Calculus, 10th Edition (Anton)

Published by Wiley
ISBN 10: 0-47064-772-8
ISBN 13: 978-0-47064-772-1

Chapter 9 - Infinite Series - 9.1 Sequences - Exercises Set 9.1 - Page 606: 42

Answer

a) Recursive formula is $a_{n+1}=\sqrt {6+a_n}$ b) Converges to $3$

Work Step by Step

a) We can see that our recursion formula is $a_{n+1}=\sqrt {6+a_n}$ b) Let us consider that $a_{n+1} \approx a_n =l$ For a converging series, we have: $\lim\limits_{n \to \infty}a_{n+1}= \lim\limits_{n \to \infty} a_n=x$ Now, $\lim\limits_{n \to \infty}a_{n+1}= \lim\limits_{n \to \infty} a_n= \lim\limits_{n \to \infty} \sqrt {6+a_n}$ So, $x=\sqrt {6+x}$ After squaring, we have: $x^2=6+x \\ \implies x^2-x-6=0 \\ \implies (x-3)(x+2) =0 \\ \implies x=-2, 3$ But the limit does not attain a negative value for a square root of a number sequence, so $x=-2$ must be neglected. So, our sequence converges to $3$.
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