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Monotonic Convergence to \(e\) via the Arithmetic-Geometric Mean

by Józef Sáandor (Babes-Bolyai University Romania)

This article originally appeared in:
Mathematics Magazine
June, 2007

Subject classification(s): Calculus | Single Variable Calculus | Limits
Applicable Course(s): 3.1 Mainstream Calculus I

Hansheng Yang and Heng Yang used the arithmetic-geometric mean inequality to prove that the sequence \([1+1/n]^n\) is monotonic increasing converging to \(e\) whereas \([1+1/n]^{n+1}\) is monotonic decreasing converging to \(e\). The author provides a simpler proof using the same technique.


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Capsule Course Topic(s):
Sequences and Series | Approximations: pi, e, natural logarithms
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