Product Notation

Review product notation and some basic rules
Published

August 19, 2024


1 Definition

  • Product notation is used to indicate the repeated multiplication.

  • Its mathematical notation is \(\displaystyle \prod_{i=1}^{n}x_i\):

    • Capital Pi (\(\prod\)) is the product symbol.

    • \(x_i\) is the product term and represents the values being multiplied.

    • \(\displaystyle i\) is the product index (it can also be \(j\) or \(k\),…, etc.). It is the variable that changes as the multiplication progresses.

    • \(i=1\) is the lower limit (starting point) of the index.

    • \(n\) is the upper limit (stopping point) of the index.

    • The lower and upper limits can be set at any value.

    • In sum,

      \[ \displaystyle \prod_{i=1}^{n}x_i =x_1 \times x_2 \times x_3 \times .......\times x_n \]

Calculate \(\displaystyle \prod_{i=2}^{5}i+1\)

Example M.6.1

\[ \displaystyle \prod_{i=2}^{5}i+1= \]

\[(2+1) \times (3+1) \times (4+1) \times (5+1)=\]

\[ 3 \times 4 \times 5 \times 6= 360 \]

Write an R function to calculate the expression in Example M.6.1

Click to show/hide code
product_series <- function(n) {  # create a function with n as an argument
  result <- 1                    # create an empty variable to store the product result with 1 as an initial value
    for (i in 2:n) {             # set for loop to iterate from 2 to n
    result <- result * (i+1)     # multiply the value of i+1 by the result variable
  }
  return(result)                 # return the final value of result
}

product_series(5)
[1] 360

2 Common properties of product notation

  1. \(\displaystyle \prod_{i=i_0}^{n} c = c^n\), where \(i_0\) is the lower limit, \(n\) is the upper limit, and \(c\) is a constant

  2. \(\displaystyle \prod_{i=i_0}^{n} ca_i = c^n \displaystyle \prod_{i=i_0}^{n} a_i\)

  3. \(\displaystyle \prod_{i=i_0}^{n} a_i b_i = \left( \prod_{i=i_0}^{n} a_i \right) \times \left( \prod_{i=i_0}^{n} b_i \right)\)

  4. \(\displaystyle \prod_{i=i_0}^{n} a_i^k = \left( \prod_{i=i_0}^{n} a_i \right)^k\)

  5. \(\displaystyle \prod_{i=1}^{n} i = 1 \times 2 \times 3 \times....(n-1) \times n = n!\), the right side is read as \(n\) factorial and it the product of the integers from 1 to \(n\)

Calculate \(\displaystyle \prod_{i=1}^{4} i\)

\[ \displaystyle \prod_{i=1}^{4} i = 4!= 4 \times 3 \times 2 \times 1 = 24 \]

Note

\(4!\) is read as “four factorial” and it can be calculated in R using the function factorial() as follows:

Click to show/hide code
factorial(4)
[1] 24

Calculate \(\displaystyle \prod_{j=1}^{4} \frac{2}{j+3}\)

The answer is \(\displaystyle \frac{a}{b}\), \(a=\) and \(b=\)

3 References


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