I need some math help...

hypn0tik

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2005
5,866
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0
Originally posted by: RESmonkey
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/3414/prblm24gk9.jpg

These are MY guesses/answers:

a.

f'(0) = 0

f''''''''''(0) = (x^10)/(11!)




b.

x + (x^2)/(2!) + (x^3)/(3!) + .... (x^(n+1))/((n+1)!)




c.

No idea how to tackle this.

a) f'(0) not= 0. Double check your derivative.

b) f^(10)(0) not= 0. Double check the derivative.

c) What are the expansions for familiar functions (sinx, cosx, etc...)
 

RESmonkey

Diamond Member
May 6, 2007
4,818
2
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Is the derivative (nx^(n-1)) / ((n+1)!) ?

I got f'(0) = 1 over 2!, or just 1/2.

I got f'''''''''(0) = 3628800 / 11!

^ For that, I had to do it in a way I don't think you're supposed to do (slow way, multiplied it out). Is there a faster way to get f''''''''(0)?

c. Understood. I had to memorize these, according to my notes.

Originally posted by: hypn0tik
Originally posted by: RESmonkey
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/3414/prblm24gk9.jpg

These are MY guesses/answers:

a.

f'(0) = 0

f''''''''''(0) = (x^10)/(11!)




b.

x + (x^2)/(2!) + (x^3)/(3!) + .... (x^(n+1))/((n+1)!)




c.

No idea how to tackle this.

a) f'(0) not= 0. Double check your derivative.

b) f^(10)(0) not= 0. Double check the derivative.

c) What are the expansions for familiar functions (sinx, cosx, etc...)

 

QED

Diamond Member
Dec 16, 2005
3,428
3
0
Each term in the series is of the form x^n / (n+1)!. F(x) is just the sum of each
of these terms for n >= 0 .

The derivate of each term is then just n * x^(n-1) / (n+1)!, and F'(x) is just the
sum of these derivates. Note that all but one of these terms (n=1) will have a factor
of x in there somewhere, so when x=0 they are also zero. Hence,
F'(0) = 1 * 0^(1-1) / 2! = 1/2.

Each time you take the derivate of a power of x, that power is reduced by 1.
When you take the tenth derivate of each of the terms, they will
each have their power of x reduced by 10. Hence, for n > 10 the tenth derivate
will still have some factor of x, so they will evaulate to 0 when x = 0.
Similarly, each term where n<10 will lose a power of x each time a derivative
is taken-- until eventually it has no power of x (i.e. it is just a constant), and will
then completely dissappear when the next deritivate is taken (since the derivative
of a constant is zero).

Hence, the only term you need consider for F''''''''''(0) is the term where n = 10:
10 * 9 * 8 * 7 * 6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 * 0^0 / (10+1)! = 1/11.
 

Legendary

Diamond Member
Jan 22, 2002
7,019
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0
Isn't that Maclaurin series just ([e^x] - 1)/x ?

e^x = 1 + x + x^2/2! + x^3/3! + ... + x^n/n!
e^x / x = 1/x + 1 + x/2! + x^2/3! + ... + (x^n)/(n+1)!
e^x/x -1/x = 1 + x/2! + x^2/3! + ... + (x^n)/(n+1)!
simplies to ([e^x]-1) / x

You can do the derivatives for a using the equivalent function

i.e. b) g(x) = xf(x) = e^x - 1 so the Maclaurin series would = x + x^2/2! + ... + x^n/n!
actually that also answers c)
 

hypn0tik

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2005
5,866
2
0
Originally posted by: RESmonkey
Is the derivative (nx^(n-1)) / ((n+1)!) ?

I got f'(0) = 1 over 2!, or just 1/2.

I got f'''''''''(0) = 3628800 / 11!

^ For that, I had to do it in a way I don't think you're supposed to do (slow way, multiplied it out). Is there a faster way to get f''''''''(0)?

c. Understood. I had to memorize these, according to my notes.

Originally posted by: hypn0tik
Originally posted by: RESmonkey
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/3414/prblm24gk9.jpg

These are MY guesses/answers:

a.

f'(0) = 0

f''''''''''(0) = (x^10)/(11!)




b.

x + (x^2)/(2!) + (x^3)/(3!) + .... (x^(n+1))/((n+1)!)




c.

No idea how to tackle this.

a) f'(0) not= 0. Double check your derivative.

b) f^(10)(0) not= 0. Double check the derivative.

c) What are the expansions for familiar functions (sinx, cosx, etc...)

Well, for f^(10)(0), you know that you will only have to worry about the term x^10/11!

When you start taking derivatives, you'll end up with 10*9*8*7*...*1/11!, which is simply 10!/11! You can write 11! as 11*10!, so you end up with 10!/(11*10!) = 1/11.