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Exercise 985Calculus › Single-variable calculus › Differentiation › Taylor expansionsL2Added 3 Nov 2026

Derivatives of high order at 0 without differentiating

#Taylor expansion#uniqueness#high order derivatives

Statement

Compute:
1. f(10)(0)f^{(10)}(0) where f(x)=x21+xf(x)=\dfrac{x^2}{1+x},
2. g(2015)(0)g^{(2015)}(0) where g(x)=arctan⁡xg(x)=\arctan x.

Hint

By uniqueness of the expansion, the coefficient of xnx^n in the expansion is f(n)(0)n!\frac{f^{(n)}(0)}{n!}.

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Solution

1. 11+x=∑k≥0(−1)kxk\dfrac1{1+x}=\sum_{k\ge0}(-1)^kx^k, so x21+x=∑k≥0(−1)kxk+2\dfrac{x^2}{1+x}=\sum_{k\ge0}(-1)^kx^{k+2}. The coefficient of x10x^{10} is obtained for k=8k=8: it is (−1)8=1(-1)^8=1. Hence
f(10)(0)=10!×1=3 628 800.f^{(10)}(0)=10!\times1=3\,628\,800.

2. From arctan⁡x=∑k≥0(−1)k2k+1x2k+1\arctan x=\sum_{k\ge0}\frac{(-1)^k}{2k+1}x^{2k+1}, the coefficient of x2015x^{2015} corresponds to k=1007k=1007: it is −12015-\frac1{2015}. Hence
g(2015)(0)=−2015!2015=−2014!.g^{(2015)}(0)=-\frac{2015!}{2015}=-2014!.

Remark. The general formula g(2k+1)(0)=(−1)k(2k)!g^{(2k+1)}(0)=(-1)^k(2k)! shows how fast the derivatives of arctan⁡\arctan at 00 grow, even though arctan⁡\arctan is bounded.