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 572: 131

Answer

Proof given below.

Work Step by Step

Given a positive value $\epsilon$, we observe $\epsilon/2$, for which, by definition of limits, there exists an $N$ such that $ n \gt N\displaystyle \quad \Rightarrow \quad |a_{n}-L_{1}| \lt \frac{\epsilon}{2}\quad$ and $ |a_{n}-L_{2}| \lt \displaystyle \frac{\epsilon}{2}$ Then, $|L_{1}-L_{2}|=|(L_{1}-a_{n})+(a_{n}-L_{2})|\leq|L_{1}-a_{n}|+|a_{n}-L_{2}|$ (each of the terms in the last expression is less than $\epsilon/2$) So, if $n\gt N.$ $|L_{1}-L_{2}| \lt \displaystyle \frac{\epsilon}{2}+\frac{\epsilon}{2}=\epsilon$ $\epsilon$ can be as small as we wish, so $|L_{1}-L_{2}| $ must be smaller than any positive number. The only way this is true, is when $|L_{1}-L_{2}| =0$, that is, when $L_{1}=L_{2}.$
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