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If the series representation of $e^{-x}$ is:

$$\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \frac{(-x)^k}{k!} $$

Then what is for $e^{-kx}$?

syusim
  • 2,195
  • Do you know the basic rules for constructing new power series from old ones? Also, slight nitpick but you don't want to use k as a summation index and a constant. – Alex Zorn Apr 10 '14 at 23:19

2 Answers2

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You should use a different index of summation than variables used outside the scope of the summation. $$ e^{-kx}=\sum_{j=0}^\infty\frac{(-kx)^j}{j!} $$

robjohn
  • 345,667
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Consider the summation $$e^x = \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \frac{x^n}{n!} \text{.}$$ You demonstrated that you already know that you're allowed to replace $x$ with $-x$ to obtain the summation $$e^{-x} = \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \frac{(-x)^n}{n!} \text{.}$$

Intuitively you should be able to throw a k in there as well: $$e^{-kx} = \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \frac{(-kx)^n}{n!} \text{.}$$

syusim
  • 2,195