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3.11.E: Problems on Limits of Sequences (Exercises)

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)

See also Chapter 2, §13.

Exercise 3.11.E.1

Prove that if xm0 and if {am} is bounded in E1 or C, then
amxm0.
This is true also if the xm are vectors and the am are scalars (or vice versa).
[Hint: If {am} is bounded, there is a KE1 such that
(m)|am|<K.
As xm0,
(ε>0)(k)(m>k)|xm|<εK(why?),
so |amxm|<ε.]

Exercise 3.11.E.2

Prove Theorem 1( ii ).
[Hint: By Corollary 2(ii)(iii) in §14, we must show that amxmaw0. Now
amxmaq=am(xmq)+(ama)q.
where xmq0 and ama0 by Corollary 2 of §14. Hence by Problem 1,
am(xmq)0 and (ama)q0
(treat q as a constant sequence and use Corollary 5 in §14). Now apply Theorem 1(i).]

Exercise 3.11.E.3

Prove that if ama and a0 in E1 or C, then
(ε>0)(k)(m>k)|am|ε.
(We briefly say that the am are bounded away from 0, for m>k.) Hence prove the boundedness of {1am} for m>k.
[Hint: For the first part, proceed as in the proof of Corollary 1 in §14, with xm=am, p=a, and q=0.
For the second part, the inequalities
(m>k)|1am|1ε
lead to the desired result. ]

Exercise 3.11.E.4

Prove that if ama0 in E1 or C, then
1am1a.
Use this and Theorem 1( ii) to prove Theorem 1( iii), noting that 
xmam=xm1am.
[Hint: Use Note 3 and Problem 3 to find that
(m>k)|1am1a|=1|a||ama|1|am|,
where {1am} is bounded and 1|a||ama|0. (Why?)
Hence, by Problem 1,|1am1a|0. Proceed. ]

Exercise 3.11.E.5

Prove Corollaries 1 and 2 in two ways:
(i) Use Definition 2 of Chapter 2, §13 for Corollary 1(a), treating infinite limits separately; then prove (b) by assuming the opposite and exhibiting a contradiction to (a).
(ii) Prove (b) first by using Corollary 2 and Theorem 3 of Chapter 2, §13; then deduce (a) by contradiction.

Exercise 3.11.E.6

Prove Corollary 3 in two ways (cf. Problem 5).

Exercise 3.11.E.7

Prove Theorem 4 as suggested, and also without using Theorem 1(i).

Exercise 3.11.E.8

Prove Theorem 2.
[Hint: If ¯xm¯p, then
(ε>0)(q)(m>q)ε>|¯xm¯p||xmkpk|.(Why?)
Thus by definition xmkpk,k=1,2,,n.
Conversely, if so, use Theorem 1(i)( ii ) to obtain
nk=1xmkeknk=1pkek,
with ek as in Theorem 2 of §§1-3].

Exercise 3.11.E.8

In Problem 8, prove the converse part from definitions. ( Fix ε>0, etc. )

Exercise 3.11.E.9

Find the following limits in E1, in two ways: (i) using Theorem 1, justifying each step; (ii) using definitions only.
 (a) limmm+1m; (b) limm3m+22m1 (c) limn11+n2; (d) limnn(n1)12n2
[ Solution of (a) by the first method: Treat 
m+1m=1+1m
as the sum of xm=1 (constant) and
ym=1m0 (proved in §14).
Thus by Theorem 1(i),
m+1m=xm+ym1+0=1.
Second method: Fix ε>0 and find k such that
(m>k)|m+1m1|<ε.
Solving for m, show that this holds if m>1ε. Thus take an integer k>1ε, so
(m>k)|m+1m1|<ε.
Caution: One cannot apply Theorem 1 (iii) directly, treating (m+1)/m as the quotient of xm=m+1 and am=m, because xm and am diverge in E1. (Theorem 1 does not apply to infinite limits.) As a remedy, we first divide the numerator and denominator by a suitable power of m( or n).]

