document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=208302>Question 208302</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> I dont understand how the sigma or summation sign works, could someone help me out with this problem;<BR>\n" );
document.write( "I should write the following series in expand form; (because I dont have the sigma sign on my computer I'll just write out my problem) the upper limit of summation is 5 and the lower limit of summation is k=1 and next to the sigma sign there is a fraction 1/2k or more simply said the sum of 1/2k for values of k from 1 to 5. Could someone explain how this problem works/ how I would solve it?  </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</I><HR><TABLE width=100%><TR><TD><B><A HREF=http://www.algebra.com/>Algebra.Com's</A> Answer #157574 by </B><A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=jim_thompson5910><B>jim_thompson5910(35256)</B></A><img src=\"/images/stars/stars-13.gif\" alt=\"\" >&nbsp;<A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=jim_thompson5910><IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/aboutme-small.gif BORDER=0 alt=\"About Me\" VALIGN=MIDDLE></A>&nbsp;<IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/nopicture.jpg><BR>You can <A HREF=\"/cgi-bin/embed-solution.mpl?show=1&solution=157574\">put this solution on YOUR website!</A><BR><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> The sigma is simply shorthand for saying 'add these values up from k=1 to k=5'. So instead of saying 1+2+3+4+5, we can say \r<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "\n" );
document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=\"/cgi-bin/rendertex.cgi?\LARGE \displaystyle \sum_{k=1}^5 k\">\r<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "\n" );
document.write( "This means that \r<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "\n" );
document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=\"/cgi-bin/rendertex.cgi?\LARGE \displaystyle \sum_{k=1}^5 k = 1+2+3+4+5\">\r<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "\n" );
document.write( "So all we're doing here is plugging in k=1, k=2, k=3, etc into the expression in the sigma symbol and adding them up.\r<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "\n" );
document.write( "------------------------------------------------------\r<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "\n" );
document.write( "In your case, you're going to plug in k=1, k=2, k=3, k=4, and k=5 into <IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=%281%2F2%29k ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"%281%2F2%29k\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" > and add up the terms to get:\r<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "\n" );
document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=\"/cgi-bin/rendertex.cgi?\LARGE \displaystyle \sum_{k=1}^5 \frac{1}{2}k = \frac{1}{2}(1)+\frac{1}{2}(2)+ \frac{1}{2}(3) + \frac{1}{2}(4) + \frac{1}{2}(5)\">\r<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "\n" );
document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=\"/cgi-bin/rendertex.cgi?\LARGE \displaystyle \sum_{k=1}^5 \frac{1}{2}k = \frac{1}{2}+\frac{2}{2}+\frac{3}{2} + \frac{4}{2} + \frac{5}{2}\">\r<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "\n" );
document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=\"/cgi-bin/rendertex.cgi?\LARGE \displaystyle \sum_{k=1}^5 \frac{1}{2}k = \frac{1+2+3+4+5}{2}\">\r<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "<BR>\n" );
document.write( "\n" );
document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=\"/cgi-bin/rendertex.cgi?\LARGE \displaystyle \sum_{k=1}^5 \frac{1}{2}k = \frac{15}{2}\"> </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</TD></TR></TABLE>\n" );