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Taylor and Maclaurin Series: Monday, April 4

As a reminder we now have Taylor polynomials, power series and in the Motivation section (even
though we didn’t know what a series was at that time) we gave ”infinite degree” Taylor polynomials. In
this section we hope to make sense out of those ”infinite degree” polynomials.
We begin by assuming that we have a function f (x) that has is equal to a power series expansion, say
around x = a:
∞
X
f (x) = an (x − a)n = a0 + a1 (x − a) + a2 (x − a)2 + a3 (x − a)3 + · · · (1)
n=0

The example of such a function and power series that you might use as a model is the function and series
(expanded around x = 0)
1
= 1 + x + x2 + x3 + · · · . (2)
1−x
Because this series is a geometric series, we were able to prove that the series converges and converges to
the function f (x) = 1/(1 − x). If we evaluate both sides of equation (1) at x = a, we get
f (a) = a0 .
. If we differentiate both sides of equation (1), we get
f ′ (x) = a1 + 2a2 (x − a) + 3a3 (x − a)2 + · · · (3)
And if we evaluate (3) at x = a, we get
f ′ (a) = a1 .
. If you differentiate again and set x = a, you get f ′′ (a) = 2a2 , etc. In general, differentiating n times,
setting x = a and solving for an , we get
f (n)
an = (4)
n!
and ∞
X f (n) (a)
f (x) = a0 + a1 (x − a) + a2 (x − a)2 + a3 (x − a)3 + · · · = (x − a)n . (5)
n=0
n!
This result is precisely what we predicted in our Motivation section. We computed the Taylor poly-
nomial (in that section, of e3x ) and wondered whether we could replace the upper limit on the Taylor
series summation by an infinity. However, at the moment we only know that this is true when we know
that the function has a power series expansion like equation (1). We make the following definitions.
Definition 3.1 Let f be a function with derivatives of all orders on some interval containing a. Then
the Taylor series of f at x = a is
∞
X f (n) (a) f ′′ (a) f ′′′ (a)
(x − a)n = f (a) + f ′ (a)(x − a) + (x − a)2 + (x − a)3 + · · ·
n=0
n! 2! 3!

The Maclaurin series of f is

∞
X f (n) (0) n f ′′ (0) 2 f ′′′ (0) 3
x = f (0) + f ′ (0)x + x + x + ···
n=0
n! 2! 3!
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It is easy to see that the Maclaurin series of f is just the Taylor series of f at x = 0.
It is also easy to see that based on the computation done above, the series given in (2) is the Maclaurin
series of the function f (x) = 1/(1 − x).
It should be clear that it is relatively easy to write Taylor series expansions—since we already know
how to write Taylor polynomials. If you want to write the Maclaurin series of f (x) = sin x, as we did
in Sections 1 and 2 we would generally make a table of derivatives that contains the derivatives of the
function and the derivative at x = 0. And of course, if we have already found Taylor polynomials of
various orders for f (x) = sin x, we can use that information to help write the Maclaurin series.

Example 3.1 Write the Maclaurin series of f (x) = sin x.

We return to Example 1.1 in Section 1. We see that all of the even order derivatives at x = 0 will be
zero. The odd multiple derivatives will alternate between 1 and −1. Hence, we can write the Maclaurin
series of f (x) = sin x as
X (−1)k∞
1 1 1 1
x − x3 + x5 − x7 + · · · = x2k+1 . (6)
1! 3! 5! 7! (2k + 1)!
k=0

We note also that the above series is really an easy generalization of the expression for T6 (x).

HW3.1 Compute the Maclaurin series of the functions (a) f (x) = ex and (b) f (x) = cos x.
bHW3.2 Compute the Taylor series of (a) f (x) = ln x about x = 1 and (b) f (x) = sin x about x = π/2.

We must be very clear. At this time we only know that the series in (6) is the Maclaurin
series expansion of f (x) = sin x. We do not know where that series converges (if at all)
or
( whether it converges to f (x) = sin x. In the text there is the example of the function f (x) =
1/x2
e when x 6= 0
where they claim that the Maclaurin series converges for all values of x but converges
0 when x = 0
to f (x) only at x = 0. This is a fairly artificial example but it shows what we are up against. The functions
that we care about are nicer so we get better results. We proceed as follows.

Example 3.2 Determine for which values of x the Maclaurin series of f (x) = sin x is convergent.
As we did in the power series section, we will apply the ratio test to determine where the series
converges. We compute
 
 (−1)n+1 2n+3 
|an+1 |  (2n+3)! x  |x|2n+3 (2n + 1)! |x|2
=   = = →0
|an | (−1)n
 (2n+1)! x2n+1 
 (2n + 3)! |x|2n+1 (2n + 3)(2n + 2)

for all x. Hence, series (6) converges for all x, −∞ < x < ∞.
Thus we see that the Maclaurin series of f (x) = sin x is a very nice series—it converges for all x. It
would be nice if the series converged to f (x) = sin x.

