Chapter 8: Problem 2
Explain how the Root Test works.
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Chapter 8: Problem 2
Explain how the Root Test works.
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Suppose that you take 200 mg of an antibiotic every 6 hr. The half-life of the drug is 6 hr (the time it takes for half of the drug to be eliminated from your blood). Use infinite series to find the long-term (steady-state) amount of antibiotic in your blood.
The famous Fibonacci sequence was proposed by Leonardo Pisano, also known as Fibonacci, in about \(\mathrm{A.D.} 1200\) as a model for the growth of rabbit populations. It is given by the recurrence relation \(f_{n+1}=f_{n}+f_{n-1},\) for \(n=1,2,3, \ldots,\) where \(f_{0}=1, f_{1}=1 .\) Each term of the sequence is the sum of its two predecessors. a. Write out the first ten terms of the sequence. b. Is the sequence bounded? c. Estimate or determine \(\varphi=\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty} \frac{f_{n+1}}{f_{n}},\) the ratio of the successive terms of the sequence. Provide evidence that \(\varphi=(1+\sqrt{5}) / 2,\) a number known as the golden mean. d. Use induction to verify the remarkable result that $$f_{n}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\varphi^{n}-(-1)^{n} \varphi^{-n}\right).$$
Here is a fascinating (unsolved) problem known as the hailstone problem (or the Ulam Conjecture or the Collatz Conjecture). It involves sequences in two different ways. First, choose a positive integer \(N\) and call it \(a_{0} .\) This is the seed of a sequence. The rest of the sequence is generated as follows: For \(n=0,1,2, \ldots\) $$a_{n+1}=\left\\{\begin{array}{ll} a_{n} / 2 & \text { if } a_{n} \text { is even } \\ 3 a_{n}+1 & \text { if } a_{n} \text { is odd .} \end{array}\right.$$ However, if \(a_{n}=1\) for any \(n,\) then the sequence terminates. a. Compute the sequence that results from the seeds \(N=2,3\), \(4, \ldots, 10 .\) You should verify that in all these cases, the sequence eventually terminates. The hailstone conjecture (still unproved) states that for all positive integers \(N\), the sequence terminates after a finite number of terms. b. Now define the hailstone sequence \(\left\\{H_{k}\right\\},\) which is the number of terms needed for the sequence \(\left\\{a_{n}\right\\}\) to terminate starting with a seed of \(k\). Verify that \(H_{2}=1, H_{3}=7\), and \(H_{4}=2\). c. Plot as many terms of the hailstone sequence as is feasible. How did the sequence get its name? Does the conjecture appear to be true?
A fishery manager knows that her fish population naturally increases at a rate of \(1.5 \%\) per month. At the end of each month, 120 fish are harvested. Let \(F_{n}\) be the fish population after the \(n\) th month, where \(F_{0}=4000\) fish. Assume that this process continues indefinitely. Use infinite series to find the longterm (steady-state) population of the fish.
A fallacy Explain the fallacy in the following argument. Let \(x=1+\frac{1}{3}+\frac{1}{5}+\frac{1}{7}+\cdots\) and \(y=\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{4}+\frac{1}{6}+\frac{1}{8}+\cdots \cdot\) It follows that \(2 y=x+y\) which implies that \(x=y .\) On the other hand, $$ x-y=\underbrace{\left(1-\frac{1}{2}\right)}_{>0}+\underbrace{\left(\frac{1}{3}-\frac{1}{4}\right)}_{>0}+\underbrace{\left(\frac{1}{5}-\frac{1}{6}\right)}_{>0}+\cdots>0 $$ is a sum of positive terms, so \(x>y .\) Therefore, we have shown that \(x=y\) and \(x>y\)
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