Calculus power series worksheet
A power series is an infinite polynomial. The geometric series 1/(1 - r) = 1 + r + r squared + ... is the one most others come from: put bx in place of r and it holds while |bx| < 1. For any power series the ratio test gives the radius, and the two endpoints have to be tested separately, because the ratio test says nothing there.
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Sigma Prep · sigmaprep.io/worksheets Name Power SeriesDate Period Answer each question.
Free math worksheets at sigmaprep.io/worksheets© 2026 Sigma Prep |
Sigma Prep · sigmaprep.io/worksheets Name Power SeriesAnswer keyVersion 1Date Period Answer each question.
Free math worksheets at sigmaprep.io/worksheets© 2026 Sigma Prep |
How to do these
Interval of convergence:
- Ratio test: the ratio of consecutive terms tends to |x|/3, so the series converges for |x| < 3.
- At x = 3 it is the sum of 1/n, which diverges.
- At x = -3 it is the alternating sum of 1/n, which converges.
The answer is .
Where students go wrong
Stopping at the radius. The ratio test is inconclusive exactly at the endpoints, and each one can go either way: the same radius can give an open, closed or half-open interval.
Also called power series, interval of convergence, radius of convergence, Maclaurin series or representing functions as power series.
What you can put on this worksheet
- A function as a power series
- Write as a power series, and give the interval of convergence: → ,
- The interval of convergence
- Find the interval of convergence: →
- The first terms of a Maclaurin series
- Write the first four nonzero terms of the Maclaurin series for →