2.2.

2 Periodicity and Discontinuities

Let be the periodic function of then the graph of over the interval is

It can be seen from the above figure that has discontinuities at and

For instance, when , is not defined. Also, from the graph of periodic function we can
see that,

If we consider the FS, we find that

Note:

is the average of the 2 limit values obtained above. That is,

Generally, at a point of discontinuity of the FS average the limiting values of the function at the
discontinuous point. That is, if be a discontinuous point of then,

2.2.3 Finding the sum of a series

We can use the FS approximation to a given function to determine the sum of an infinite series. For
instance, recall that

and

If we let , then
Upon substituting into the FS, we obtain

The infinite series can be simplified further due to the fact that when is an even integer .
That is

Also, when is an odd integer we can simplify the term as follows. Firstly, we rewrite the odd
values of in the form of , where then can be written as

As a result,

Since then

Or

Hence, with the aid of FS, we have found the sum of infinite series.

Example:

Find the FS for the following function

Here and therefore . The function is assume to be periodic extension of
with period 6 (i.e. the length of the interval). The graph of over the interval is

From this graph, it can be seen that the function is neither an even or odd function. Therefore, all
fourier coefficient nee to be evaluated.

The Fourier coeffiecient of on the interval are

Now can be further simplified due to the fact that when is an even integer . However, when
is an odd integer, . That is, the odd coefficients of can be expressed as

Now
Therefore, the FS of on the interval is

Exercise 2B

1. For each of the function F(x) be the periodic extension of then

i) Sketch the graph of the function on .
ii) Find the Fourier Series for the function on .
iii) Sketch the graph of the function on the interval .
iv) Investigate the identities obtained using

That is, show that at the point of discontinuity (here ), the FS takes the average of
the 2 limit values of .
a)

b)
c)
d)
e)

2. Find the FS for each of the following periodic function in each case, make sketches of the
functions represented by the series on the interval .
a)
b)

3. For each of the given function in (1), let , then find the sum of an infinite series.