The Reciprocal Series
Reference > Mathematics > Slick MathYou have a series in which each element sn = 1/(n+1). The question is: does this series converge or diverge? In other words, does it have a finite (convergent) or infinite (divergent) sum?
Solution
The series diverges. This can be seen easily by dividing it into groups as follows:
G1 = 1/2
G2 = 1/3 + 1/4
G3 = 1/5 + 1/6 + 1/7 + 1/8
Each group Gk contains 2k - 1 elements, and each element is greater than or equal to the last element in the group. Thus, the numerical value of each group is greater than (the number of elements in the group) times (the last element in the group).
Thus, for all groups, Gk >= 2k-1*1/2k.
This means the value of each group is greater than or equal to 1/2. Summing an infinite number of values greater than 1/2 results in an infinite value, so the series diverges.
Isn't that slick?