Taylor's Theorem

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Taylor's Theorem

Taylor's Theorem provides a way to approximate a function around a point using a


polynomial, assuming is sufficiently differentiable at and near . The
approximation is expressed as a Taylor series.

Statement of Taylor's Theorem

If is -times differentiable at , then can be expressed as:

f(x) = f(a) + f'(a)(x-a) + \frac{f''(a)}{2!}(x-a)^2 + \dots + \frac{f^{(n)}(a)}{n!}


(x-a)^n + R_n(x),

is the -th derivative of evaluated at ,

is the remainder term or error term, representing the difference between the true
function value and the -th order polynomial approximation.

For an infinite Taylor series (if is infinitely differentiable and the series
converges), the expansion becomes:

f(x) = \sum_{k=0}^\infty \frac{f^{(k)}(a)}{k!}(x-a)^k.

Method for Applying Taylor's Theorem

1. Determine the function and expansion point: Identify the function to be


approximated and the point around which the expansion is made.

2. Compute derivatives: Find the derivatives of up to the desired order : .

3. Evaluate derivatives at : Substitute into the derivatives to find .

4. Substitute into the Taylor series formula: Plug the computed values of into the
formula:

f(x) \approx f(a) + f'(a)(x-a) + \frac{f''(a)}{2!}(x-a)^2 + \dots + \frac{f^{(n)}


(a)}{n!}(x-a)^n.

5. Include the remainder (if needed): Add the remainder term , if the accuracy of
the approximation is to be quantified.

6. Simplify the series: Write the series in its simplest form.

Example

Expand around using Taylor's theorem up to the third order.

1. Derivatives of :
f(x) = \ln(1+x), \quad f'(x) = \frac{1}{1+x}, \quad f''(x) = -\frac{1}{(1+x)^2}, \
quad f^{(3)}(x) = \frac{2}{(1+x)^3}.

2. Evaluate at :

f(0) = \ln(1+0) = 0, \quad f'(0) = 1, \quad f''(0) = -1, \quad f^{(3)}(0) = 2.

3. Substitute into the formula:

\ln(1+x) \approx f(0) + f'(0)x + \frac{f''(0)}{2!}x^2 + \frac{f^{(3)}(0)}{3!}x^3

4. Simplify:

\ln(1+x) \approx 0 + x - \frac{x^2}{2} + \frac{2x^3}{6} = x - \frac{x^2}{2} + \


frac{x^3}{3}.

This is the third-order Taylor expansion of about .

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