Exercise 3.11.E.10

Prove that
|xm|+ in E iff 1xm0(xm0).

Exercise 3.11.E.11

Prove that if
xm+ and ymq in E,
then
xm+ym+.
This is written symbolically as
"++q=+ if q."
Do also
"+q= if q+."
Prove similarly that
"(+)q=+ if q>0"
and
"(+)q= if q<0."
[Hint: Treat the cases qE1,q=+, and q= separately. Use definitions.]

Exercise 3.11.E.12

Find the limit (or lim_ and ¯lim) of the following sequences in E:
(a) xn=242n=2nn!;
(b) xn=5nn3;
(c) xn=2n4n33n21;
(d) xn=(1)nn!;
(e) xn=(1)nn!.
[Hint for (b):xn=n(5n2); use Problem 11.]

Exercise 3.11.E.13

Use Corollary 4 in §14, to find the following:
(a) limn(1)n1+n2;
(b) limn1n+(1)n2n+1.

Exercise 3.11.E.14

Find the following.
(a) limn1+2++nn2;
(b) limnnk=1k2n3+1;
(c) limnnk=1k3n41.
[Hint: Compute nk=1km using Problem 10 of Chapter 2, §§5-6.]
What is wrong with the following "solution" of (a):1n20,2n20, etc.; hence the limit is 0?

Exercise 3.11.E.15

For each integer m0, let
Smn=1m+2m++nm.
Prove by induction on m that
limnSmn(n+1)m+1=1m+1.
[Hint: First prove that
(m+1)Smn=(n+1)m+11m1i=0(m+1i)Smi
by adding up the binomial expansions of (k+1)m+1,k=1,,n.]

Exercise 3.11.E.16

Prove that
limnqn=+ if q>1;limnqn=0 if |q|<1;limn1n=1.
[Hint: If q>1, put q=1+d,d>0. By the binomial expansion,
qn=(1+d)n=1+nd++dn>nd+.(Why?)
If |q|<1, then |1q|>1; so lim|1q|n=+; use Problem 10.]

Exercise 3.11.E.17

Prove that
limnnqn=0 if |q|>1, and limnnqn=+ if 0<q<1.
[Hint: If |q|>1, use the binomial as in Problem 16 to obtain
|q|n>12n(n1)d2,n2, so n|q|n<2(n1)d20.
Use Corollary 3 with
xn=0,|zn|=n|q|n, and yn=2(n1)d2
to get |zn|0; hence also zn0 by Corollary 2( iii) of §14. In case 0<q<1, use  10.]

Exercise 3.11.E.18

Let r,aE1. Prove that
limnnran=0 if |a|>1.
[Hint: If r>1 and a>1, use Problem 17 with q=a1/r to get nan/r0. As
0<nran=(nan/r)rnan/r0,
obtain nran0.
If r<1, then nran<nan0. What if a<1?]

Exercise 3.11.E.19

(Geometric series.) Prove that if |q|<1, then
limn(a+aq++aqn1)=a1q.
[Hint:
a(1+q++qn1)=a1qn1q,
where qn0, by Problem 16.]

Exercise 3.11.E.20

Let 0<c<+. Prove that
limnnc=1.
[ Hint: If c>1, put nc=1+dn,dn>0. Expand c=(1+dn)n to show that 
0<dn<cn0,
so dn0 by Corollary 3.]

Exercise 3.11.E.21

Investigate the following sequences for monotonicity, lim_, ¯lim, and lim. (In each case, find suitable formula, or formulas, for the general term.)
(a) 2,5,10,17,26,;
(b) 2,2,2,2,;
(c) 2,2,6,10,14,;
(d) 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,;
(e) 321,464,5109,61416,.

