We examine products of power series in a later theorem. First, we show several applications of
[link] and how to find the interval of convergence of a power series given the interval of convergence of a related power series.
Combining power series
Suppose that
is a power series whose interval of convergence is
and suppose that
is a power series whose interval of convergence is
Find the interval of convergence of the series
Find the interval of convergence of the series
Since the interval
is a common interval of convergence of the series
and
the interval of convergence of the series
is
Since
is a power series centered at zero with radius of convergence 1, it converges for all
x in the interval
By
[link] , the series
converges if 3
x is in the interval
Therefore, the series converges for all
x in the interval
In the next example, we show how to use
[link] and the power series for a function
f to construct power series for functions related to
f . Specifically, we consider functions related to the function
and we use the fact that
for
Constructing power series from known power series
Use the power series representation for
combined with
[link] to construct a power series for each of the following functions. Find the interval of convergence of the power series.
First write
as
Using the power series representation for
and parts ii. and iii. of
[link] , we find that a power series representation for
f is given by
Since the interval of convergence of the series for
is
the interval of convergence for this new series is the set of real numbers
x such that
Therefore, the interval of convergence is
To find the power series representation, use partial fractions to write
as the sum of two fractions. We have
Then, using parts ii. and iii. of
[link] , we have
Since we are combining these two power series, the interval of convergence of the difference must be the smaller of these two intervals. Using this fact and part i. of
[link] , we have
In
[link] , we showed how to find power series for certain functions. In
[link] we show how to do the opposite: given a power series, determine which function it represents.
Finding the function represented by a given power series
Consider the power series
Find the function
f represented by this series. Determine the interval of convergence of the series.
Writing the given series as
we can recognize this series as the power series for
Since this is a geometric series, the series converges if and only if
Therefore, the interval of convergence is