Power Series Estimation/Error Problem

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on estimating the integral \(\int_0^1 \cos(x^2)dx\) using power series with an error threshold of 0.005. The power series representation of \(\cos(x)\) is utilized, leading to the series for \(\cos(x^2)\). The Lagrange Error Formula is suggested as a method to determine the necessary number of terms to achieve the desired accuracy. The integration of the series terms is straightforward, and the discussion emphasizes a trial-and-error approach to ensure the absolute error remains below 0.005.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of power series and Taylor series expansions
  • Familiarity with the Lagrange Error Formula
  • Basic integration techniques for polynomial functions
  • Knowledge of error analysis in numerical methods
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the application of the Lagrange Error Formula in detail
  • Learn about Taylor series expansions for other functions
  • Explore numerical integration techniques for approximating definite integrals
  • Investigate the convergence properties of power series
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Students and educators in mathematics, particularly those studying calculus and numerical methods, as well as anyone interested in the practical application of power series for integral estimation.

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Homework Statement


Use power series to estimate \int_0^1 \cos(x^2)dx with an error no greater than 0.005

Homework Equations



Lagrange Error Formula \frac{f^{(n+1)}}{(n+1)!}(x-a)^{(n+1)}

The Attempt at a Solution



My original attempt was to find the series for \cos(x^2), integrate it, and then subtract the functions to find where the error is less than or equal to .005. However since actually integrating \int\cos(x^2)dx is very difficult and it's ridiculously slow to graph I am now thinking about using the Lagrange error formula. I'm not exactly sure how that would work though.
 
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so the power series representation of cos(x) is
sum_(k=0 to infinity) (-1)^k *x^(2k)/(2k)!

So the first few terms are
cos(x) = 1-x^2/2!+x^4/4!-x^6/6!+x^8/x!-x^10/10!

Now for cos(x^2), put x^2 in for every x
cos(x^2) = 1-(x^2)^2/2!+(x^2)^4/4!-(x^2)^6/6!+(x^2)^8/x!-(x^2)^10/10!
= 1-x^4/2! + x^8/4! -x^12/6! +x^16/8!-x^20/10!

then integrate each term (not that hard, its a polynomial)
-x^21/76204800+x^17/685440-x^13/9360+x^9/216-x^5/10+x+constant
^copied from wolfram alphafor the error to be less than .005, that means that one of the integrated terms has to have an absolute value of less than .005 when you put x=1

basically, you guess and check. or you can do about 5 terms since its pretty accurate (9 terms is accurate to 7 decimal places)
 

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