Exercise 3.11.E.22

Do Problem 21 for the following sequences.
(a) 123,834,2745,6456,12567,;
(b) 29,59,89,139,;
(c) 23,25,47,49,611,613,
(d) 1,3,5,1,1,3,5,2,1,3,5,3,,1,3,5,n,;
(e) 0.9,0.99,0.999,;
(f) +,1,+,2,+,3,;
(g),1,,12,,,1n,.

Exercise 3.11.E.23

Do Problem 20 as follows: If c1,{nc}.(Why?) By Theorem 3, p=limnnc exists and
(n)1pnc, i.e., 1pnc.
By Problem 16,p cannot be >1, so p=1.
In case 0<c<1, consider n1/c and use Theorem 1( iii) .

Exercise 3.11.E.24

Prove the existence of limxn and find it when xn is defined inductively by
(i) x1=2,xn+1=2xn;
(ii) x1=c>0,xn+1=c2+xn;
(iii) x1=c>0,xn+1=cxnn+1; hence deduce that limncnn!=0.
[Hint: Show that the sequences are monotone and bounded in E1 (Theorem 3).
For example, in (ii) induction yields
xn<xn+1<c+1.( Verify! )
Thus limxn=limxn+1=p exists. To find p, square the equation
xn+1=c2+xn( given )
and use Theorem 1 to get
p2=c2+p.(Why?)
Solving for p (noting that p>0), obtain
p=limxn=12(1+4c2+1);
similarly in cases (i) and (iii). ]

Exercise 3.11.E.25

Find limxn in E1 or E (if any), given that
(a) xn=(n+1)qnq,0<q<1;
(b) xn=n(n+1n);
(c) xn=1n2+k;
(d) xn=n(n+1)cn, with |c|<1;
(e) xn=nmk=1ank, with ak>0;
(f) xn=357(2n+1)258(3n1).
[Hints:
(a) 0<xn=nq[(1+1n)q1]<nq(1+1n1)=nq10.(Why?)
(b) xn=11+1+1/n, where 1<1+1n<1+1n1, so xn12. (Why?)
(c) Verify that
nn2+nxnnn2+1,
so xn1 by Corollary 3. (Give a proof.)
(d) See Problems 17 and 18.
(e) Let a=max(a1,,am). Prove that axnanm. Use Problem 20.]
The following are some harder but useful problems of theoretical importance.
The explicit hints should make them not too hard.

Exercise 3.11.E.26

Let {xn}E1. Prove that if xnp in E1, then also
limn1nni=1xi=p
(i.e., p is also the limit of the sequence of the arithmetic means of the xn).
[Solution: Fix ε>0. Then
(k)(n>k)pε4<xn<p+ε4.
Adding nk inequalities, get
(nk)(pε4)<ni=k+1xi<(nk)(p+ε4).
With k so fixed, we thus have
(n>k)nkn(pε4)<1n(xk+1++xn)<nkn(p+ε4).
Here, with k and ε fixed,
limnnkn(pε4)=pε4.
Hence, as p12ε<p14ε, there is k such that
(n>k)pε2<nkn(pε4).
Similarly,
(k)(n>k)nkn(p+ε4)<p+ε2.
Combining this with (i), we have, for K=max(k,k,k),
(n>K)pε2<1n(xk+1++xn)<p+ε2.
Now with k fixed,
limn1n(x1+x2++xk)=0.
Hence
(K)(n>K)ε2<1n(x1++xk)<ε2.
Let K=max(K,K). Then combining with (ii), we have
(n>K)pε<1n(x1++xn)<p+ε,
and the result follows.

Exercise 3.11.E.26

Show that the result of Problem 26 holds also for infinite limits p=±E.

Exercise 3.11.E.27

Prove that if xnp in E(xn>0), then
limnnx1x2xn=p.
[Hint: Let first 0<p<+. Given ε>0, use density to fix δ>1 so close to 1 that
pε<pδ<p<pδ<p+ε.
As xnp,
(k)(n>k)p4δ<xn<p4δ.
Continue as in Problem 26, replacing ε by δ, and multiplication by addition (also subtraction by division, etc., as shown above). Find a similar solution for the case p=+. Note the result of Problem 20.]

Exercise 3.11.E.28

Disprove by counterexamples the converse implications in Problems 26 and 27. For example, consider the sequences
1,1,1,1,
and
12,2,12,2,12,2,

Exercise 3.11.E.29

Prove the following.
(i) If {xn}E1 and limn(xn+1xn)=p in E, then xnnp.
(ii) If {xn}E1(xn>0) and if xn+1xnpE, then nxnp.
Disprove the converse statements by counterexamples.
[Hint: For (i), let y1=x1 and yn=xnxn1,n=2,3, Then ynp and
1nni=1yi=xnn,
so Problems 26 and 26 apply.
For (ii), use Problem 27. See Problem 28 for examples. ]

Exercise 3.11.E.30

From Problem 29 deduce that
(a) limnnn!=+;
(b) limnn+1n!=0;
(c) limnnnnn!=e;
(d) limn1nnn!=1e;
(e) limnnn=1.

Exercise 3.11.E.31

Prove that
limnxn=a+2b3,
given
x0=a,x1=b, and xn+2=12(xn+xn+1).
[Hint: Show that the differences dn=xnxn1 form a geometric sequence, with ratio q=12, and xn=a+nk=1dk. Then use the result of Problem 19.]

Exercise 3.11.E.32

32. For any sequence {xn}E1, prove that
lim_xnlim_1nni=1xi¯lim1nni=1xi¯limxn.
Hence find a new solution of Problems 26 and 26.
[Proof for ¯lim: Fix any kN. Put
c=ki=1xi and b=supikxi.
Verify that
(n>k)xk+1+xk+2++xn(nk)b.
Add c on both sides and divide by n to get
(n>k)1nni=1xicn+nknb.
Now fix any ε>0, and first let |b|<+. As cn0 and nknbb, there is nk>k such that
(n>nk)cn<ε2 and nknb<b+ε2.
Thus by (i),
(n>nk)1nni=1xiε+b.
This clearly holds also if b=supikxi=+. Hence also
supnnk1nni=1xiε+supikxi.
As k and ε were arbitrary, we may let first k+, then ε0, to obtain
lim_1nni=1xilimksupikxi=¯limxn.( Explain! )]

Exercise 3.11.E.33

33. Given {xn}E1,xn>0, prove that
lim_xnlim_nx1x2xn and ¯limnx1x2xn¯limxn.
Hence obtain a new solution for Problem 27.
[Hint: Proceed as suggested in Problem 32, replacing addition by multiplication.]

Exercise 3.11.E.34

Given xn,ynE1(yn>0), with
xnpE and bn=ni=1yi+,
prove that
limnni=1xiyini=1yi=p.
Note that Problem 26 is a special case of Problem 34 (take all yn=1). [Hint for a finite p: Proceed as in Problem 26. However, before adding the n-k inequalities, multiply by y_{i} and obtain
\left(p-\frac{\varepsilon}{4}\right) \sum_{i=k+1}^{n} y_{i}<\sum_{i=k+1}^{n} x_{i} y_{i}<\left(p+\frac{\varepsilon}{4}\right) \sum_{i=k+1}^{n} y_{i}.
\operatorname{Put} b_{n}=\sum_{i=1}^{n} y_{i} and show that
\frac{1}{b_{n}} \sum_{i=k+1}^{n} x_{i} y_{i}=1-\frac{1}{b_{n}} \sum_{i=1}^{k} x_{i} y_{i},
where b_{n} \rightarrow+\infty(\text { by assumption }), so
\frac{1}{b_{n}} \sum_{i=1}^{k} x_{i} y_{i} \rightarrow 0 \quad \text { (for a fixed } k ).
Proceed. Find a proof for p=\pm \infty . ]

