TAYLOR SERIES AND POLYNOMIALS

Taylor series and polynomials are of basic importance and used extensively in numerical
analysis, in approximating a differentiable function and its integral etc.

Taylor Series

Then, for x ∈ [a, b], 𝑓(𝑥) can be expressed as the infinite series (called Taylor’s Series)
Let f and its higher order derivatives be continuous on [a, b] and x0 be a fixed point in [a, b].

'' ( n) ( n+1 )
' f ( x0 ) f ( x0) f ( x0 )
f ( x )=f ( x 0 ) + f ( x 0 ) ( x−x 0 ) + ( x−x 0 )2+ …+ ( x−x 0 )n + ( x−x 0 )n+1 +…
2! n! ( n+1 ) !

Taylor Polynomial
( n)
f ( x0)
If the Taylor’s series is truncated to the term ( x−x 0 )n , then the polynomial obtained is
n!
called the Taylor’s polynomial
'' ( n)
' f ( x0) f ( x0 )
f ( x ) ≈ Pn ( x )=f ( x 0 ) + f ( x 0 ) ( x−x 0 ) + ( x−x 0 )2+ …+ ( x−x 0 )n
2! n!
Theorem (Taylor’s Theorem)
Suppose f ∈ Cn [a, b], that f (n+1) exists on [a, b], and x0 ∈ [a, b]. For every x ∈ [a, b], there
exists a number ξ(x) between x0 and x with
f ( x )=P n ( x ) + Rn (x )

Where
'' (n)
' f ( x0 ) f ( x0)
Pn ( x )=f ( x 0 ) + f ( x 0 ) ( x−x 0 ) + ( x−x 0 )2 +…+ ( x −x0 ) n
2! n!

and
(n+1)
f ( ξ (x) ) n+1
Rn ( x )=
(n+ 1)!
( x−x 0 ) .

Here Pn ( x ) is the nth Taylor polynomial for f about x0, and Rn ( x ) is the remainder term (or
truncation error) associated with Pn ( x ). Since the number ξ(x) in the truncation error Rn ( x )
depends on the value of x at which the polynomial Pn ( x ) is being evaluated, it is a function
of the variable x. However, we should not expect to be able to explicitly determine the
function ξ(x). Taylor’s Theorem simply ensures that such a function exists, and that its
value lies between x and x0.
In the case x0 = 0, the Taylor polynomial is often called a Maclaurin polynomial, and the
Taylor series is often called a Maclaurin series.
The term truncation error in the Taylor polynomial refers to the error involved in using a
truncated, or finite, summation to approximate the sum of an infinite series.
 Example. Let f (x) = cos x and x0 = 0. Determine
(a) the second, third and fourth Taylor polynomial for f about x0; and use these polynomials
to approximate f (0.02) by finding the actual error.
(b) an upper bound for |f (0.02) − Pn ( 0.02 )| using the error formula R2 ( x ), compare it to the actual
error.
Solution. Since f ∈ C∞(R), Taylor’s Theorem can be applied for any n ≥ 0. Also,
' '' '' ' ( 4)
f ( x )=−sin x , f ( x )=−cos x , f ( x )=sin x ,∧f ( x )=cos x ,
So
' '' '' ' (4)
f ( 0 )=1 , f ( 0 )=0 , f ( 0 )=−1, f ( 0 )=0 ,∧f ( 0 ) =1.

(a) For n = 2 and x 0=0 , we have

''
f ( 0) 2 1
P2 (x )=f ( 0 )+ f ' ( 0 ) x + x =1− x 2
2! 2

To approximate f (0.02),
we use P2 (x ) at x = 0.02,
Implies P2 (0.02)=¿0.9998

While exact value is

cos 0.02=0.9998000067 ,

−9
Therefore , Actual error=6.67 ×10 .

For n = 3 and x 0=0 , we have

'' ' ''
f ( 0) 2 f ( 0) 3 1
P3 (x )=f ( 0 )+ f ' ( 0 ) x + x+ x =1− x 2
2! 3! 2
P3 (0.02)=¿ 0.9998, same as P2 ( 0.02 ) .

For n = 4 and x 0=0 , we have

'' ''' (4 )
f ( 0) 2 f ( 0) 3 f (0 ) 4
P4 (x)=f ( 0 ) + f ' ( 0 ) x + x + x + x
2! 3! 4!
1 2 1 4
¿ 1− x + x
2! 4!

⟹ P4 (0.02)=¿0.99980001
(b) To find upper bound of error we use formula
(n+1)
f ( ξ (x) ) n+1
Rn ( x )=
(n+ 1)!
( x−x 0 ) .

where ξ(x) is some (generally unknown) number between 0 and x.

Therefore, the upper bound of error for P2 (x ) will be
f ( ξ ( x ) ) 3 sin ξ ( x ) 3
' ''
R2 ( x )= x= x
3! 6

The error bound is much larger than the actual error. This is due to the poor bound we used
for | sin ξ(x)|.
As from calculus, we have | sin x| ≤ |x|. Since 0 ≤ ξ < 0.02, we could have used the fact that
| sin ξ(x)| ≤ 0.02 in the error formula, producing the bound R2 ( 0.02 )=¿2.67 × 10−8.
Similarly, the upper bound of error for P3 (x ) will be
f
(4)
(ξ ( x ) ) 4 cos ξ ( x ) 4
R3 ( x )= x= x
4! 24

Since, | cos ξ(x)| ≤ 1, so R3 ( 0.02 ) ≤6.67 × 10−9 .

Applications of Taylor’s Theorem

We can write a differentiable function f (x) in the form of infinite series or a finite
polynomial.
Example (i)
2 3
x x
x
e =1+ x + + +… about x 0=0 as series or
2! 3 !
2
x x
e =1+ x + as polynomial of degree 2,
2!
2 3
x x x
e =1+ x + + as polynomial of degree 3.
2! 3 !
 Example (ii)
Find Taylor series and polynomials of degree 4 and 5 for the function sin x about x 0=0 and
use the polynomial to find the actual error at x=0.1∧x=0.5 .
Solution: f ( x )=sin x , f ( 0 )=0
f ' ( x )=cos x , f ' ( 0 )=1
'' ''
f ( x )=−sin x , f ( 0 )=0
'' ' '' '
f ( x )=−cos x , f ( 0 )=−1
(4 ) (4)
f ( x )=sin x , f ( 0 ) =0

'' '' ' (4 )

' f (0 ) 2 f (0 ) 3 + f (0 ) 4
f ( x )=f ( 0 ) + f ( 0 ) x + x+ x+ x +…
2! 3! 4!
3 5 7
x x x
sin x=x− + − +…
3! 5! 7!
3 3 5
x x x
¿ sin x ≈ P 4 ( x )=x − ∧sin x ≈ P5 ( x )=x − +
3! 3 ! 5!

To approximate f (0.05) at x=0.1, we use P4 ( x )∧P5 (x ) at x = 0.1, respectively

Implies P4 (0.1)=¿0.09983333¿ P5 (0.1)=0.09983341667 .

While exact value is sin 0.1=0.09983341665 ,

−8 −11
Therefore , Actual error for P4 ( 0.1 ) =8.7 ×10 ∧for P5 ( 0.1 )=2× 10 , resp .

* But if we check error at x=0.5 , with P5 (0.5)=¿ 0.4794271

and exact value is sin 0.5=0.4794255 ,

Therefore , Actual error=0.0000016 , greater error at point farther from x 0=0 .