Thomas' Calculus 13th Edition

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-32187-896-5
ISBN 13: 978-0-32187-896-0

Chapter 10: Infinite Sequences and Series - Section 10.1 - Sequences - Exercises 10.1 - Page 570: 98

Answer

$\dfrac{1 +\sqrt 5}{2} $

Work Step by Step

According to the Principle of Mathematical Induction $a_n \geq 0$ this implies that there exist $n$ for all natural numbers N. Given: $a_{n+1}=\sqrt {1+a_n}$ Let $l=\lim\limits_{n \to \infty}a_{n+1}=\lim\limits_{n \to \infty}\sqrt {1+a_n} ; \\ l=\lim\limits_{n \to \infty} a_n$ Then, $l=\sqrt {1+l} \implies l^2=1+l$ and $l^2-l-1=0 \implies l=\dfrac{1 +\sqrt 5}{2} , \dfrac{1 -\sqrt 5}{2}$ As we are given that $a_n\gt 0$ for all $n \geq 1$ Thus, the limit of the sequence is : $l=\dfrac{1 +\sqrt 5}{2} $
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