Taylor and Maclaurin Series

If a function f has derivatives of all orders at x = a (i.e. if f (k) (a) exists for all k = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .) then we can construct the following power series in (x a): f (a) + 1 1 1 f (a)(x a) + f (a)(x a)2 + . . . + f (n) (a)(x a)n + . . . 1! 2! n!

1 (r) = f (a)(x a)r . r! r =0

This series is called the Taylor series of f about x = a. If a = 0 then we usually call this the Maclaurin series of f . We write
1 (r) f ( x) = f (a)(x a)r r ! r =0

for

|x a| < R

to mean that for all x = c, such that |c a| < R, the sum

1 (r) f (a)(c a)r r! r=0

is nite and equals f (c). We call R the radius of convergence. If R = then the Taylor series equals f (x) for all x R.

1. Standard Maclaurin Series

For R, (1 + x) = 1 + x + ( 1) 2 ( 1)( 2) 3 x + x + ... 2! 3! for |x| < 1

x2 x3 x4 ln(1 + x) = x + + . . . for 1 < x 1 2 3 4 x2 x 3 x4 ex = 1 + x + + + + . . . for x R 2! 3! 4! x3 x5 x 7 + + . . . for x R sin(x) = x 3! 5! 7! x 2 x4 x 6 + + . . . for x R cos(x) = 1 2! 4! 6! x3 x5 x7 + + + . . . for x R sinh(x) = x + 3! 5! 7! x 2 x4 x6 + + + . . . for x R cosh(x) = 1 + 2! 4! 6!

Example 1

Using the standard series, nd the Maclaurin series for:

(i) f (x) = sin(3x), (ii) f (x) = cos(x) + cosh(x), (iii) f (x) = e2x ln(1 x). Include all terms up to the fth power. (i) Use the series for sin(x) with x replaced by 3x: sin(3x) = 3x (3x)3 (3x)5 + ... 3! 5! 9x3 81x5 = 3x + ... 2 40

The above series is valid for 3x R, i.e. for x R. (ii) The series for cos(x) and cosh(x) can be added term by term to obtain the series for their sum: ( ) ( ) x2 x4 x6 x2 x4 x6 cos(x) + cosh(x) = 1 + + ... + 1 + + + + ... 2! 4! 6! 2! 4! 6! 2x4 = 2+ + ... 4! x4 = 2+ + ... 12 The above series is valid for x R. (iii) The series for this product is obtained by multiplying the series for e2x and ln(1 x), respectively: e2x ln(1 x) ( )( ) (2x)2 (2x)3 (3x)4 (x)2 (x)3 (x)4 (x)5 1 + (2x) + + + + ... (x) + + ... 2! 3! 4! 2 3 4 5 ( )( ) 4x3 27x4 x 2 x3 x4 x5 2 1 + 2x + 2x + + + ... x ... 3 8 2 3 4 5 x2 x 3 x4 x5 2x4 x5 2x5 4x4 2x5 27x5 x 2x2 x3 2x 3 x 4 ... 2 3 4 5 3 2 3 3 3 8 5x2 10x3 13x4 649x5 ... x 2 3 4 120

= = = =

The above series is valid for 1 < (x) 1, i.e. for 1 x < 1. Note that at each stage of the above calculations we kept only enough terms to ensure that we could get all terms with powers up to and including x5 .

Example 2

Find the rst three nonzero terms in the Taylor Series of f about x = a if

8 (ii) f (x) = (x + 1)3 , a = 2 (i) f (x) = cos(2x), a = (iii) f (x) = x ln(x), a = 1 (i) f (x) = 2 sin(2x), f (x) = 4 cos(2x) ( ) ( ) ( ) 1 ( ) ( )2 + f x + f x f + ... 8 8 8 2 8 8 ( ) ( ( )) ( ( )) ( ) 1 ( )2 = cos + 2 sin x + 4 cos x + ... 4 4 8 2 4 8 ( 1 ) ( )2 = 2 x 2 x + ... 8 8 2 (ii) f (x) = 3(x + 1)2 , f (x) = 6(x + 1) 1 f (2) + f (2)(x 2) + f (2)(x 2)2 + . . . 2 1 = 33 + 3 32 (x 2) + 6 3(x 2)2 2 = 27 + 27(x 2) + 9(x 2)2 + . . . (iii) f (x) = ln(x) + 1, f (x) = 1 1 , f (x) = 2 x x 1 1 f (1) + f (1)(x 1) + f (1)(x 1)2 + f (1)(x 1)3 + . . . 2 6 1 1 1 1 = 1 ln(1) + (ln(1) + 1)(x 1) + (x 1)2 + (x 1)3 + . . . 2 1 6 1 1 1 = (x 1) + (x 1)2 (x 1)3 + . . . 2 6

2. Error Estimation
The Taylor series of f about the point x = a can be truncated in order to provide an approximating polynomial for the function. We also obtain an expression describing the error between this polynomial and f . f (x) = f (a) + f (a)(x a) + = Pn (x) + Rn Pn (x) is the approximating (or Taylor) polynomial of degree n Rn is the truncating error The truncating error can be written in various ways; we shall use Lagranges form Rn = f (n+1) (c) (x a)n+1 , (n + 1)! f (n) (a) f (a) (x a)2 + . . . + (x a)n + Rn 2! n!

where c is some value that lies between a and x. We dont know the value of c, but we can obtain upper and/or lower bounds for the error. 3

 Example 3 Find the Taylor polynomial of degree 3 for sin(x) about x = . Hence estimate 3 sin 64 and nd the maximum error in this approximation. ( First note that 64 =

60 + 4 180

+ radians. 3 45 ( ) 3 f (x) = sin(x) f = 3 2 ( ) 1 f (x) = cos(x) f = 3 2 ( ) 3 (2) (2) f (x) = sin(x) f = 3 2 ( ) 1 f (3) (x) = cos(x) f (3) = 3 2 radians = f (4) (x) = sin(x) f (4) (c) = sin(c)

Therefore

( 3 1( ) 3 )2 )3 1 ( x x x sin(x) + 2 2 3 4 3 12 3 ( ) sin 64 = sin + 3 45 ( ) 3 1 3 2 1 ( )3 = + 2 2 45 4 45 12 45 3 3 2 3 = + + + 2 90 8100 1093500

and so

The truncating error is R3 = f (4) (c) ( )4 sin(c) ( )4 x = , 4! 3 4! 45

< c < 64 . In order to estimate the maximum error we are required to nd the where 3 180 maximum value of sin(c) (as all other terms are known). The best we can say is that sin(c) 1 and so 1 ( )4 4 R3 = . 4! 45 24 454