Example 3.3 Show that the Maclaurin series of the function f (x) = sin x, series (6), converges to
f (x) = sin x.
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The following paragraph is a very important paragraph. Read

it. Read it again. And then read it carefully.
In Section 1 we saw, equations (1.4)-(1.6), that we could write f (x) as f (x) = Tn (x) + Rn (x), or

f (x) − Tn (x) = Rn (x) (7)

where Tn (x) is the nth order Taylor polynomials and Rn (x) is the associated nth order error term. We
must understand that to show that the Maclaurin series of the function f (x) = sin x converges
to f (x) = sin x for some particular x, we must show that the sequence of partial sums of
the Maclaurin series converges to f (x) = sin x. It should be clear that the partial sums sn of the
Maclaurin series are just the Taylor polynomials Tn (x). Hence, to show that the Maclaurin series
of the function f (x) = sin x converges to f (x) = sin x for some particular x,we must show that
Tn (x) converges to f (x), i.e. that f (x) − Tn (x) converges to zero, i.e. that Rn (x) converges
to zero. And, finally, we should be aware that a reasonably easy application of the Sandwich Theorem
yields that Rn (x) → 0 if and only if |Rn (x)| → 0. We will generally work with |Rn (x)|.
For the Maclaurin series for the function f (x) = sin x proving that Rn (x) → 0 is not very difficult.
Recall that Rn (x) is given by

1 x
Z
Rn (x) = (−1)n (t − x)n f (n+1) (t) dt. (8)
n! 0
In this example (
(n+1) ± sin x when n is even
f (t) =
± cos x when n is odd

so in any case, it is easy to see that |f (n+1) (t)| ≤ 1. And using the same analysis we used to develop the
Taylor Inequality, we see that
 Z x 
n 1 n (n+1)
 
|Rn (x)| = (−1)
 (t − x) f (t) dt
n! 0
1  x
Z 
n (n+1)

≤ (t − x) |f (t)| dt (9)
n! 0

Z x 
1 
(t − x)n dt used the bound |f (n+1) (t)| ≤ 1

≤
n! 0

1 |x|n+1 1
= = |x|n+1 .
n! n + 1 (n + 1)!

(Note that the step labeled (9) is using the property that you can take an absolute value inside of an
integral. We must keep the absolute value outside of the integral to allow for the case when x < 0.) It
is not trivial to see that this term goes to zero as n approaches infinity. However, we can use Formula
6 from the Text (maybe Table 8.1, maybe page 625—the proof of Formula 6 they thought was difficult
enough so that it is relegated to Appendix 6) to see that this limit goes to zero.
Thus if |Rn (x)| → 0, then Rn (x) → 0 (by the Sandwich Theorem) and Tn (x) → f (x) which shows
that the Maclaurin series converges to f (x) = sin x.
The convergence proof given above looks harder than it really is—mainly because a lot of explanation
was given, hopefully to help you understand the proof. However, f (x) = sin x is a very nice function. We
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have to be able to show that the Taylor series of a function converges to the given function for something
more difficult than a sine or cosine function. Consider the following examples.

Example 3.4 Write the Taylor series of f (x) = ex at x = −1.

As we did for Taylor polynomials we build a table as follows.
n f (n) (x) f (n) (−1)
0 ex e−1
x
1 e e−1
x
2 e e−1
x
3 e e−1
x
4 e e−1
x
n e e−1

Then it is easy to see that the Taylor series of f (x) = ex at x = −1 can be written as
∞
1 1 X e−1
e−1 + e−1 (x + 1) + e−1 (x + 1)2 + e−1 (x + 1)3 + · · · = (x + 1)n . (10)
2 6 n=0
n!

Example 3.5 Determine for which values of x the Taylor series of f (x) = ex at x = −1 is convergent.
We proceed as we did in Example 3.2 and use the Ratio Test. We see that
 
  e−1
(x + 1)n+1  |x + 1|
 
 an+1   (n+1)!
 an   e−1 (x + 1)n  = n + 1 → 0
 = 
 n! 

as n → 0 for any x. Hence, we see that the Taylor series of f (x) = ex at x = −1 converges for any x.
Example 3.6 Show that the Taylor series of the function f (x) = e−x at x = −1, series (10), converges
to f (x) = e−x .
We use the same approach as we did in Example 3.3. We see that
 Z x 
n 1 n (n+1)
 
|Rn (x)| = (−1)
 (t − x) f (t) dt
n! −1
1  x
Z 
n (n+1)

