Proof that: \sum_{n=0}^\infty\frac{1}{n!}=e

GrareeCowui

GrareeCowui

Answered question

2022-01-23

Proof that:
n=01n!=e

Answer & Explanation

sainareon2

sainareon2

Beginner2022-01-24Added 10 answers

By definition,
e=limn(1+1n)n
Using the binomial theorem, the k-th term of the development is
(nk)1nk=n(n1)(n2)(nk+1)k!nnn
andlimn(nk)1nk=1k!
For example,
(1+11000)1000=10!+11!+0.992!+0.9970023!+0.9940109944!'
trasahed

trasahed

Beginner2022-01-25Added 14 answers

Since:
(xnn!)=xn1(n1)!=xmm!
with m=n-1
You may know that, and start with, a fundamental property of the natural exponential: it is equal to its derivative. So, suppose that
f(x)=n=0anxn
is equal to its derivative. Then formally (I am skipping issues on convergence),
f(x)=n=1nanxn1
thus by reindexing:
f(x)=n=0(n+1)an+1xn
then, one should have, term by term:
an=(n+1)an+1
hence
an+1=ann+1=a0(n+1)!
Since the exponential is the reciprocal to the log, you require that f(0)=1, hence a0=1. So naturally
f(x)=n=0xnn!=ex
andf(1)=n=01n!=e
RizerMix

RizerMix

Expert2022-01-27Added 656 answers

Here is one approach.Let b>1. If you compute the derivative of the function bx, you find that the answer is just bx multiplied by an (annoying) constant.There is a value of b for which this constant is equal to 1. That's nice! With this special value of b, the derivative of bx is just bx, the same thing we started with. That's a very neat property for a function to have.This special value of b is e=2.718...It is now easy to compute the Taylor series of the function ex (centered at 0). We find thatex=1+x+x22!+x33!+... (1)This comes directly from the Taylor series formulaf(x)=f(x0)+f(x0)(xx0)+f(x0)2!(xx0)2+...Plugging x=1 into (1) yieldse=n=01n!

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