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Exercise 1047Calculus › Single-variable calculus › Differentiation › Taylor expansionsL2Added 3 Nov 2026

Approximating x by a combination of sines

#undetermined coefficients#Taylor expansion#Richardson extrapolation

Statement

Find real numbers α,β\alpha,\beta such that αsin⁡x+βsin⁡2x−x=o(x4)\alpha\sin x+\beta\sin2x-x=o(x^4) as x→0x\to0, and identify the order of the error.

Hint

Expand sin⁡x\sin x and sin⁡2x\sin2x up to order 55 and cancel the coefficients of xx and x3x^3.

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Solution

Expansions.
sin⁡x=x−x36+x5120+o(x5),sin⁡2x=2x−8x36+32x5120+o(x5).\sin x=x-\frac{x^3}6+\frac{x^5}{120}+o(x^5),\qquad\sin2x=2x-\frac{8x^3}6+\frac{32x^5}{120}+o(x^5).

Conditions. The coefficient of xx must be 11 and the coefficient of x3x^3 must vanish:
α+2β=1,−α6−8β6=0 ⟹ α=−8β.\alpha+2\beta=1,\qquad-\frac\alpha6-\frac{8\beta}6=0\ \Longrightarrow\ \alpha=-8\beta.
So −6β=1-6\beta=1, i.e. β=−16\beta=-\frac16 and α=43\alpha=\frac43.

Error term. The coefficient of x5x^5 is α+32β120=43−163120=−130\frac{\alpha+32\beta}{120}=\frac{\frac43-\frac{16}3}{120}=-\frac1{30}:
43sin⁡x−16sin⁡2x=x−x530+o(x5).\frac43\sin x-\frac16\sin2x=x-\frac{x^5}{30}+o(x^5).

Remark. This is Richardson extrapolation: two approximations with the same structure of error are combined to cancel the leading error term. It is the idea behind many numerical methods (Romberg integration, for instance).