Wize AP Calculus (BC) Textbook > Power Series
Taylor and Maclaurin Series

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Talor and Maclaurin Series
Recall that we can rewrite functions of the form as power series .
It turns out that there's a whole group of special functions that can also be rewritten as power series.
Taylor Series
Let be a function whose derivatives are defined on an interval containing the value .
The Taylor Series of about can be written as
Expanding:
Identifying Clue
If the question asks you to find the Taylor Series Representation of a function centered at x=a
*Usually it'll say "using the definition..."
Steps
1. Find the first few derivatives of the function
2. Substitute into all these derivatives--These are now your coefficient!
*We need to spot a pattern between these numbers
3. Write out the power series representation using the formula
If the question also asks for the Radius or Interval of Convergence --> use the ratio or root test!
Taylor Polynomial of Order N
If we only take the first N terms of a Taylor series (i.e. the Nth partial sum), this is called the Taylor Polynomial of order N:
It can be computed if the function has at least N derivatives on an interval containing .
Maclaurin Series
The specific case where is called the Maclaurin Series of :
Practice Question
Find the Taylor series representation for about . Then, state the radius of convergence.

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Common/Known Maclaurin Series
Here is a list of Maclaurin series representations of common functions
Identifying Clues
- The question asks you to find the Maclaurin series of a function and doesn't say anything about "using the definition"
- The function can be a slight modification of a function in the above table
- The function can be a product or quotient of function types in the above table
- You are asked to find what a series converges to
- The given series is not a power series but its convergence cannot be found using our regular series knowledge
- Recognize the given series as one of the ones in this table and determine the corresponding x value needed
Practice Question
Express as a power series. For what is the series valid?
Practice Question
Express as a power series. Then, state the first 3 non-zero terms and the radius of convergence.
Practice Question
Find the Maclaurin series for .
Practice Question
Evaluate the series .