Calculus 10th Edition

Published by Brooks Cole
ISBN 10: 1-28505-709-0
ISBN 13: 978-1-28505-709-5

Chapter 9 - Inifnite Series - 9.1 Exercises - Page 592: 27

Answer

The sequence diverges

Work Step by Step

Our inference, based on the graph (see below) is that the sequence diverges. Analytically, we base our conclusion applying the definition: "The limit of a sequence $\{a_{n}\}$ is $L$, written as $\displaystyle \lim_{n\rightarrow\infty}a_{n}=L$ if for each $\epsilon > 0$, there exists $M > 0$ such that $|a_{n}-L| < \epsilon$ whenever $n > M$." Re-wording the definition: If, for any small interval around L, $(L-\epsilon,L+\epsilon)$ we can find the M-th term after which all terms belong to that interval,\ then L is the limit of $\{a_{n}\}$ Since $\{a_{n}\}=\{1,0, -1,0,1, \ldots\},$ we can find an $\epsilon$, for example $\epsilon=0.1$, for which there does not exist an M-th term after which all terms will be within $\pm 0.1$ of any chosen number L. So the "for each $\epsilon > 0$, there exists $M > 0$ such that..." is not satisfied. The sequence does not have a limit. The sequence diverges
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