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HelpfulRevisionforFourierSeries
ThispagecontainssomebackgroundinformationthatwillhelpyoutobetterunderstandthischapteronFourierSeries.
Youhaveseenmostofthisbefore,butIhaveincludeditheretogiveyousomehelpbeforegettingintotheheavystuff.
PropertiesofSineandCosineFunctions
Thesepropertiescansimplifytheintegrationsthatwewillperformlaterinthischapter.
TheCosineFunction
Thefunctionf (x) = cos xisanevenfunction.Thatis,itissymmetricalabouttheverticalaxis.
Wehave:cos (x) = cos (x),anditfollowsthat
cos d = 0
-1
Theyellow"negative"portionsofthegraphwhenaddedtothegreen"positive"portioncanceleachotherout.Theyadd
tozero.
TheSineFunction
Thefunctionf (x) = sin xisanoddfunction.Thatis,itissymmetricalabouttheorigin.
Wehave:sin (x) = sin (x),and
sin d = 0
Onceagain,aconsiderationoftheareasunderthegraphillustrateswhyitisso.
y
1
-1
Onceagain,theyellownegativeportionisthesamesizeasthegreenpositiveportion,sothesumis0.
MultiplesofforSineandCosineCurves
Considerthefunctiony = sin x.
y
1
-1
Fromthegraph(orusingourcalculator),wecanobservethat:
sin (n ) = 0
(2n 1)
sin
= (1)n+1
2
Cosinecase
Next,weconsiderthecurvey = cos x
forn = 0, 1, 2, 3, ...(infact,allintegers)
forn = 0, 1, 2, 3, ...(infact,allintegers)
y
1
-1
cos (2n ) = 1
forn = 0, 1, 2, 3, ...(infact,allintegers)
cos [(2n 1) ] = 1
forn = 0, 1, 2, 3, ...(infact,allintegers)
cos (n ) = (1)n
forn = 0, 1, 2, 3, ...(infact,allintegers)
PeriodicFunctions
Afunctionf (t)issaidtobeperiodicwithperiodpif
f (t + p) = f (t)
forallvaluesoftandifp > 0.
Theperiodofthefunctionf (t)istheintervalbetweentwosuccessiverepetitions.
ExamplesofPeriodicFunctions
1a.f (t) = sin t
()
f t
p = 2
-1
"Sinegraphshowingoneperiod">
Forf (t) = sin t,wehave:f (t) = f (t + 2 ).Theperiodis2.
1b.Sawtoothwaveform,period= 2
()
f t
p = 2
2
1
-3
-2
-1
-1
-2
-3
Graphofsawtoothwaveformwithperiod2
Forthisfunction,wehave:
()
f t
5
p = 2
t
-4
-3
-2
-1
Periodicgraphbasedonparabola,withperiod2.
Forthisfunction,wehave:
()
f t
4
p = 4
-3
-2
-1
t
1
-1
-2
-3
Graphofperiodicsquarewavefunction.
Forthisfunction,wehave:
Continuity
Ifagraphofafunctionhasnosuddenjumpsorbreaks,itiscalledacontinuousfunction.
Examples:
sinefunctions
cosinefunctions
exponentialfunctions
parabolicfunctions
Finitediscontinuityafunctionmakesafinitejumpatsomepointorpointsintheinterval.
Examples:
Squarewavefunction
Sawtoothfunctions
SplitFunctions
Muchofthebehaviourofcurrent,chargeandvoltageinanACcircuitcanbedescribedusingsplitfunctions.
ExamplesofSplitFunctions
Sketchthefollowingfunctions:
2a.f (t) = {
t
t
Answer
if t < 0
if 0 t <
()
f t
Graphoff (t).
2b.f (t) = {
t
t
if 0 t <
if t < 2
Answer
()
f t
Graphoff (t),asawtoothwave.
2c.f (t) = {
(t + )2
(t )2
if t < 0
if 0 t <
Answer
()
f t
10
Graphoff (t),anevenfunction.
t +
2d.f (t) = 1
t +
if t < 2
if 2 t < 2
if 2 t <
Answer
()
f t
-1
Graphoff (t).
SummationNotation
ItisimportanttounderstandsummationnotationwhendealingwithFourierseries.
Examples
Expandthefollowingandsimplifywherepossible:
3
n
n+1
n=1
3a.
Answer
n=1
n
1 2 3
23
= + + =
n+1
2 3 4
12
3b.(2n 1)
n=1
Answer
(2n 1)= 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9= 25
n=1
Noticethattheexpression(2n1)generatesoddnumbers.asntakesvalues1,2,3,4,5.
Ifwewanttogenerateevennumbers,wewoulduse2n,asfollows:
5
{2n}= 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 10= 30
n=1
Togeneratealternatepositiveandnegativenumbers,wemultiplytheexpressioninthesummationby(1) n+1.
Forexample:
5
(1)n+1 (n) = 1 2 + 3 4 + 5 = 3
n=1
Andhere'safinalexample,givingusalternatepositiveandnegativefractionaltermswithevendenominators:
5
(1)n+1
1 1 1 1
1
47
= + +
=
2n
2 4 6 8 10
120
n=1
3c.n2 an
n=1
Answer
nt
L
n=1
3d.
Answer
Answer
nt
t 2t 3t 4t
=
+
+
+
L
L
L
L
L
n=1
t
(1 + 2 + 3 + 4)
L
= 10
t
L
SomeUsefulIntegrals
Thenext2integralsareobtainedfromintegrationbypartsandcanbefoundintheTableofCommonIntegrals.We
usethemquiteabitinthisFourierSerieschapter.
t sin nt dt =
1
(sin nt nt cos nt)
n2
t cos nt dt =
1
(cos nt + nt sin nt)
n2