“Life is a series of collisions with the future; it is not the sum of what we have been, but what we yearn to

be.” – Jose Ortega y Gasset

LECTURE 47

THE SERIAL TABLE

ANDREW MISSELDINE

11.10. Taylor and Maclaurin Series†

We now remind the student about all the important Maclaurin series that we have developed so far. They
are important enough that the student must memorize this table.
∞
1 X
= xn = 1 + x + x2 + x3 + . . . R=1
1−x n=0
∞
X x2n+1 x3 x5 x7
tan−1 (x) = (−1)n =x− + − + ... R=1
n=0
2n + 1 3 5 7
∞
X xn x2 x3 x4
ln(1 + x) = (−1)n−1 =x− + − + ... R=1
n=1
n 2 3 4
∞
X xn x2 x3
ex = =1+x+ + + ... R=∞
n=0
n! 2! 3!
∞
X x2n+1 x3 x5 x7
sin(x) = (−1)n =x− + − + ... R=∞
n=0
(2n + 1)! 3! 5! 7!
∞
X x2n x2 x4 x6
cos(x) = (−1)n =1− + − + ... R=∞
n=0
(2n)! 2! 4! 6!
∞  
X k n k(k − 1) 2 k(k − 1)(k − 2) 3
(1 + x)k = x = 1 + kx + x + x + ... R=1
n=0
n 2! 3!

1 1 1 1
Example 11.10.13. Find the sum of the series − + − + . . ..
1 · 2 2 · 22 3 · 23 4 · 24
Using the above table, we have
∞ ∞
1 1 1 1 X 1 X (1/2)n
− + − + ... = (−1)n−1 = (−1)n−1
1 · 2 2 · 22 3 · 23 4 · 24 n=1
n·2n
n=1
n

= ln(1 + (1/2)) = ln(3/2) ≈ 0.405565108 .



ex − 1 − x
Example 11.10.14. Evaluate lim .
x→0 x2
0
We notice that the limit is an indeterminant form , so we could apply l’Hospital’s Rule. Alternatively,
0
we can calculate the limit using Taylor series. Remember that
∞
x
X xn x2 x3 x4
e = =1+x+ + + + ...
x=0
n! 2 6 24

†See §6.3 Taylor and Maclaurin Series and §6.4 Working with Talyor Series in OpenStax to find the corresponding section.

1
2 ANDREW MISSELDINE

for all x. Therefore,

 
x2 x3 x4
x
e −1−x 1+x+ 2 + 6 + 24 + ... − 1 − x x2
+ x3 4
+ x24 + . . .
2 6
lim = lim = lim
x→0 x2 x→0 x2 x→0 x2
2
1 x x 1
= lim + + + ... = . 
x→0 2 6 24 2

Z
2
Example 11.10.15. Evaluate e−x dx as an infinite series and use its partial sum to approximate
Z 1
2
e−x dx to within an error of 0.001.
0

Like in the last example,

∞
X xn x2 x3 x4
ex = =1+x+ + + + ...
n=0
n! 2 6 24
for all x. So,
∞ ∞
−x2
X (−x2 )n X x2n x4 x6 x8
e = = (−1)n = 1 − x2 + − + + ...
n=0
n! n=0
n! 2 6 24
for all x. Therefore,
∞ ∞
x2n x2n+1 x3 x5 x7 x9
Z Z X
2 X
e−x dx = (−1)n dx = C + (−1)n =C +x− + − + + ...
n=0
n! n=0
(2n + 1)n! 3 5(2) 7(6) 9(24)

for all x.

By the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (setting C = 0),

Z 1 1
x3 x5 x7 x9

2 1 1 1 1
e−x dx = x− + − + + ... = 1 − + − + + ...
0 3(1!) 5(2!) 7(3!) 9(4!) 0 3(1!) 5(2!) 7(3!) 9(4!)
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
= 1− + − + + ... ≈ 1 − + − + ≈ 0.7475 .
3 10 42 216 3 10 42 216
Since the Taylor series is alternating, we may use the Alternating Series Estimation instead of Taylor’s
Inequality to determine the error. Note that
1 1
= = 0.00075 < 0.001.
11 · 5! 1320
Therefore, we have the desired accuracy. 

We can also multiply and divide power series in the same fashion as polynomials to get new power series
representations.

Example 11.10.16. Represent the function f (x) = x cos(x) as a power series.

∞
X x2n
Since cos(x) = (−1)n ,
n=0
(2n)!
∞ ∞
!
X x2n n
X x2n+1 x3 x5 x7
x cos(x) = x (−1) = (−1)n =x− + − + ... 
n=0
(2n)! n=0
(2n)! 2! 4! 6!

In general, multiplication and division of power series can be a taxing process because both power series are
infinite in length. One thing to be cautious about is the fact that power series do not have a biggest term. So,
 LECTURE 47 THE SERIAL TABLE 3

when considering leading terms, we actually mean the smallest term. We generally do not get a general for-
mula for these types of power series, although we may compute as many terms of the power series as we need.

Example 11.10.17. Find the first three terms of the Taylor series centered at a = 0 for the given function.
(a) f (x) = ex sin(x).

We know that
∞
X xn x2 x3 x4
ex = =1+x+ + + + ...
n=0
n! 2! 3! 4!
for all x and
∞
X x2n+1 x3 x5 x7
sin(x) = (−1)n =x− + − + ...
n=0
(2n + 1)! 3! 5! 7!
for all x. Therefore,
1 2 1 3
1 + x + 2x + 6x + ...
1 3
× x − 6x + ...
1 3 1 4
x + x2 + 2x + 6x + ...
1 3 1 4
+ − 6x − 6x − ...
1 3
x + x2 + 3x + ...
Therefore,
1
ex sin(x) = x + x2 + x3 + . . .
3

sin(x)
(b) g(x) = tan(x). Note that tan(x) = and
cos(x)
∞
X x2n x2 x4 x6
cos(x) = (−1)n =1− + − + ...
n=0
(2n)! 2! 4! 6!
for all x. Therefore,
1 3 2 5
x + 3x + 15 x + ...

1 2 1 4 1 3 1 5
1 − 2x + 24 x − ... x − 6x + 120 x − ...
1 3 1 5
x − 2x + 24 x − ...
1 3 1 5
3x − 30 x − ...
1 3 1 5
3x − 6x + ...
2 5
15 x + ...
Therefore,
1 2
tan(x) = x + x3 + x5 + . . . 
3 15