Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A student studies the sums , which have terms. She remembers that the harmonic series grows without limit, so she is not sure that sums of this kind stay bounded. She wants to know whether settles on a number as grows. She first finds and with a calculator, before she tries any other idea. Then she writes each term as , so that . This is a right-hand sum for a definite integral on . She replaces by and by , and then evaluates the integral with a logarithm. Her teacher asks her to explain every step in plain words. Find and to four decimal places, and the limit of as to four decimal places.
Cut into strips of width . The right-hand sum is , and its limit is the integral.
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Given. .
Plan. Find the two values, then turn the sum into an integral.
Step 1. The two values. . .
Step 2. As a sum. with .
Step 3. As an integral. The limit is .
Answer: , and the limit is .
Check. The values rise from to and head for .
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