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Convergence of the Taylor series for the sine function

 
 
jfpeji
 
Reply Sun 20 Nov, 2011 09:28 am
I would like to know if the Taylor series for the sine function,
sinx=x−x^3/3!+x^5/5!−⋯,
is convergent if the argument of the function, x, is expressed in degrees instead of radians.
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Type: Question • Score: 1 • Views: 1,000 • Replies: 2
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contrex
 
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Reply Sun 20 Nov, 2011 09:47 am
The Taylor series e.g. for sin(x) (and other formulas involving trigonometric functions) work with radians instead of degrees because they were formulated to work with radians. If x is not measured in radians, the expression sin(x)=x-x^3/3!+x^5/5!... doesn't make much sense. (What does it mean to add different powers of the unit degree? Not much.) If one uses the right forms of the derivatives, which have the unit 1/degree, then the degrees disappear in the formula, and sin is dimensionless.
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engineer
 
  1  
Reply Sun 20 Nov, 2011 10:40 am
@jfpeji,
Will it converge? Yes. Will it converge to the desired answer? No. Think of how you get a Taylor series, by repeatedly taking a derivative. The derivative of sin x is only cos x if x is in radians. If x is in degrees, then the derivative if pi/180 cos x. Using this you could create the correct Taylor series if you really wanted to.
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