If an infinite sum converges, then its terms must tend to zero.

As one contemplates the behavior of series, a few facts become clear. In order to add an infinite list of nonzero numbers and get a finite result, “most” of those numbers must be “very near” . Think of this in the opposite sense: what happens if you try to sum ?

If a series diverges, it means that the sum of an infinite list of numbers is not finite (it may approach or it may oscillate), and:

  • The series will still diverge if the first term is removed.
  • The series will still diverge if the first terms are removed.
  • The series will still diverge if the first terms are removed.
  • The series will still diverge if any finite number of terms from anywhere in the series are removed.

These concepts are very important and lie at the heart of the next theorems.

Note that the two statements above are really the same. In order to converge, the limit of the terms of the sequence must approach ; if they do not, the series will not converge.

The standard example of a sequence whose terms go to zero, and yet does not converge, is the harmonic series. The Harmonic sequence, , converges to while the Harmonic Series,

Let’s see if you’ve digested what we’ve been saying:

Which of the following statements are true? Mark all that apply.
We say that a series “passes the divergence test” if its sequence of terms tends to zero. Which of the following series pass the divergence test?

Restating this point again (because it is very important): passing the divergence test means that a series has a chance to converge. The divergence test cannot tell us whether a series converges.

Some questions

Suppose is a sequence and converges to . Let . Select all statements that must be true:
Suppose that is a decreasing sequence. Let and suppose does not exist. Select all statements that must be true:
Suppose that is a sequence with for all . Let and suppose . Select all statements that must be true:

It’s a great idea at this point to stop and compare the previous two questions.