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LimitsofSequences

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The above graph represents the sequence

predict the behavior of the sequence even when

. You see, on analyzing the graph we can

tends to infinity.

This wiki page will prove itself as the strong foundation of your concepts of "limits of sequences". After working through
this page you will able to identify the convergent and divergent sequences, recognize the limits of the simple convergent
sequences through graphical means and using the properties of limits making you capable of solving several related
problems.

Contents
ConvergenceofSequences
Graphicalexamples
UsingPropertiesofLimits
Calvintoremove
EpsilonDeltaDefinition

ConvergenceofSequences

Edit

Here we will be discussing the aspects you will need to know for understanding the concept of convergence of a sequence.
We will be delivering you the step wise presentation of all the concepts. So lets first know what exactly does a sequence
mean?
A sequence is a function
defined as
, then the sequence is denoted by
call
the nth term of the sequence or the value of the sequence at n. For example,

https://brilliant.org/wiki/limitsofsequences/?subtopic=sequencesandlimits&chapter=limits#limitsofsequenceshard

or simply by

. We

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As now we are familiar with the sequences, lets know what does limit of a sequence represent? In simple words, limit is a
mathematically precise way to talk about approaching a value, without having to evaluate it directly.
Limit of sequence: A real number L is the limit of the sequence (x_n) if the numbers in the sequence become closer and
closer to L and not to any other number. In a general sense, the limit of a sequence is the value that it approaches with
arbitrary closeness.
For example, if

for some constant c, then

and if

, then

And when limit of a sequence at

approaches to a single value, then we say the sequence converges. Lets define the
convergence of a sequence in a formal way.
Convergence: We say that a sequence
number
such that

converges if there exists

or
for all

such that for every

, there exists a natural

It can be easily veried that if such a number

exists then it is unique. In this case, we say that the sequence
converges to
and we call
the limit of the sequence . If
is the limit of , we write
.

Remark: The convergence of each sequence given in the above examples is veried directly from the denition. In
general, verifying the convergence directly from the denition is a difficult task. We will see some methods to nd
limits of certain sequences and some sufficient conditions for the convergence of a sequence.

Now we have known the concept of convergence in theoretical terms. It's time now to workout some examples and build a
strong foundation of the convergence of the sequences. Here we go:

Example

Does the following sequence converge:

The sequence seems to be approaching 0. The larger we get, the term becomes smaller and smaller towards 0. Thus,
the sequence converges.
Proof:
For arbitrary

, the inequality

natural number such that

is true for all

. Thus for any

and hence for all

, there is a natural number

such that

, where

is any

for every

Example

Does the following sequence converge:

In this sequence we see that the values are decreasing as increases, and eventually approaches a single value. The
larger we take the value of , the term becomes closer and closer to 1.Hence the elements of the given sequence
approach 1 when approaches to infinity. So the sequence converges to 1.
Proof:
The elements of the sequences

seem to approach a single point as

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increases. In these sequences

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the values are either increasing or decreasing as

increases, but they eventually approach a single point.

Example

Does the following sequence converge:

The sequence seems to be approaching 1. The larger we get, the term becomes smaller and smaller towards 1. Thus,
the sequence converges.
Though the elements of the sequence

oscillate, they eventually approach the single point 0. The common

feature of these sequences is that the terms of each sequence accumulate at only one point.

TryItYourself

Let

Evaluate

Divergence: We say that a function diverges if the limit does not exist. For an example, (-1)^n, { 1/n, (n-1)/n }

Example

Does the following sequence converge:

It is clear that the sequence bounces back and forth between 1 and -1, and it doesn't converge down to a value. We say
that the sequence diverges.

Example

Does the following sequence converge:

It is clear that the sequence bounces back and forth between 1 and -1, and it doesn't converge down to a value. We say
that the sequence diverges.
The elements of the sequence
oscillate between two different points 1 and 1 which means the elements of the
sequence come close to 1 and 1 frequently as increases.

