Question

Evaluating a Sum Find the sum.

$\sum _{k=1}^3\frac{1}{k}$

Short answer

The sum is $\frac{11}{6}$.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1.  Given

The given sequence is $\sum _{k=1}^3\frac{1}{k}$.

Step 2.  To determine

We have to find thesum of the given sequence.

Step 3.  Calculation

We’ll plug the values of k and get rid of the summation sign to simplify:

$\begin{array}{l}\sum _{k=1}^3\frac{1}{k}\\ =\frac{1}{1}+\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{3}\\ =\frac{11}{6}\end{array}$

Hence, the sum is $\frac{11}{6}$.