FOURIER SERIES PART I:

DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES

1. Exercises
In each exercise, find the fourier series of the 2π-periodic function f that is given by
Exercise 1. f (x) = x for −π < x < π.
First recall the following formulas that can deduced from integration by parts.
∫
x sin(kx) cos(kx)
x cos(kx) dx = + +C
k k2
∫
x cos(kx) sin(kx)
x sin(kx) dx = − + +C
k k2
The given function f is an odd function, therefore its Fourier coefficients are
ak = 0 k = 0, 1, 2, 3, · · ·
∫ π [ ]x=k
2 x cos(kx) sin(kx) 2(−1)k+1
bk = x sin(kx) dx = − + = k = 1, 2, 3, · · ·
π 0 k k2 x=0 k
The Foriers series of f is:
∑∞
2(−1)k+1 2 1 2
sin(kx) = 2 sin x − sin(2x) + sin(3x) − sin(4x) + sin(5x) + · · ·
k=1
k 3 2 5

∑
N
2(−1)n+1
Figure 1. Functions f and partial sums of Fourier series sin(nx)
n=1
n

Date: February, 2021.

1
2 FOURIER SERIES PART I: DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES

Exercise 2. f (x) = π − x for 0 < x < 2π.

Exercise 3. f (x) = cos2 x
Note that since f is an even function then bk = 0 for all k. The double angle trigonometric
1 1 1 1
formula cos2 x = + cos(2x) shows that the Fourier series of f is + cos(2x). This means
2 2 2 2
that a0 = 1, a2 = 1/2, and ak = 0 for k ̸= 0, 2. If you didn’t see this go back to the definition
of ak and compute the integrals.
{
−x if − π < x < 0
Exercise 4. f (x) =
0 if 0 < x < π
Exercise 5. f (x) = | cos x|
The function f is even and therefore the Fourier coefficients bn = 0 for n = 1, 2, 3, · · · ;
∫ π
2 4
a0 = | cos x| dx = ;
π 0 π

∫ [∫ ∫ ]
π π/2 π
2 2
a1 = | cos x| cos x dx = cos2 x dx − cos2 x dx = 0
π 0 π 0 π/2

To compute the integrals involving the an ’s, we can use the trig identity 2 cos(ax) cos(bx) =
cos(a + b)x cos(a − b)x. For n > 1 we have

∫ [∫ ∫ ]
π π/2 π
2 2
an = | cos x| cos(nx) dx = cos x cos(nx) dx − cos x cos(nx) dx
π 0 π 0 π/2

[∫ ∫ ]
π/2 π
1
= (cos(n + 1)x + cos(n − 1)x) dx − (cos(n + 1)x + cos(n − 1)x) dx
π 0 π/2

[ ]
2 1 (n + 1)π 1 (n − 1)π
= sin + sin
π n+1 2 n−1 2

Since sin(mπ) = 0 for any integer m, then an = 0 whenever n = 2j + 1 is an odd integer and
for an even integer n = 2j, we have
[ ]
2 (−1)j (−1)j−1 4(−1)j+1
a2j = + =
π 2j + 1 2j − 1 4j 2 − 1

The Fourier series of f is therefore:

4 ∑ (−1)j
∞
2
− cos(2jx)
π π j=1 4j 2 − 1

Exercise 6. f (x) = | sin x|

{
0 if − π < x < 0
Exercise 7. f (x) =
sin x if 0 < x < π
 FOURIER SERIES PART I: DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES 3

We have ∫ π ∫
1 1 π 2
a0 = f (x) dx = sin x dx =
π −π π 0 π
∫ ∫ π
1 π 1
a1 = sin x cos x dx = sin(2x) dx = 0
π 0 2π 0
∫ ∫ π
1 π 1 1
b1 = sin x sin x dx = (1 − cos(2x)) dx =
π 0 2π 0 2
For n > 1, we have
∫ ∫ π
1 π 1
an = sin x cos(nx) dx = [sin((n + 1)x) − sin((n − 1)x)) dx
π 0 2π 0
[ ]x=π
1 cos((n − 1)x) cos((n + 1)x) (−1)n−1 − 1
= − =
2π n−1 n+1 x=0 π(n2 − 1)
∫ ∫ π
1 π 1
bn = sin x sin(nx) dx = [cos((n − 1)x) − cos((n + 1)x)) dx
π 0 2π 0
[ ]x=π
1 sin((n − 1)x) sin((n + 1)x)
= − =0
2π n−1 n+1 x=0
The Fourier series of f is:
1 sin x ∑ (−1)n−1 − 1 1 sin x 2 ∑
∞ ∞
1
+ + cos(nx) = + − cos(2jx)
π 2 n=2
π(n − 1)
2 π 2 π j=1 4j − 1
2

1 sin x ∑
N
2
Figure 2. Partial sums of Fourier series + − cos(2jx)
π 2 j=1
π(4j − 1)
2

{
1/(2d) if |x| < d
Exercise 8. f (x) = with d a positive constant.
0 if d < |x| < π
4 FOURIER SERIES PART I: DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES

Exercise 9. f (x) = edx for −π < x < π, where d a positive constant

By using integration by parts, we find
∫
d n
edx cos(nx) dx = 2 2
e dx
cos(nx) + 2 2
edx sin(nx) + C
d +n d +n
∫
d n
edx sin(nx) dx = 2 2
edx sin(nx) − 2 2
edx cos(nx) + C
d +n d +n

Since sin(nπ) = 0, cos(nπ) = (−1)n , then

[ ]π
1 edx 2 eπd − e−πd 2
a0 = = = sinh(πd)
π d −π πd 2 πd

d [ dx ]π 2(−1)n d
an = e cos(nx) −π = sinh(πd)
π d 2 + n2 π(d2 + n2 )

1 −n [ dx ]π 2(−1)n+1 n
bn = e cos(nx) −π
= sinh(πd)
π d 2 + n2 π(d2 + n2 )
The Fourier series is:
sinh(πd) 2 sinh(πd) ∑ (−1)n d
∞
(−1)n n
+ 2 + d2
cos(nx) − 2 + d2
sin(nx)
πd π n=1
n n

sinh(πd)
Figure 3. Partial sums of Fourier series +
πd
2 sinh(πd) ∑ (−1)n d
N
(−1)n n
cos(nx) − sin(nx)
π n=1
n2 + d2 n2 + d2

Exercise 10. f (x) = cosh x for −π < x < π.

Exercise 11. f (x) = cosh x for 0 < x < 2π.
Note that cosh′ x = sinh x and sinh′ x = cosh x. It follows by integration by parts that
∫
sinh x cos(nx) n cosh x sin(nx)
cosh x cos(nx) dx = + +C
1 + n2 1 + n2
∫
sinh x sin(nx) n cosh x cos(nx)
cosh x sin(nx) dx = − +C
1 + n2 1 + n2
The Fourier coefficients are therefore
sinh(2π) (1 − cosh(2π))n
an = 2
and bn =
π(1 + n ) π(1 + n2 )
 FOURIER SERIES PART I: DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES 5

The Fourier series is:

sinh(2π) sinh(2π) ∑ cos(nx) 1 − cosh(2π) ∑ n sin(nx)
∞ ∞
+ +
2π π n=1
(1 + n2 ) π n=1
(1 + n2 )
{
(a − |x|)/(2d) if |x| < d
Exercise 12. f (x) = with d a positive constant.
0 if d < |x| < π