View Full Version : General Term for Cos X in Maclaurin Series
johnmurray100
Apr 9, 2009, 04:26 PM
The 1st term of the maclaurin series for Cos x is 1.
The Genreral Term is {(-1)^n}*{x(2*n)}/{(2*n)!}.
This will yield 1st term =1 only if n=0
I would expect Term 1 to be generated by setting n=1 not 0
Can you explain where my reasoning is wrong please
galactus
Apr 9, 2009, 04:57 PM
\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}(-1)^{n}\frac{x^{2n}}{(2n)!}
The first term is 1 because a 0 exponent yields 1 as well as 0! If you subbed in n=1, you would get
\frac{-x^{2}}{2}. Just as the second term yields.
johnmurray100
Apr 10, 2009, 03:04 AM
Hello Galactus
Thank very much for your reply.
The problem I have is that a similar expansion for the Sin Series requires setting n=1 to get the first term.
I am at a loss to know why n=0 for 1st term of Cos X series & n=1 for 1st term of Sin Series.
I would expect n=1 to yield 1st term of both Series.
The general term for Sin Series is {(-1)^(n+!)}*{(x)^(2*n-1)}/{(2*n-1)!}
Setting N=0 yields -1! In denominator.
I would appreciate any guidance on this please
galactus
Apr 10, 2009, 09:01 AM
Look at the series. It is rather obvious what you get when you plug in 0 or 1.
sin(x)=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}(-1)^{n}\cdot\frac{x^{2n+1}}{(2n+1)!}
Now, plug in n=0:
(-1)^{0}\cdot\frac{x^{2(0)+1}}{(2(0)+1)!}=(1)\frac{x ^{1}}{1!}=x
Plug in n=1:
(-1)^{1}\cdot\frac{x^{2(1)+1}}{(2(1)+1)!}=(-1)\cdot\frac{x^{3}}{6}
See now?
Those are the first two terms of the expansion.
x-\frac{x^{3}}{6}
Let's look at the series for e:
e^{x}=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{x^{n}}{n!}
Plug in n=0:
\frac{x^{0}}{0!}=\frac{1}{1}=1
Plug in n=1:
\frac{x^{1}}{1!}=x
And so on and so forth
johnmurray100
Apr 10, 2009, 02:48 PM
Hello galactus,
Thank you for reply.
The denominator you have used is (2*n+1)!
The denominator that I have is (2*n-1)!
Have I got the wrong denominator?
galactus
Apr 10, 2009, 03:26 PM
For the sine series? You have the wrong one. It is (2n+1)!