Telescoping
Lesson · Intermediate
Algebra: Sequences & Series

Find

Find
Rationalize:

Cancellation can occur with a gap.

Infinite telescoping series
Find
The number of surviving boundary terms depends on the size of the index shift.
does not leave only
There are two surviving terms at each end:
For an infinite telescoping sum, do not simply “cancel everything to infinity.” First write the finite partial sum , identify the terms that remain, and then take the limit as .

The answer is not .

Consider the first and second terms of each factor separately.
