National Taiwan University - Calculus 4 for Class 01-09 (Year 113)

Worksheet : Tests for Convergence of Series

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Reference : Stewart §11.3, 11.5

In this worksheet, we will explore some tests which allow us to determine the convergence or divergence of a series
without explicitly computing its general partial sums. Additionally, we will discover that these tests also provide
methods for estimating the sum.
The first test is the Integral Test which requires the technique of improper integrals.
The Integral Test.
1
X
Suppose f is a continuous, positive, decreasing function on [1, 1) and let an = f (n). Then the series an is
Z 1 n=1

convergent if and only if the improper integral f (x) dx is convergent. In other words,
1
Z 1 1
X
(1) If f (x) dx is convergent, then an is convergent.
1 n=1
Z 1 1
X
(2) If f (x) dx is divergent, then an is divergent.
1 n=1

The Integral Test can help us determine the convergence of the p-series which is a family of simple but important
X1
1
series of the form p
where p 2 R is a constant.
n=1
n
X1
1
Exercise 1. Consider 2
.
n=1
n
1
(a) Find a continuous, positive, decreasing function f (x) such that = f (n) for n 2 N .
n2

fix 六

Z 1
(b) Check whether f (x) dx is convergent.
1

Jiilx lǐ 1 ao convegent

1
 1
X 1
(c) Determine whether 2
is convergent by the Integral Test.
1
n

convergent

X1 X 1
Exercise 2. We have learned the divergence of the harmonic series and proved the convergence of in
n n2
the previous exercise. Thus the p-series is divergent for p = 1 and convergent for p = 2. Now, find all constants p
X1
1
such that is convergent.
n=1
np

Jiidxr DP I lnxli o

p I _i liao PER_ip.si

ipiko pst

Now, let’s sketch the proof of the Integral Test.

Exercise 3. Suppose that f (x) is a continuous, positive, and decreasing function defined on [1, 1). Let an = f (n).
1
X Z 1
We want to show that an is convergent if and only if the improper integral f (x) dx is convergent.
n=1 1

(a) For any n 2 N, by considering the left endpoint Riemann sum of f (x) on the interval [1, n] with subintervals
of length 1, show that Z n
f (x) dx  a1 + a2 + · · · + an 1.
1

Sǐfixldx fk dk
Sǐfnndxiigǐfcxidx aitintani

2
 Z 1 Z t 1
X
(b) Show that if f (x) dx = lim f (x) dx = 1 then an diverges.
1 t!1 1 n=1

otofifixldx liumiiian In into

(c) For any n 2 N, by considering the right endpoint Riemann sum of f (x) on the interval [1, n] with subintervals
of length 1, show that Z n
f (x) dx a2 + · · · + an .
1

fǚflxldx fiktllidl.tl

Sifandx Iǐfcndx azt.itan

Z 1 Z t 1
X
(d) Show that if f (x) dx = lim f (x) dx exists and is finite then an converges.
1 t!1 1 n=1

xstidifixldx aatntan 最anex 忌anco

Last, the Integral Test also helps us estimate the remainder term and the sum of a series.

Remainder Estimates
Z 1 for the Integral Test. Suppose that f (x) is continuous, positive, decreasing and the
improper integral f (x) dx is convergent. Let an = f (n). Then
1
Z 1 1
X Z 1
f (x) dx  ak  f (x) dx.
n+1 k=n+1 n

1
X 1
X
Note that ak = s sn where s = an and sn = a1 + · · · + an is the sum of the first n terms. We denote
k=n+1 n=1
s sn by Rn and call it the remainder which is the error made when we approximate s by the partial sum sn .

3
 X1
1 ⇡4
Exercise 4. Consider s = . Euler showed that s = . Now we use partial sums to estimate s.
n=1
n4 90
1
(a) Find a continuous, positive, decreasing function f (x) such that f (n) = .
n4

finz在

Z 1 Z 1
1 1
(b) Let Rn = s sn = + + · · · . Since f (x) dx  Rn  f (x) dx, find a lower bound
(n + 1)4 (n + 2)4 n+1 n
and an upper bound for R4 .

lowerbound
fitdxe 成5 s
bound
upper
Jiidx i

(c) Since s = s4 + R4 , find an upper bound and a lower bound for s. Use a calculator to compare them with the
value of s to five decimal places.

lower bound 1.081419

Upper
bound 1.083960

exact 1.082323

4
Next we investigate the Alternating Series Test.

Alternating Series Test.

