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bummer
Lv 6
bummer asked in Science & MathematicsMathematics · 1 decade ago

help me please? i desperately need help with my math?

find the first 4 terms i the MacLaurin Series for e^-x2

how to solve it? what should we do first?

1 Answer

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  • 1 decade ago
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    I assume you mean e^(- x^2). Did you want the first 4 terms including or excluding zeroes?

    The Maclaurin series expansion for f(x) is

    f(x) = f(0) + x f ' (0) + x^2/2! f ' ' (0) + ...

    If f(x) = e^(- x^2) then

    f ' (x) = - 2x e^(- x^2)

    and f ' (0) = 0

    f ' ' (x) = (4x^2 - 2) e^(- x^2)

    and f ' ' (0) = - 2

    f ' ' ' (x) = (- 8x^3 + 12x) e^(- x^2)

    and f ' ' ' (0) = 0

    So the Maclaurin series expansion for e^(- x^2) is

    e^(- x^2) = 1 + 0 - x^2 + 0 ...

    For further terms, just continue the process above.

    P.S. It has just occurred to me that there is a simpler way.

    Let - x^2 = y and do the expansion for g(y) = e^y as follows:

    g(y) = g(0) + y g ' (0) + y^2/2! g ' ' (0) + ...

    = 1 + y + y^2/2! + y^3/3! + ...

    Then substitute - x^2 for y as follows:

    e^(- x^2) = 1 - x^2 + x^4/2 - x^6/6 + ...

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