Fall 2010

ME-510 Numerical Methods for ME - II

Homework Assignment 1
Due: Thursday, 7 October 2010

Expand the function

1
f(x) =
1 + x2
in MacLaurin series (around the point x0 = 0) and take only the first four terms. Plot f(x) and
the expanded form on the same graph between x = -1 and +1. Comment on the radius of
convergence and the truncation error for values of x not very close to zero.

SOLUTION

1
MacLaurin Series: f(x) =
1 + x2
=  A xn
n 0

dn f 1
An = = , n = 1, 2, ...
dx n x0
n!

A0 = f(0) = 1

df -2x
A1 = = =0
dx x 0 (1 + x 2 ) x 0

1 d2f 1 -2 8 x2
A2 = = + =-1
  1 + x 
2 2 3
2! dx 2 x 0
2 1 + x2
x 0

1 d3 f 1 24 x 48 x 3
A3 = = + =0
   
3 4
3! dx 3 x 0
6 1 + x2 1 + x2
x 0

1
Taking only the first four terms: f(x) = 2
 1 - x2
1+x
This is an even function, i.e., f(-x) = f(x)
1 1
The Radius of Convergence is: R= =
A L
Lim n 1
n A
n

where An is the coefficient of the nth term in the series. If L (the limit) exists and is finite, then
the interval of convergence is the open interval (x0 - 1/L , x0 + 1/L) where x0 is the point
around which the series is expanded. x0 = 0 in the MacLaurin series.
 A n 1
For the given MacLaurin series, Lim = 1. Therefore, R = 1, and the series is
n An
convergent in the interval (-1 , +1). The plots are given below.

1,000

0,800

0,600

0,400
1-x2
0,200

0,000
-1,000 -0,500 0,000 0,500 1,000

Note that this series do not accurately represent the function as x moves away from the point
of expansion, x0 = 0.