TITLE: Calculate $\sum_{k=1}^n \frac 1 {(k+1)(k+2)}$
QUESTION [5 upvotes]: I have homework questions to calculate infinity sum, and when I write it into wolfram, it knows to calculate partial sum... 
So... How can I calculate this:
$$\sum_{k=1}^n \frac 1 {(k+1)(k+2)}$$

REPLY [10 votes]: We can use integrals to calculate this sum:
$$
\sum_{k=1}^{n}\dfrac{1}{(k+1)(k+2)} = \sum_{k=1}^{n}\biggl(\dfrac{1}{k+1} - \dfrac{1}{k+2}\biggr) = \sum_{k=1}^{n}\biggl(\int_{0}^{1}x^kdx - \int_{0}^{1}x^{k+1}dx  \biggr)
$$
$$
=\sum_{k=1}^{n}\int_{0}^{1}x^k(1 - x)dx =  \int_{0}^{1}(1 - x)\sum_{k=1}^{n}x^kdx = \int_{0}^{1}(1 - x)\dfrac{x - x^{n+1}}{1 - x}dx
$$
$$
= \int_{0}^{1}(x - x^{n+1})dx = \biggl[\dfrac{x^2}{2} - \dfrac{x^{n+2}}{n+2}\biggr]_{0}^{1} = \dfrac{1}{2} - \dfrac{1}{n + 2}
$$