Is Every Convergent Sequence Necessarily Bounded?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the properties of convergent sequences, specifically addressing whether every convergent sequence must be bounded. Participants are exploring the implications of convergence in the context of sequences in mathematical analysis.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants are attempting to articulate the relationship between convergence and boundedness, with some suggesting that elements of a converging sequence must fall within a certain range around the limit. Questions arise regarding how to formally express this relationship and the implications of specific examples.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with participants questioning the assumptions underlying their reasoning about convergence. Some guidance has been offered regarding the definition of convergence and the need for a specific index related to epsilon in the context of boundedness. Multiple interpretations of the problem are being explored, particularly concerning the behavior of sequence elements.

Contextual Notes

There appears to be some confusion regarding the definition of convergence and how it applies to specific sequences. Participants are also grappling with the implications of finite versus infinite elements in a converging sequence.

transgalactic
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how to prove that:
every sequence which convergences has to be bounded
 
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First try and explain it in words. Suppose you have a converging sequence. Then what happens to its elements (in particular, to infinitely many of them at the end of the sequence)? What can you do with the finitely many before that?
 
Suppose the sequence converges to L. What can you say about members of the sequence between L+ 1 and L- 1?
 
i can say that they
L-1<=An<=L+1

what is the next step?
 
transgalactic said:
i can say that they
L-1<=An<=L+1

what is the next step?
You can't say that without knowing something about n. Here is an example:
{10, -10, 5, -5, 2.5, -2.5, 1.25, -1.25, ...}
This sequence converges to 0, but it's not true in general that -1 <= a_n <= 1.
 
for certain e>0
|An-L|<e
 
transgalactic said:
for certain e>0
|An-L|<e

No, for some n that depends on epsilon.

In the sequence I gave as an example, what does n have to be so that |a_n| < 1?
 
n has to be even
n=2,4,6 etc..
 
transgalactic said:
n has to be even
n=2,4,6 etc..
Nope.

Assuming the sequence I gave a few posts back starts with a_0 = 10, a_2 is not within 1 unit of 0, nor are a_4 and a_6.

I've given you a rather large epsilon (1), and I'm asking for a number N so that if n >= N, then |a_n| < 1. This is not really a hard problem.
 
  • #10
The problem appears to be that you do not know the definition of convergence.

What is the definition of "[itex]lim_{n\rightarrow \infty} A_n= L[/itex]"?
 

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