1
X
If the alternating series ( 1)n 1
bn satisfies the conditions
n=1
(1) 0 < bn+1  bn for n 1
(2) lim bn = 0
n!1
then the series is convergent.
To apply the Alternating Series Test, we need to verify that the series satisfies the listed two conditions. The follow-
ings are some examples of applications of the Alternating Series Tests.

Exercise 5.
X1
( 1)n 1
(a) Determine whether the alternating harmonic series is convergent.
n=1
n

ocniaàv convergent

on ov

1
X ln(n)
(b) Determine whether ( 1)n is convergent.
n=2
n

ǎntnlthtzo for n 3 v

1
品 能基 0

convergent

5
Now we sketch the proof of the Alternating Series Test.
n
X
Exercise 6. Suppose that 0 < bn+1  bn for n 2 N and lim bn = 0. Let sn = ( 1)k 1
bk . We want to show
n!1
k=1
that lim sn exists.
n!1
(a) Show that s2n+2 s2n and 0 < s2n < b1 for all n 2 N. Hence {s2n } is a monotonic and bounded sequence
and lim s2n exists by the monotonic sequence theorem.
n!1

Szn2 Sntbznt_E_b_nt2IS2

bi Cbzbsl cb4b5 bznz bznD

1S2n
bzncb Sznicbi
bzltcbsb47tntcbzni bz.nl 0

(b) Show that lim s2n+1 exists and lim s2n+1 = lim s2n . Hence lim sn exists which implies that the series
n!1 n!1 n!1 n!1
1
X
n 1
( 1) bn converges.
n=1

Santi San itbantl bzn Sznl

Szntiilbibzlt Cbzn bznltbzntl 0

Sznt 遞減 且有下限 dimdzuti exist

能Santi himosntlnob h.su

The proof of the Alternating Series Test also concludes that s2n  s  s2n+1 for all n 2 N. Therefore, s lies between
any two consecutive partial sums sn and sn+1 and we have the following estimation for the remainder term.

1
X
Alternating Series Estimation Theorem. Suppose that s = ( 1)n 1
bn where 0 < bn+1  bn for all n 2 N
n=1
n
X
and lim bn = 0. Let sn = ( 1)k 1
bk and Rn = s sn . Then |Rn |  bn+1 .
n!1
k=1

6
 X1
( 1)n
Exercise 7. Consider the series .
n=1
n · 2n
(a) Show that the series is convergent.

Tiinn 5 IYz niiikinni.it eu bnnabn

怎 in 0 dimobn_n

convergent

1
X ( 1)n 4
(b) Find an integer n0 such that |Rn0 | = < 10 .
n=n0 +1
n · 2n

Tint a104 n 9

Remarks on the Tests

(1) Although both of these tests require certain conditions to hold for n 1 (or x 1), we can still establish
the convergence of the series even if the hypothesis holds only for sufficiently large n. The reason for this is
that the convergence of a series is not a↵ected by its first finite terms.

For instance, to apply the Integral Test, it suffices to verify that f (x) is positive and decreasing for values
of x greater than some N0 > 1. In other words, if f (x) is positive and decreasing for x > N0 , the Integral
1
X
Test can be employed. Similarly, for an alternating series ( 1)n 1 bn , if 0 < bn+1 < bn holds for n greater
n=1
than some N0 > 1 and lim bn = 0, then the series converges.
n!1

(2) The hypothesis of the tests are sufficient conditions for the convergence of a series, but they are not
necessary conditions. Therefore, we cannot conclude that a series diverges simply because these hypotheses
are not satisfied.

Let’s examine the two conditions of the Alternating Series Test.

• If the condition lim bn = 0 is not satisfied, according to the Test for Divergence the series must diverge.
n!1
1
X
• If the sequence {bn } is not eventually decreasing, the alternating series ( 1)n 1
bn may or may
n=1
not converge. This will be illustrated by the following exercises.
7
Exercise 8 (Optional)
X1
1 1
Consider ( 1)n 1 bn where bn = if n is odd, and bn = 2 if n is even.
n=1
n n
(a) Show that lim bn = 0 but {bn } is not a decreasing sequence.
n!1

b2n 在 ian's2ntli.is ibsnt.sbzn lbnlichotadeereasng

bzntlzzn sequence

能
bannlini. lnnobntinliinoni.io 2 himobnio

(b) Show that the series diverges.

bniizi 器 tini
h幾 無i 2 0 tis bndiverges as2n diverges lbyLCEI

1
X 1 1
Exercise 9 (Optional) Consider ( 1)n 1
bn where bn = if n is odd, and bn = 3 if n is even.
n=1
n2 n
(a) Show that lim bn = 0 but {bn } is not a decreasing sequence.
n!1

(b) Show that the series converges.