Homework Help: Calc 2, Series/Sequences

Posted by Alex on Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 9:42pm.

Explain clearly in detail the difference of the summation of n=1 to infinity of 1/n^2; and the integral of 1/x^2dx with the limit of 1 to infinity, as well.

Part 2: Explain the natures of the two expressions and explain why the summation is greater than the integral test.
The sum=1.645
Integral=1

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Calc 2, Series/Sequences - Count Iblis, Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 10:26pm
Drawa graph of the function

f(x) = 1/x^2.

The summation

f(1) + f(2) + f(3) + ...

can be intepreted as the total area of the rectangles of heights f(1), f(2),
f(3),... and all of width 1.

If you draw these rectangles in your graph, the one with height f(1) is between x = 1 and x = 2, the rectangle of height f(2) is between x = 2 and x = 3, etc., then you clearly see that the total area of all the rectangles together is less than the area under the curve, due to the fact that f(x) is a decreasing function.

THe precise relation between the summation and the integration is given by the Euler–Maclaurin summation formula:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler–Maclaurin_formula

Answer this Question

Related Questions

Calculus - For what values of p>0 does the series Riemann Sum [n=1 to ...
Calculus III - Which of the following series are geometric series? Find the sum ...
Calc II - Use the comparison or limit comparison test to decide if the following...
calculus - ratio test - infinity of the summation n=1: (e^n)/(n!) [using the ...
calculus - is this correct? use the integral test to determine if this series is...
Calculus - ratio test - infinity of the summation n=1: (e^n)/(n!) [using the ...
calculus - ratio test - Posted by COFFEE on Sunday, July 29, 2007 at 6:32pm. ...
calculus please help - the actual problem is integral(2 to +infinity) (1/x^2) dx...
Calculus - Show that the following series is absolutely convergent: Summation ...
calc II - Express the integrals as the sum of partial fractions and evaluate the...

For Further Reading

First Name:
School Subject:
Answer: