Streak

Calculus Level 3

The n n -th derivative of the function f ( x ) = 1 1 x 2 f(x) = \frac{1}{1-x^2} at the point x = 0, where n n is even, is

n! 0 None of the foregoing quantities 3n

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1 solution

Marco Brezzi
Aug 2, 2017

To make things easier, we can rewrite f ( x ) f(x) as

f ( x ) = 1 1 x 2 = k = 0 x 2 k f(x)=\dfrac{1}{1-x^2}= \sum_{k=0}^{\infty}x^{2k}

With radius of convergence x < 1 |x|<1

Since we have to evaluate the n n -th derivative at x = 0 x=0 , we can use this latter formula

f ( x ) = 1 + x 2 + x 4 + x 6 + f(x)=1+x^2+x^4+x^6+\cdots

Since n n is even, there is a term of the form x n x^n

If we derive n n times, al terms from 1 1 up to x n 2 x^{n-2} wanish. We now proceed to find the n n -th derivative of x n x^n

d ( x n ) d x = n x n 1 \dfrac{d(x^n)}{dx}=nx^{n-1}

d 2 ( x n ) d x 2 = n ( n 1 ) x n 2 \dfrac{d^2(x^n)}{dx^2}=n(n-1)x^{n-2}

\vdots

d n ( x n ) d x n = n ( n 1 ) ( n 2 ) 2 1 = n ! \dfrac{d^n(x^n)}{dx^n}=n(n-1)(n-2)\cdots 2\cdot 1=n!

Since all the terms from x n + 2 x^{n+2} onwards after the procedure have at least a factor of x x , when we plug in 0 0 they vanish too, making the answer

f ( n ) ( 0 ) = n ! f^{(n)}(0)=\boxed{n!}

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