Worked solution
Build a shifted-tangent expansion and measure its error
Given , show that . Find its series through . When , correct to 8 decimal places. Verify that the fourth-degree estimate has error about .
CJC · Discussion · Question 8
Answer
; estimate , error about .
Differentiate recursively
, so . Further differentiation gives and .
How did this part go?
Evaluate the derivatives and assemble the series
At zero, , , , and . Therefore .
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Calculate the percentage error
At , the fourth-degree polynomial equals . Relative to the supplied value, the percentage error is .
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Common mistakes
Divide derivative values by the corresponding factorials; percentage error uses the reference value in the denominator.