# Absolute & conditional convergence

1. Mar 2, 2010

### magnifik

1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data
Determine whether the series converges absolutely, conditionally, or not at all.

a) $$\Sigma$$ (-1)nn4/(x3 + 1)

b) $$\Sigma$$ sin(x)/x2

2. Relevant equations

3. The attempt at a solution
a) positive series is n4/n3+1 .. do i do comparison test ??

b) |sin(x)|/x2
compare it with 1/x2 which converges.. so it's absolutely convergent??

2. Mar 2, 2010

### Dick

You are kind of freely mixing n's and x's here. Are they supposed to be the same? If so, for the first one ask whether the nth term goes to zero. For the second one, yes, it's absolutely convergent.

3. Mar 2, 2010

### magnifik

woops, mixing up the n's & x's was a careless mistake

4. Mar 3, 2010

### magnifik

for a) the positive series diverges because n^4/n^3 + 1 goes to infinity, but i'm not sure if the original series converges or diverges

5. Mar 3, 2010

### Dick

A series whose terms don't go to zero diverges no matter what the signs on the terms. Look at the definition of convergence in terms of partial sums.