If 0<x<1, find the following sum: S = 1+2*x + 3*x^2 + 4*x^3 + ...

The first thought when trying to solve such a problem is that you might be able to write this sum as a geometric progression. Luckily, it is the case here as well, as we can observe that S is the derivative (with respect to x) of another sum: P = x + x^2 + x^3 + ... . We can easily find P = x * (1-x^N)/(1-x), where N tends to infinity so P reduces to P = x/(1-x). Now, in order to calculate S, we ca simply take the first order derivative of P and find that S=1/(1-x)^2.

HM

Related Further Mathematics A Level answers

All answers ▸

Find the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the following 3x3 matrix (reading left to right, top to bottom): (1 0 2 3 1 1 2 0 1)


What does it mean if two matrices are said to be commutative?


Use de Moivre’s theorem to show that, (sin(x))^5 = A sin(5x) + Bsin(3x) + Csin(x), where A , B and C are constants to be found.


Convert the general complex number z=x+iy to modulus-argument form.