Exercise \PageIndex{35}

Do Problem 34 by considering \underline{\lim} and \overline{\lim} as in Problem 32.
\left[\text { Hint: Replace } \frac{c}{n} \text { by } \frac{c}{b_{n}}, \text { where } b_{n}=\sum_{i=1}^{n} y_{i} \rightarrow+\infty .\right]

Exercise \PageIndex{36}

Prove that if u_{n}, v_{n} \in E^{1}, with \left\{v_{n}\right\} \uparrow (strictly) and v_{n} \rightarrow+\infty, and if
\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty} \frac{u_{n}-u_{n-1}}{v_{n}-v_{n-1}}=p \quad\left(p \in E^{*}\right),
then also
\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty} \frac{u_{n}}{v_{n}}=p,
[Hint: The result of Problem 34, with
x_{n}=\frac{u_{n}-u_{n-1}}{v_{n}-v_{n-1}} \text { and } y_{n}=v_{n}-v_{n-1}.
leads to the final result. ]

Exercise \PageIndex{37}

From Problem 36 obtain a new solution for Problem 15 . Also prove that
\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty}\left(\frac{S_{m n}}{n^{m+1}}-\frac{1}{m+1}\right)=\frac{1}{2}.
[Hint: For the first part, put
u_{n}=S_{m n} \text { and } v_{n}=n^{m+1}.
For the second, put
u_{n}=(m+1) S_{m n}-n^{m+1} \text { and } v_{n}=n^{m}(m+1) . ]

Exercise \PageIndex{38}

Let 0<a<b<+\infty . Define inductively: a_{1}=\sqrt{a b} and b_{1}=\frac{1}{2}(a+b);
a_{n+1}=\sqrt{a_{n} b_{n}} \text { and } b_{n+1}=\frac{1}{2}\left(a_{n}+b_{n}\right), n=1,2, \ldots
Then a_{n+1}<b_{n+1} for
b_{n+1}-a_{n+1}=\frac{1}{2}\left(a_{n}+b_{n}\right)-\sqrt{a_{n} b_{n}}=\frac{1}{2}\left(\sqrt{b_{n}}-\sqrt{a_{n}}\right)^{2}>0.
Deduce that
a<a_{n}<a_{n+1}<b_{n+1}<b_{n}<b,
so \left\{a_{n}\right\} \uparrow and \left\{b_{n}\right\} \downarrow . By Theorem 3, a_{n} \rightarrow p and b_{n} \rightarrow q for some p, q \in E^{1} . Prove that p=q, i.e.,
\lim a_{n}=\lim b_{n}.
(This is Gauss's arithmetic-geometric mean of a and b . )
[Hint: Take limits of both sides in b_{n+1}=\frac{1}{2}\left(a_{n}+b_{n}\right) to get q=\frac{1}{2}(p+q) . ]

Exercise \PageIndex{39}

Let 0<a<b in E^{1} . Define inductively a_{1}=a, b_{1}=b,
a_{n+1}=\frac{2 a_{n} b_{n}}{a_{n}+b_{n}}, \text { and } b_{n+1}=\frac{1}{2}\left(a_{n}+b_{n}\right), \quad n=1,2, \ldots
Prove that
\sqrt{a b}=\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty} a_{n}=\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty} b_{n}.
[Hint: Proceed as in Problem 38.]

Exercise \PageIndex{40}

Prove the continuity of dot multiplication, namely, if
\overline{x}_{n} \rightarrow \overline{q} \text { and } \overline{y}_{n} \rightarrow \overline{r} \text { in } E^{n}
(*or in another Euclidean space; see §9), then
\overline{x}_{n} \cdot \overline{y}_{n} \rightarrow \overline{q} \cdot \overline{r}.


3.11.E: Problems on Limits of Sequences (Exercises) is shared under a CC BY 1.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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