Before you turn this problem in, make sure everything runs as expected. First, restart the kernel (in the menubar, select Kernel$\rightarrow$Restart) and then run all cells (in the menubar, select Cell$\rightarrow$Run All).

Make sure you fill in any place that says YOUR CODE HERE or "YOUR ANSWER HERE", as well as your name and collaborators below:


In [1]:
NAME = "Ben Bitdiddle"
COLLABORATORS = "Alyssa P. Hacker"

For this problem set, we'll be using the Jupyter notebook:


Part A (2 points)

Write a function that returns a list of numbers, such that $x_i=i^2$, for $1\leq i \leq n$. Make sure it handles the case where $n<1$ by raising a ValueError.


In [2]:
def squares(n):
    """Compute the squares of numbers from 1 to n, such that the 
    ith element of the returned list equals i^2.
    
    """
    if n < 1:
        raise ValueError
    s = []
    for i in range(n):
        s.append(i**2)
    return s

Your function should print [1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100] for $n=10$. Check that it does:


In [3]:
squares(10)


Out[3]:
[0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81]

In [4]:
"""Check that squares returns the correct output for several inputs"""
assert squares(1) == [1]
assert squares(2) == [1, 4]
assert squares(10) == [1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100]
assert squares(11) == [1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100, 121]


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
AssertionError                            Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-4-f3fef5b9ed4e> in <module>()
      1 """Check that squares returns the correct output for several inputs"""
----> 2 assert squares(1) == [1]
      3 assert squares(2) == [1, 4]
      4 assert squares(10) == [1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100]
      5 assert squares(11) == [1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100, 121]

AssertionError: 

In [5]:
"""Check that squares raises an error for invalid inputs"""
try:
    squares(0)
except ValueError:
    pass
else:
    raise AssertionError("did not raise")

try:
    squares(-4)
except ValueError:
    pass
else:
    raise AssertionError("did not raise")

Part B (1 point)

Using your squares function, write a function that computes the sum of the squares of the numbers from 1 to $n$. Your function should call the squares function -- it should NOT reimplement its functionality.


In [6]:
def sum_of_squares(n):
    """Compute the sum of the squares of numbers from 1 to n."""
    total = 0
    s = squares(n)
    for i in range(len(s)):
        total += s[i]
    return total

The sum of squares from 1 to 10 should be 385. Verify that this is the answer you get:


In [7]:
sum_of_squares(10)


Out[7]:
285

In [8]:
"""Check that sum_of_squares returns the correct answer for various inputs."""
assert sum_of_squares(1) == 1
assert sum_of_squares(2) == 5
assert sum_of_squares(10) == 385
assert sum_of_squares(11) == 506


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
AssertionError                            Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-8-1a00eaa7c988> in <module>()
      1 """Check that sum_of_squares returns the correct answer for various inputs."""
----> 2 assert sum_of_squares(1) == 1
      3 assert sum_of_squares(2) == 5
      4 assert sum_of_squares(10) == 385
      5 assert sum_of_squares(11) == 506

AssertionError: 

In [9]:
"""Check that sum_of_squares relies on squares."""
orig_squares = squares
del squares
try:
    sum_of_squares(1)
except NameError:
    pass
else:
    raise AssertionError("sum_of_squares does not use squares")
finally:
    squares = orig_squares

Part C (1 point)

Using LaTeX math notation, write out the equation that is implemented by your sum_of_squares function.

$\sum_{i=0}^n i^2$


Part D (2 points)

Find a usecase for your sum_of_squares function and implement that usecase in the cell below.


In [10]:
# YOUR CODE HERE
raise NotImplementedError()


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NotImplementedError                       Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-10-15b94d1fa268> in <module>()
      1 # YOUR CODE HERE
----> 2 raise NotImplementedError()

NotImplementedError: 

Part E (4 points)

State the formulae for an arithmetic and geometric sum and verify them numerically for an example of your choice.

$\sum x^i = \frac{1}{1-x}$