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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

Wecanseetheintegralmustbe0ifweconsiderthecurveofy = cos (x)forx = tox = .


y
1

-1

Theintegralofy = cos (x)for x

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

Theintegralofy = sin (x)for x

Onceagain,theyellownegativeportionisthesamesizeasthegreenpositiveportion,sothesumis0.

MultiplesofforSineandCosineCurves
Considerthefunctiony = sin x.
y
1

-1

Thecurvey = sin (x)for0 x 8

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

Thecurvey = cos (x)for0 x 8

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

Thecurvey = sin (x),whichhasperiod= 2

"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) = 3t(for1 t < 1)


f (t) = f (t + 2)[Thisexpressionindicatesitisperiodicwithperiod2.]
1c.Parabolic,period= 2

()

f t
5

p = 2

t
-4

-3

-2

-1

Periodicgraphbasedonparabola,withperiod2.

Forthisfunction,wehave:

f (t) = t2 (for0 t < 2)


f (t) = f (t + 2)[Indicatingitisperiodicwithperiod2.]
1d.Squarewave,period=4

()

f t
4

p = 4

-3

-2

-1

t
1

-1
-2

-3

Graphofperiodicsquarewavefunction.

Forthisfunction,wehave:

f (t) = 3for1 t < 1and3for1 t < 3


f (t) = f (t + 4)[Theperiodis4.]
NOTE:Inthisexample,theperiodp = 4.Wecanwritethisas2L = 4.
Inthediagramwearethinkingofonecyclestartingat2andfinishingat2.Forconveniencewhenintegratinglater,
weletL = 2andthecyclegoesfromLtoL.

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

Wenotethatf (0) = 2 = 9.8696 .

()

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

n2 an = a1 + 4a2 + 9a3 + 16a4 + 25a5


n=1

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

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