Can't understand/solve Taylor exercises.

  • Context: MHB 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Velo
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Exercises Taylor
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The forum discussion revolves around solving a Taylor series exercise involving the function \( f(x) = 5 - 2(x+2) - (x+2)^2 + (x+2)^3 + R3(x+2) \). The user initially struggles with deriving the tangent line due to the presence of the remainder term \( R3 \). Through collaborative insights, they determine that the derivative \( f'(-2) = -2 \) provides the slope for the tangent line, leading to the final equation \( y = -2x + 1 \). Additionally, they establish that \( f'''(-2) = 6 \) based on the Taylor expansion.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Taylor series and expansions
  • Knowledge of limits and derivatives in calculus
  • Familiarity with the notation of remainder terms in Taylor series
  • Basic algebra for solving linear equations
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the properties of Taylor series and their applications in calculus
  • Learn about the remainder term in Taylor series, specifically Lagrange's form
  • Explore how to derive higher-order derivatives and their significance in Taylor expansions
  • Practice solving problems involving tangent lines and derivatives of functions
USEFUL FOR

Students and educators in calculus, particularly those focusing on Taylor series, derivatives, and tangent line equations. This discussion is beneficial for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of these concepts in mathematical analysis.

Velo
Messages
17
Reaction score
0
So, the information they give me is the following:
$(1) f \in {C}^{3}({\rm I\!R})$
$(2) f(x) = 5 -2(x+2) - (x+2)^2 + (x+2)^3 + R3(x+2)$
$(3) \lim_{{x}\to{-2}} \frac{R3(x+2)}{(x+2)^3}=0$

And they ask me for the equation of the tangent line... Which would be simple if that R3 wasn't there, I'd just derive the function, use it on the tangent line equation and that'd be that... I have no idea how the derive that function with the R3 there tho.

Edit: Typo in the exercise.
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
Velo said:
So, the information they give me is the following:
$(1) f \in {C}^{3}({\rm I\!R})$
$(2) f(x) = 5 -2(x+2) - x(x+2)^2 + (x+2)^3 + R3(x+2)$
$(3) \lim_{{x}\to{-2}} \frac{R3(x+2)}{(x+2)^3}=0$

And they ask me for the equation of the tangent line... Which would be simple if that R3 wasn't there, I'd just derive the function, use it on the tangent line equation and that'd be that... I have no idea how the derive that function with the R3 there tho.

Hi Velo!

We can write the derivative of R3(x+2) at x=-2 as:
$$R3'(x+2) = R3'(0)= \lim_{h\to 0} \frac{R3(h) - R3(0)}{h}$$
Can we find what it is using equation (3)?
How do the expressions compare?
Which is bigger for $|h|<1$?
 
Oh, I'm just realizing that this is a Taylor series exercise and that R3 is the remainder term for the 3rd order expansion.

What is the general formula for the Taylor expansion of f(x) at x=-2?
Can we compare it to the given f(x)?
We should be able to read off f(-2) directly.
 
I like Serena said:
Oh, I'm just realizing that this is a Taylor series exercise and that R3 is the remainder term for the 3rd order expansion.

What is the general formula for the Taylor expansion of f(x) at x=-2?
Can we compare it to the given f(x)?
We should be able to read off f(-2) directly.

I'm not sure I'm following... I know a Taylor expansion should look something like this when we're trying to get a function similar to another function on $x = -2$:
$f(-2) + f'(-2)(x+2) + \frac{f''(-2)}{2}(x+2)^2 + o(x+2)^2$
I also get that this new function will be very close to the original function next to $x = 2$, though I don't get what part that $o(x+2)^2$ plays on it exactly...

The f(x) they give us looks very similar to that formula... It's missing the derivatives though, I can't really tell how to relate the two :/
 
Velo said:
I'm not sure I'm following... I know a Taylor expansion should look something like this when we're trying to get a function similar to another function on $x = -2$:
$f(-2) + f'(-2)(x+2) + \frac{f''(-2)}{2}(x+2)^2 + o(x+2)^2$
I also get that this new function will be very close to the original function next to $x = 2$, though I don't get what part that $o(x+2)^2$ plays on it exactly...

The f(x) they give us looks very similar to that formula... It's missing the derivatives though, I can't really tell how to relate the two :/

Indeed.
Normally we expand by evaluating f(-2), f'(-2), and so on giving constants to multiply $(x+2)^k$ with.
But this has already been done.
We can directly match them.
In other words f'(-2) is the constant that gets multiplied by (x+2).
And that's the slope we need for the tangent line.

The notation $O((x+2)^2)$ means that the remainder is less than a constant times $(x+2)^2$.
Note that $(x+2)^k$ is an increasingly small number for higher powers when x is close to -2.
 
I like Serena said:
Indeed.
Normally we expand by evaluating f(-2), f'(-2), and so on giving constants to multiply $(x+2)^k$ with.
But this has already been done.
We can directly match them.
In other words, f'(-2) is the constant that gets multiplied by (x+2).
And that's the slope we need for the tangent line.

The notation $O((x+2)^2)$ means that the remainder is less than constant times $(x+2)^2$.
Note that $(x+2)^k$ is an increasingly small number for higher powers when x is close to -2.

OOOhhhhh! I see! So,
$f'(-2) = -2 \implies y = -2x + b$,

From the original f(x) we also know that $f(-2) = 5$ so we can just replace that int he equations and get b!
$y = -2x + b \implies 5 = (-2) * (-2) + b \Leftrightarrow b = 1$

And so the final equation is:
$y = -2x + 1$

So if we wanted to find out for example f'''(-2) we'd just have to do:
$\frac{f'''(-2)}{!3} = 1 \Leftrightarrow f'''(-2) = \frac{1}{6}$

Thank you so much, can't believe I finally understood how this works! :')
 
Velo said:
OOOhhhhh! I see! So,
$f'(-2) = -2 \implies y = -2x + b$,

From the original f(x) we also know that $f(-2) = 5$ so we can just replace that int he equations and get b!
$y = -2x + b \implies 5 = (-2) * (-2) + b \Leftrightarrow b = 1$

And so the final equation is:
$y = -2x + 1$

So if we wanted to find out for example f'''(-2) we'd just have to do:
$\frac{f'''(-2)}{!3} = 1 \Leftrightarrow f'''(-2) = \frac{1}{6}$

Thank you so much, can't believe I finally understood how this works! :')

Yep. (Nod)

But let's make it $\frac{f'''(-2)}{!3} = 1 \Leftrightarrow f'''(-2) = 6$. (Wink)

One more thing, we can read the tangent equation also directly from the expansion: it's the expansion up to the first order.
That is:
$$y=f(-2)+f'(-2)(x+2)=5-2(x+2)=-2x+1$$
 
Classic :')
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
3K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
1K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 17 ·
Replies
17
Views
4K
  • · Replies 20 ·
Replies
20
Views
4K