# Thread: Finding sum of infinite series

1. ## Finding sum of infinite series

Hi
I'm not sure if it belongs in calculus but here it is anyway:

Find the sum of $\displaystyle\sum_{i=1}^{\infty}\frac{i^2}{a^i}$ for a constant $a$

Wolframalpha yielded $\frac{a(a+1)}{(a-1)^3}$ but I would like to know how to derive it by hand.

2. Originally Posted by oleholeh
Hi
I'm not sure if it belongs in calculus but here it is anyway:

Find the sum of $\displaystyle\sum_{i=1}^{\infty}\frac{i^2}{a^i}$ for a constant $a$

Wolframalpha yielded $\frac{a(a+1)}{(a-1)^3}$ but I would like to know how to derive it by hand.
The standard trick is to do it by differentiation, for consider this (assuming $|a|<1$, of course)

$\frac{d}{da}\sum\limits_{i=1}^\infty\left(\frac{1} {a}\right)^i = \sum\limits_{i=1}^\infty\frac{d}{da}\left(\frac{1} {a}\right)^i=\sum\limits_{i=1}^\infty i\left(\frac{1}{a}\right)^{i-1}=\frac{d}{da}\frac{1}{1-a}$

Now, apply this trick twice and you find that

$\sum\limits_{i=1}^\infty \frac{i^2}{a^i}=a\cdot\frac{d}{da}\left(a\cdot \frac{d}{da}\frac{1}{1-a}\right)$