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JEE Advanced 2020 Paper 2 · Mathematics · Sequences and Series · medium

Evaluate Σn=1^∞(n^3/((n+1)!).

Numerical answer

Evaluate ∑n=1∞n3(n+1)!\displaystyle\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{n^{3}}{(n+1)!}. Give the answer correct to two decimal places.
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Answer: 3.72

Write n3n^3 in terms of factors of the form (n+1)n(n−1)(n+1)n(n-1) and lower so the terms cancel against the factorial. Indeed n3=(n+1)n(n−1)+nn^3=(n+1)n(n-1)+n, and n=(n+1)−1n=(n+1)-1. Therefore n3(n+1)!=(n+1)n(n−1)(n+1)!+n+1(n+1)!−1(n+1)!=1(n−2)!+1n!−1(n+1)!\frac{n^3}{(n+1)!}=\frac{(n+1)n(n-1)}{(n+1)!}+\frac{n+1}{(n+1)!}-\frac1{(n+1)!}=\frac{1}{(n-2)!}+\frac1{n!}-\frac1{(n+1)!}, where the first term is taken as 00 for n=1n=1. Summing, ∑n≥21(n−2)!=e\sum_{n\ge2}\frac1{(n-2)!}=e, ∑n≥11n!=e−1\sum_{n\ge1}\frac1{n!}=e-1 and ∑n≥11(n+1)!=e−2\sum_{n\ge1}\frac1{(n+1)!}=e-2. The total is e+(e−1)−(e−2)=e+1≈3.7183e+(e-1)-(e-2)=e+1\approx3.7183, i.e. 3.723.72. Adding the first few terms 0.5+1.333+1.125+0.533+0.174+…0.5+1.333+1.125+0.533+0.174+\dots confirms the value. Rounding to two decimal places gives 3.72. The decomposition into falling factorials is the standard way to sum polynomial over factorial series without differentiating the exponential series repeatedly, and the series converges very quickly because of the factorial in the denominator.
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