≤ (t − x) |f (t)| dt took the absolute value inside the integral
n! −1

1 max{x,−1}  x
Z 
n

≤ e (t − x) dt (11)
n! 
−1
emax{x,−1}
= |x + 1|n+1 .
(n + 1)!
This last term goes to zero as n goes to infinity for the same reason that we got converges in Example
3.3 (maybe Formula 6, Table 8.1, page 625). Since Rn (x) → 0 as n → ∞, Tn (x) and the Taylor series of
f (x) = ex at x = −1 converges to f (x) = ex . We should note that the bound we used for f (n+1) (t) = et
would be ex if x ≥ −1. Since x is fixed, this will work. It comes out of the integral because the integration
is with respect to t, not x. We need the ”ugly” max{x, −1} to take care of the case when x < −1.
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Another way to express the results and the proof of Example 3.6 is to consider any x in an interval
(c, d) that contains −1. Then in the analysis above we can use the bound eb for et (and take it out of
the integral). The result would then be that the Taylor series of f (x) = ex at x = −1 converges to to
f (x) = ex on the interval (c, d). Since this result is true for any interval (and it won’t always be), the
end result is that the Taylor series of f (x) = ex at x = −1 converges to to f (x) = ex for any x (or on
ℜ1 = (−∞, ∞)).
This last result, and specifically the last description of the result of Example 3.6, allows us to write
the following theorem.

Theorem 3.1 Suppose that f has derivatives of all orders on the interval (c, d) and that there is M > 0
such that |f (n) (t)| ≤ M for k = 0, 1, . . ., and t ∈ (c, d). Then if a ∈ (c, d), then the Taylor series of f (x)
at x = a converges to f (x) for any x ∈ (c, d).

HW3.3 Discuss the convergence of the Maclaurin series of the functions (a) f (x) = ex and (b) f (x) =
cos x. (Both series were computed in HW3.1.)
HW3.4 Discuss the convergence of the Taylor series of the function f (x) = sin x about x = π/2. (The
Taylor series was computed in HW3.2.)

Note: In homeworks such as 3.3-3.4, ”Discuss the convergence” means to determine where (for which
values of x) the series converges and prove that the series converges to the given function (or show that
it does not).
The result of the above theorem sounds good but it really doesn’t give us all that we’d like. In HW2.2
we considered the Taylor polynomial of f (x) = e3x at x = −1. If you return to your work, you will
see that the nth derivative of f is f (n) (x) = 3n e3x . Hence, the nth derivative is not bounded on any
interval (a, b). But as we see in Example 3.7 we can still get convergence.

Example 3.7 Write the Taylor series of f (x) = e3x at x = −1 and discuss the convergence of that series.
Using the fact that the nth derivative is given by f (n) derivative is given by f (n) (x) = 3n e3x , we can
write the Taylor series as
∞
−3 −3 1 2 −3 2
X 3n e−3
e + 3e (x + 1) + 3 e (x + 1) + · · · = (x + 1)n . (12)
2 n=0
n!
We apply the ratio test. We see that
 
  n+1 e−3
 an+1   3(n+1)! (x + 1)n+1 
 
3
 an   3n e−3 (x + 1)n  = n + 1 |x + 1| → 0
 = 
 n! 
for all x, hence, Taylor series (12) converges for all x.
Let c, d) be some interval in the reals such that −1 ∈ (c, d). Since for x ∈ (c, d)
Z x
e3b
 
n 1 n n 3t
3n |x + 1|n+1 ,
 
|Rn (x)| = (−1)
 (t − x) 3 e dt ≤
n! −1 (n + 1)!
|Rn (x)| → 0 for the same reason we used in Examples 3.3 and 3.6 (old Formula 6 again). Hence,
Rn (x) → 0 and the Taylor series of f (x) = e3x at x = −1 converges to f (x) = e3x for all x ∈ (a, b). Since
this statement is true for any interval (a, b) that contains −1, it is true for ℜ1 = (−∞, ∞).
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Thus we see that Theorem 3.1 tells us (if it could speak) that for certain very nice functions, the
Taylor series of that functions converges to that function. Example 3.7 shows us there are some very nice
Taylor series of very nice functions that converge to the given function even though we can’t use Theorem
3.1 to show it (even though they don’t have derivatives that are bounded on some iterval uniformly in
n).

HW3.5 (a) Discuss the convergence of the Taylor series expansion of f (x) = ln x about x = 1. (This
Taylor series was computed in HW3.2.)
(b) Discuss the convergence of the Maclaurin series expansion of f (x) = 1/(1 − x). In this case prove the
convergence using both the fact that it is a geometric series and use the approach introduced in Example
3.7. (The series is given in (ref3.1.1.1).)

Substitution: Once we have a bunch of Maclaurin series, substitution can be used to help us find more
series. Consider the following.

