How do you find the Maclaurin series for 1/(2-3x)?

1 Answer
Jul 16, 2016

If f(x) = (1)/(2-3x), then

f(x) = 1/2 + 3/4 x + 9/8 x^2 + 27/16 x^3 + 81/32 x^4 + ... = sum_(n=0)^(∞) (3^n x^n)/(2^(n+1))

Explanation:

To find a Maclaurin series for f(x) = (1)/(2-3x), it is probably easier to take a few derivatives in order to see a pattern evolve. Remember that a Maclaurin series is just a special case of a Taylor series centered at x=0 given by the infinite sum of

f(0) + (f^(1)(0))/(1!) x + (f^(2)(0))/(2!) x^2 + (f^(3)(0))/(2!) x^3 + ... = sum_(n=0)^(∞) (f^(n)(0)x^n)/(n!)

As we can see, we'd need a few derivatives to get started.

Derivatives:

f(x) = (1)/(2-3x)

f^(1)(x) = -(2-3x)^(-2)(-3) = (3)/(2-3x)^(2)

f^(2)(x) = -6(2-3x)^(-3)(-3) = (18)/(2-3x)^(3)

f^(3)(x) = -54(2-3x)^(-4)(-3) = (162)/(2-3x)^(4)

f^(4)(x) = -648(2-3x)^(-5)(-3) = (1944)/(2-3x)^(5)

Evaluating our derivatives at x=0:

f(0) = (1)/(2^1) = 1/2

f^(1)(0) = (3)/(2^2) = 3/4

f^(2)(0) = (18)/(2^3) = 18/8

f^(3)(0) = (162)/(2^4) = 162/16

f^(4)(0) = (1944)/(2^5) = 1944/32

We can now write out all terms as an infinite sum:

f(x) = (1/2)/(0!) + (3/4)/(1!) x + (18/8)/(2!) x^2 + (162/16)/(3!) x^3 + (1944/32)/(4!) x^4 + ...

If we simplify our denominators and numerators we get

f(x) = 1/2 + 3/4 x + 18/16 x^2 + 162/96 x^3 + 1944/768 x^4 + ...

And even after more simplification we finally get our infinite sum

f(x) = 1/2 + 3/4 x + 9/8 x^2 + 27/16 x^3 + 81/32 x^4 + ... = sum_(n=0)^(∞) (3^n x^n)/(2^(n+1))