Term test for divergence Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-14
The term test for divergence says that a series cannot converge if its terms fail to tend to zero. Indeed, if its partial sums satisfy , then . This is a necessary condition for a convergent series.
The converse fails: , but the harmonic series diverges. For a quick successful test, diverges because its terms tend to one. The test gives no conclusion for or : both have terms tending to zero, yet only the second is a convergent series. The telescoping series calculation and the harmonic series block estimate resolve those cases.