Example 3.8 Find the Maclaurin series of the following functions and discuss their convergence.
(a) f (x) = sin 3x
(b) f (x) = ex/3
(c) f (x) = e3x
(a): If we consider Example 3.1-3.3, we know that the Maclaurin series expansion of f (x) = sin x equals
f (x) = sin x (converges to f (x) = sin x) and
∞
X (−1)k 2k+1
sin x = x . (13)
(2k + 1)!
k=0

This series converges for all x, −∞ < x < ∞. If we substitute 3x for x, we get
∞ ∞
X (−1)k X (−1)k 32k+1 2k+1
sin 3x = (3x)2k+1 = x . (14)
(2k + 1)! (2k + 1)!
k=0 k=0

Series (14) will inherit of convergence of series (13), i.e. series (14) will converge for x, −∞ < 3x < ∞
which is the same as all x, −∞ < x < ∞.
(b): I HW3.1 we found that
∞
X xn
ex = (15)
n=0
n!
x
and that the series converged for all x, −∞ < x < ∞. Substituting 3 for x gives
∞ ∞
X x/3n X xn
ex/3 = = . (16)
n=0
n! n=0
3n n!

Again series (16) inherits its convergence from the Maclaurin series of f (x) = ex , (ref3.18). So series
(ref3.19) converges for x, −∞ < x3 < ∞, or −∞ < x < ∞, i.e. for all x.
(c): Proceeding as we did in part (b), we substitute 3x for x in series (15). We get
∞ ∞
X 3xn X 3n xn
e3x = = . (17)
n=0
n! n=0
n!
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Again, series (17) inherits the convergence from series (15) so series (17) converges to f (x) = e3x for all
x.
Example 3.8(c) is sort of special. For the functions given in both parts (a) and (b), we could have let
(c, d) be any interval containing x = 0, found a bound M so that |f (n) (x)| ≤ M for all x ∈ (c, d) and all
n, and applied Theorem 3.1 to obtain the convergence of the series on (c, d) and hence on all of ℜ. Since
the nth derivative of f (x) = e3x is f (n) (x) = 3n e3x , it is clear that it is impossible to find a bound M
that would bound the derivatives on any interval for all n. Thus Theorem 3.1 cannot be used directly to
prove the convergence of series (17)—yet Theorem 3.1 was used to prove the convergence of series (15)
which we used to prove the convergence of series (17). It should be noted that the technique used in
Example 3.7 could be used to prove the convergence of series (17).

HW3.6 Compute the Maclaurin series of the following functions and discuss the convergence of the
resulting series: (a) f (x) = 1/(1 − 2x), (b) f (x) = cos πx, (c) f (x) = 1/(2 + 3x2 )

Multiplication: Another class of ”nice functions” of which we can easily compute the Maclaurin series
are some ”nice products.” For example, we can use the Maclaurin series of cos x,
∞
X (−1)k
cos x = x2k (18)
(2k)!
k=0

to determine the Maclaurin series of x cos x by multiplying both the cos x and the series given in (ref3.21)
by x to get
∞ ∞
X (−1)k 2k X (−1)k 2k+1
x cos x = x x = x (19)
(2k)! (2k)!
k=0 k=0

Likewise we can compute the Maclaurin series of the function f (x) = x2 e3x using series (17) and get
∞ ∞
X 3n xn X 3n xn+2
x2 e3x = x2 = . (20)
n=0
n! n=0
n!

We should realize that we can also use substitution and multiplication to find certain Taylor series
expansions—but they must be very special functions. For example (multiplication), if we use the Taylor
series expansion of f (x) = ex at x = −1, (10), to find that the Taylor series of the function f (x) =
(x + 1)2 ex at x = −1 is given by
∞ ∞
X e−1 X e−1
(x + 1)2 ex = (x + 1)2 (x + 1)n = (x + 1)n+2 . (21)
n=0
n! n=0
n!

We can substitute x − 1 for x in series (13) to see that

∞
X (−1)k
sin(x − 1) = (x − 1)2k+1 (22)
(2k + 1)!
k=0

to get the Taylor series expansion of f (x) = sin(x − 1) about x = 1. Or we can substitute 3x for x in
series (10) to get
∞ ∞
X e−1 X 3n e−1 1 n
e3x = (3x + 1)n = (x + ) , (23)
n=0
n! n=0
n! 3
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i.e. the Taylor series of f (x) = e3x at x = 31 is given by the series (23). It should be clear that
while the Maclaurin series found in Example 3.8 and equations (19) and (20) show that substitution
and multiplication are useful tools for finding some Maclaurin series, the last three examples are fairly
contrived.

HW3.7 Compute the Maclaurin series expansions of the following functions: (a) f (x) = x2 /(1 − x), (b)
f (x) = x2 /(x + x2 ), (c) f (x) = x2 sin x.