Divergence to infinity: We say that a function diverges to infinity, if it tends to positive infinity, or negative infinity. For
an example, n, ln n

Example

Does the following sequence converge:

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The sequence of integers is unbounded above. Such sequences would diverge to (positive) infinity.
On the other hand, values of the sequence

become larger and larger and do not accumulate anywhere.

Example

Does the following sequence converge:

The sequence of integers is unbounded above. Such sequences would diverge to (positive) infinity.

Note: In the above examples, we see that if the difference between successive terms is bounded below by a constant (2 in
the 2nd example, 1 in the 3rd example), then such a sequence diverges. It will be shown below that if a sequence converges,
then the limit of the difference between successive terms is 0.
Note: It is true that if a positive sequence is non-decreasing, then the limit exists. However, we might not be able to easily
determine the limit.

Graphicalexamples

Edit

Graphical interpretation of sequences as an easy tool to determine convergence

Somestimes it is easy to see
Sometimes we might draw the wrong conclusion - Ln n"

Example

Find the limit:

Let's evaluate the first few terms of this sequence.

For
.
For
.
For
.
For
.
For
.
We suspect the sequence diverges, as its values will oscillate between -1 and 1 . We can actually prove it using theorem
313. We notice that for any n, jcos 2n
cos ((2n + 1)
)j = 2. For the sequence to converge, this dierence should approach
0. Hence, the sequence diverges.
Thus, we actually have the sequence

, which diverges.

Example

Find the limit of

If we write out the initial few terms, we will get

not immediately apparent what the limit is.
Let's think about what happens when
If
, then
and so
If
If

, then
, then

and so
and so

so on and so forth. It is

is really large.
.
.
.

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Thus, the limit of the sequence is 0.

UsingPropertiesofLimits

Edit

Main article: Properties of Limits

You should be familiar with the following properties of limits. If the limits

and

exist and are finite, then

Example

What is the limit of the sequence:

To start, Let's list out the terms:

For
,
.
For

For

For

For

.
.
.
.

We see that the terms are increasing, and seem to be getting close to 1.
Notice that another way of writing the sequence is as
the limit of

. We know that the limit of the constant 1 is just 1, and

is 0, so we can apply the first rule to conclude that:

Example

Find

We know that

Therefore, by applying the third rule, we have

Example

Find

By factoring the term of highest degree from both the numerator and denominator, we have

Now, by applying the results of previous examples that

and

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we have

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Therefore,

Example

Find

By using the property of logarithm that

we can rewrite the given equation and get the

limit value as follows:

TryItYourself

Bonus: Try converting the limit to a Riemann sum.

TryItYourself

Tetration is defined as

JoinBrilliant2

Search

Find the value of

Submityouranswer

Calvintoremove

Edit

"(Maybe for another wiki page) Problem solving

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(Advanced Examples)
""Additional properties"" - Limit of a continuous function = functional value of the limit, lim f(an) = f ( lim an)
Increasing monotonic sequence that is bounded above has a limit
Decreasing monotonoic sequence that is bounded below has a limit
\sqrt{ a_n} -> \sqrt{ L }"

Example

Find

Observe that

then the value of the given equation can be calculated as follows:

Example

For a positive integer

let

be the fractional part of

Then find

For a positive integer, it must be true that

which implies
Therefore, the integer part of

Hence, we have
is

and the fractional part of it is

Thus, we have

EpsilonDeltaDefinition

Edit

Main Article: Epsilon-Delta Definition of a Limit

Stated precisely, the epsilon-delta definition of a limit is

if for every

there exists a positive integer

such that

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Theorem

If the sequence

converges, then

Note: The converse of the theorem is not true. For example, consider the sequence
, which is the sum of the
reciprocals. The difference of successive terms is
which tends to 0. However, the sum of reciprocals diverges to infinity.

Proof

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