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Sec. 05 Marquez
TELESCOPING SUMS
MAIN IDEA
Telescoping series are of immense importance. They are at the heart of a very elegant proof of the
Fundamental TheoremP of Calculus. They
PR are also will help us deliver very nice formulas to add
series of the type R
PR 2 3
n=1 n, n=1 n , n=1 n etc. Their importance can not be overemphasized.
As such, we take this opportunity to introduce them and compute a few of them.
TELESCOPING SUMS INTRODUCES
Consider the following finite series:

1 2 + 2 + 3 + 3 4 + 4 5 + 5 6 + 6 7
A close inspection shows that calculating this series is as easy as falling off a log. The reason for
the easiness is that the terms in the middle can be paired and eliminated.

1 + //////////
2 + 2 + //////////
3 + 3 + //////////
4 + 4 + //////////
5 + 5 + //////////
6 + 6 7

When most of the middle terms of a sum collapse, as in this case, we call this a telescoping sum
or is telescoping series. The following are also examples:

1 + 4 + 4 + 9 + 9 + 16 + 16 + 25 + 25 + 36 + 36 + 49
4 + 1 + 9 + 4 + 16 + 9 + 25 + 16 + 36 + 25 + 49 + 36 + 64 + 49
7 + 10 + 10 + 13 + 13 + 16 + 16 + 19 + 19 + 22 + 22 + 25 + 25 + 28
1+ 1
2
+ 21 + 1
3
+ 1
3
+ 1
4
+ 41 + 1
5
+ 1
5
+ 1
6
+ 61 + 1
7
+ 17 + 1
8

Sometimes, there are several terms left at the beginning of the series, and at the end of the series,
consider the following examples and note which terms collapse and which terms are left.
1 + 9 + 4 + 16 + 9 + 25 + 16 + 36 + 25 + 49 + 36 + 64 + 49 + 81 + 64 + 100
7 + 13 + 10 + 16 + 13 + 19 + 16 + 22 + 19 + 25 + 22 + 28 + 25 + 31
3
4
+ 1
2
+ 54 + 2
3
+ 65 + 3
4
+ 6
7
+ 4
5
+ 78 + 5
6
+ 89 + 6
7
+ 9
10
+ 7
8
+ 10
11
+ 8
9
+ 11
12
+ 9
10

More generally,
5
X
[a(n + 1) a(n)] = a(2)a(1)+a(3)a(2)+a(4)a(3)+a(5)a(4)+a(6)a(5) = a(6)a(1)
n=1

Even more generally, for finite series, a(n)

TELESCOPING SERIES PRINCIPLE

Telescoping Series Principle

R
X
[a(n + 1) a(n)] = a(R + 1) a(1)
n=1

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2008 MathHands.com
pre-CALCULUS MathHands.com
Sec. 05 Marquez
EXAMPLES

Compute the following telescoping series.

7
!
X 1 1
+
n=1
n+1 n

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
+ 1 + + + + + + + + + + + +
2 3 2 4 3 5 4 6 5 7 6 8 7
We note every term collapses except for
1
+ 1
8
Compute the following telescoping series.

20
!
X 1 1
+
n=1
n+1 n

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
+ 1 + + + + + + ++ + + + + +
2 3 2 4 3 5 4 19 18 20 19 21 20
We note every term collapses except for
1
+ 1
21
Compute the following telescoping series.

50
X
(n + 1)2 n2
 
n=1

4 1 + 9 4 + 16 9 + + 2401 2304 + 2500 2401 + 2601 2500

We note every term collapses except for

2601 1

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2008 MathHands.com
pre-CALCULUS MathHands.com
Sec. 05 Marquez

1. Compute the following telescoping series.

80
X
[3 (n + 4) 3 (n + 3)]
n=1

2. Compute the following telescoping series.

90
X
[3 (n + 4) 3 (n + 3)]
n=5

3. Compute the following telescoping series.

80
X
[3 (n) 3 (n 1)]
n=1

4. Compute the following telescoping series.

80
X
(n + 2)2 (n + 1)2
 
n=1

5. Compute the following telescoping series.

100
X
(n + 1)2 n2
 
n=1

6. Compute the following telescoping series.

200
X
(n + 1)2 n2
 
n=50

7. Compute the following telescoping series.

100
X
(n + 1)3 n3
 
n=1

8. Compute the following telescoping series.

30
!
X 1 1
+
n=1
n+1 n

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2008 MathHands.com
pre-CALCULUS MathHands.com
Sec. 05 Marquez
9. Compute the following telescoping series.

60
!
X n n1
+
n=1
n+1 n

10. Compute the following telescoping series.

500
!
X 3n + 1 3n 2
+
n=1
n+1 n

11. Compute the following telescoping series.

900
!
X 5n + 4 5n 1
+
n=7
n+5 n4

12.
100
X
(n + 2)2 n2


n=1

13.
100
X
(n + 3)2 n2


n=1

14.
100
X
(n + 4)2 n2


n=1

15.
100  
X 1
ln 1 +
n=2
n
n+1
(hint: 1 + 1/n = n
)

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2008 MathHands.com