Proving Divergence of the Series: \sum_{i=1}^{\infty}\sqrt{n+1}-\sqrt{n}

analysis001
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Homework Statement


Prove that the series diverges: \sum_{i=1}^{\infty}\sqrt{n+1}-\sqrt{n}


The Attempt at a Solution


I'm trying to use the comparison test, but I don't know what to compare it to. All I have done so far is change the terms to be in fraction form:
\sqrt{n+1}-\sqrt{n}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{n+1}+\sqrt{n}}

Any clues on what to do next would be great. Thanks!
 
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analysis001 said:

Homework Statement


Prove that the series diverges: \sum_{i=1}^{\infty}\sqrt{n+1}-\sqrt{n}


The Attempt at a Solution


I'm trying to use the comparison test, but I don't know what to compare it to. All I have done so far is change the terms to be in fraction form:
\sqrt{n+1}-\sqrt{n}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{n+1}+\sqrt{n}}

Any clues on what to do next would be great. Thanks!

Try comparing with \frac{1}{\sqrt{n+1}+\sqrt{n+1}}. Does that converge or diverge? How is it related to your original series?
 
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analysis001 said:

Homework Statement


Prove that the series diverges: \sum_{i=1}^{\infty}\sqrt{n+1}-\sqrt{n}


The Attempt at a Solution


I'm trying to use the comparison test, but I don't know what to compare it to. All I have done so far is change the terms to be in fraction form:
\sqrt{n+1}-\sqrt{n}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{n+1}+\sqrt{n}}

Any clues on what to do next would be great. Thanks!

Look at the behavior of ## t_n \equiv \sqrt{n+1} - \sqrt{n}## for large ##n##. It helps to write
\sqrt{n+1} = \sqrt{n} \left( 1 + \frac{1}{n} \right)^{1/2}
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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