Thread: Summation Problem

Hey guys-

I can't figure out how to get this into the math tags, sorry! If anyone has insight, that would be great. I have experience with Maple, but this doesn't seem to be the same...

Anyway, I'm having difficulty with a summation problem:

It's the summation from k = 2 to 32 of (-1)^k. What would the formula for this be? Obviously I could write out 30 terms and add them but that wouldn't be calculus now, would it?

In Maple, it would look like:


Thanks guys!

EDIT: I'm sorry, it was k = 3 to 32 in the summation.

Originally Posted by Chaoticx

Hey guys-

I can't figure out how to get this into the math tags, sorry! If anyone has insight, that would be great. I have experience with Maple, but this doesn't seem to be the same...

Anyway, I'm having difficulty with a summation problem:

It's the summation from k = 2 to 32 of (-1)^k. What would the formula for this be? Obviously I could write out 30 terms and add them but that wouldn't be calculus now, would it?

In Maple, it would look like:


Thanks guys!

well, if you want to be formal, you can realize that this is a geometric series, use the formula.

otherwise, you can just figure out the pattern here, it's not that hard