Demonstration d ln x =

dx x

Jon Kirwan C.C.C. Student

(Dated: March 11, 2009)

Abstract
A short demonstration that d ln x =
dx x

using the Riemann sums method.

I.

AN INTERESTING QUESTION

My son sometimes thinks about the odd math question. We used to talk about the odds involved in ipping coins or getting card hands and he grasped the ideas well enough. One day, he asked, What if the odds of an event determines the number of trials attempted? What would the odds of failure be? I wasnt sure about his meaning so he went on. Well, the odds of getting heads on a penny is 1/2. If two trials are performed to compensate, we get odds of 1/4 for getting only tails. In the case of a six-sided die, six trials to get one specic face will fail in (5/6)6 , or with odds of about 1/3 never getting that face. As I calculate this with lower probabilities but more trials in this way, the odds raise a little. It doesnt go towards zero, but it doesnt seem to become 1, either. If the odds of an event are innitely small, yet not exactly zero, and the trials are innite many what is the number that is approached? That question was a surprisingly good one to ask.

II.

PUTTING THE QUESTION INTO CONCRETE TERMS

The probability of an event occurring is a number from 0 to 1, with 0 being never and 1 being always. So if we assume that on one trial the likelihood of some outcome is 1 chance in 6, for example, the odds for it is written as 1/6. Obviously, if that is so, then the likelihood of it not happening (failure) is what is left, or 5/6 (the other 5 chances in 6.) My sons question can be generalized. The odds of success in a single trial can be called p. If so, then the number of trials to perform is 1/p. Lets call that n for the number of trials, so that n = 1/p. In that case, Table I lists the two possible outcomes and their probabilities.

success failure

1 n

1 n

TABLE I: Odds in a Single Trial

If we perform the trial n times the odds of not succeeding even once in the series of trials

is shown in eq. (1) as the function Fn . Fn = 1 1 n

n

(1)

Lets take a look at Table II of decimal values for Fn for few values of n.
n 1 2 3 4 5 6 10 100 Fn 0. 0.25 0.2963 0.3164 0.3277 0.3349 0.3487 0.366

TABLE II: Values of Fn for a few n values

Table II illustrates that the value seems to be heading towards some hard limit. But what is the value as n grows towards ? Is there some value between 0 and 1 that it settles on? It certainly looks that way. Getting back to the original question my son asked, If the odds of an event are innitely small, yet not exactly zero, and the trials are innite many what is the number that is approached? we can now formulate his question (same as the above one) with precision as shown in eq. (2). F = lim What does F approach as n ?
n

1 n

(2)

III.

A DETOUR

Interest is a surcharge for the temporary use of money. Banks are willing to pay interest on savings, for example, to encourage such temporary deposits with them and they oer an interest rate used to adjust what they pay as a percentage of the deposits they hold.

Lets call the interest percentage r (for rate), the total interest I, and the deposit amount P (a substitute for the word principal, which is the amount interest is being paid on.) Eq. (3) then illustrates the relationship. I =rP (3)

For example, a bank may oer 3% for a deposit they hold for a year. If $1000 were deposited at the beginning of the year and kept at the bank for the entire year, the interest may be calculated as $30 and added to the deposit at the end of the year for a total of $1030. The deposit is said to earn that interest amount. The new amount at the beginning of the next year is simply the prior amount plus the interest paid, as shown in the recurrence expressed in eq. (4). Pi+1 = Pi + r Pi = Pi (1 + r) (4)

Suppose the bank oered the same annual percentage for deposits, but instead promised to pay half of the interest after six months and treat that new balance as the amount used for computing interest in the last six months of the year. Eq. (4) would then become eq. (5), in order to express the total interest earned at the end of the year. Pi+1 = Pi 1 + = Pi 1 + r 2
2

1+

r 2 (5)

r 2

The bank may choose to do this on a monthly basis or even on a daily basis, in fact. They could do it even more often, too. In general, if a longer term percentage is divided down into smaller parts and paid more often, eq. (5) becomes eq. (6), if we use n to express the number of times within a year (or specied period that the interest percentage is itself based upon) that the interest is computed and paid. Pi+1 = Pi 1 + r n
n

(6)

Note that eq. (6) looks a lot like eq. (1). The dierence being the sign and the fact that r is 1 in eq. (1), instead. We can even imagine eq. (6) in the case where n , as shown in eq. (7). Pi+1 = Pi lim 5 1+ r n
n

(7)

Lets divide the two sides by Pi to get eq. (8): lim 1+ r n

n

Pi+1 Pi (8)

= er

The left side expression in eq. (8) may already be familiar. Its one of the ways of expressing the value for er . And by setting r = 1 we have an answer for the question asked in eq. (2) the value approaches 1/e or about 0.36787944 as n . Later, Ill show how

IV.

MOVING TOWARDS AN ANSWER

The interesting

Electronic address: jonk@infinitefactors.org