}}{{5!}}{{{(0.1)}}^{5}}} \right|\approx 8.33333333\times {{10}^{{-8}}}={{B}_{5}}$

I could go on ….

Since B₁, B₂, B₃, B₄, and B₅are all greater than the error, which should we use? Or should we use something else? Which is the “best”?

The error is what the error is. Fooling around with the error bound won’t change that. The error bound only assures you your approximation is, or is not, good enough for what you need it for. If you need more accuracy, you must use more terms, not fiddle with the error bound.

2019 CED Unit 10: Infinite Sequences and Series

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Lin McMullin

Unit 10 covers sequences and series. These are BC only topics (CED – 2019 p. 177 – 197). These topics account for about 17 – 18% of questions on the BC exam.