Answer all the four questions.

All questions are worth equal marks

Full marks can be obtained by giving complete answers to all questions.

Question 1 [12 marks in total]

(a) Suppose that a function f (t ) is a periodic function with a period of 2. State

the Fourier expansion theorem for this function.

State the formulas used to compute the a and b coefficients in the expansion
based on an integral over the interval 0 t 2 . [2 marks]

(b) One period of a function g (t ) is defined by

0, 0 t
g (t ) =
2, < t < 2

Draw a graph of this function between 2 and +4. [1 mark]

(c) Calculate the Fourier coefficient a0 for g (t ) . [1 mark]

(d) Find a formula for the Fourier coefficients an of g (t ) for n > 0.

Use this to find the values of a1 , a2 and a3 . [3 marks]

(e) Find a formula for the Fourier coefficient bn of g (t ) for n > 0.

Use this to find the values of b1 , b2 and b3 . [3 marks]

(f) Write down the terms of the Fourier expansion of g (t ) up to a third harmonic.
[2 mark]

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 Question 2 [12 marks in total]

(a) State the definition of the Fourier transform f ( k ) of a function f (t ) .

What condition on f (t ) is needed for f ( k ) to be finite? [2 marks]

(b) Write a formula for f (t ) in terms of f ( k ) .

[1 mark]

(c) A function g (t ) is defined by

1, 1 t 0

g (t ) = 1, 0 < t 1
0, otherwise

Draw the graph of g(t). [1 mark]

(d) Calculate the Fourier transform of g. [3 marks]

(e) What is the value of g ( k ) when k = 0? Explain your reasoning carefully.

[3 marks]

1 k
(f) If c>0 is a constant and h(t ) = f (ct ) prove that h(k ) = f ( ).
c c
[2 marks]

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 Question 3 [12 marks in total]

2u 1 2u
(a) If the one dimensional wave equation = represents the vibration
x 2 c 2 t 2
of a guitar string that is tied down at both ends,

what does the function u ( x, t ) represent physically ?

2u 2u
what is the physical interpretations of and ?
x 2 t 2
Use your above explanations and an appropriate physics law to give an
explanation of why the wave equation makes sense.
[6 marks]

(b) The separated solutions of the 1D wave equation are solutions of the form
X ( x)T (t ) . The possible separated solutions are listed below.

Suppose that a 1D wave equation is solved on 0x and that the boundary

conditions are u ( x, t ) = 0, at x = 0 and u ( x , t ) = 0, at x = .
x x

(i) Write the boundary conditions for X ( x) .

(ii) Find the separated solutions that can match these boundary conditions.

Explain carefully why you reject solutions and how you include the
boundary conditions.

[6 marks]

You may assume that the separated solutions of the 1D wave equation are:

(i) X ( x) = sin(kx), cos(kx) or a mixture of these terms

T (t ) = sin(kct ), cos(kct ) or a mixture of these terms

(ii) X ( x) = ek x , e k x or a mixture of these terms

T (t ) = ek ct , e k ct or a mixture of these terms

(iii) X ( x) = 1, x or a mixture of these terms

T (t ) = 1, t or a mixture of these terms

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 Question 4 [12 marks in total]
u 2u
(a) The one dimensional heat equation is = D 2.
t x
The shape of the temperature distribution at time t = 0 is shown below.

u(x,0)

x=0 x=1 x=2

Describe what happens to u (1, t ) just after t = 0. Here x = 1 is in the middle of
the graph. Explain your answer carefully. [2 marks]

(b) The separated solutions of the 1D heat equation are solutions of the form
X ( x)T (t ) . The possible separated solutions are listed below.

Suppose that u is a solution of the 1D heat equation for 0x2 and that the
boundary conditions are u ( x, t ) = 0 at x = 0 and u ( x, t ) = 0 at x = 2 .
Find the separated solutions that can match these boundary conditions.
Explain why you reject solutions and how you use the boundary conditions.
[6 marks]

(c) Give an intuitive interpretation of the Dirac delta function (t c) and

calculate the following integrals: [4 marks]
5
2 i k t
(i) t { (t 1) + (t + 1) + (t 7)}dt (ii) e (t ) dt
0

i k t
(iii) e (t a) dt (iv) f (t ) (t + a) dt

(Here a, k are a real numbers and f(t) is a continuous function.)

You can assume that the separated solutions of the 1D heat equation are

(i) X ( x) = sin(kx), cos(kx) or a mixture of these terms

2
T (t ) = e Dk t
(ii) X ( x) = ek x , e k x or a mixture of these terms
2
T (t ) = e Dk t
(iii) X ( x) = 1, x or a mixture of these terms and T (t ) = 1

END of EXAM

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 Formula sheet

Trig expansion formulas

sin( A + B) = sin A cos B + cos A sin B sin(2 A) = 2sin A.cos A

sin( A B) = sin A cos B cos A sin B sin(3 A) = 3sin A 4sin 3 A

cos( A + B) = cos A cos B sin A sin B

cos(2 A) = cos 2 ( A) sin 2 ( A)
cos( A B) = cos A cos B + sin A sin B

cos(2 A) = 2 cos 2 ( A) 1 cos(2 A) = 1 2sin 2 ( A)

Other useful integrals

2 2

cos(nt )dt
0
= 0, n 1 sin(nt )dt
0
= 0, n 1

2 2
2 2
cos (nt )dt
0
= , n 1 sin
0
(nt )dt = , n 1

cos(nt )cos(mt )dt

0
= 0, n m

sin(nt )cos(mt )dt

0
= 0, any n and m

sin(nt )sin(mt )dt

0
= 0, n m

Integrals of trig functions

2 2
2 2 2 2
sin ( x)dx = , sin ( x)dx = cos ( x)dx = cos ( x)dx =
0 2 0 0 2 0
2 2
3 3
sin ( x)dx = 0 , cos ( x)dx = 0
0 0
2
4 3 2
4 3
sin ( x)dx = , cos ( x)dx =
0 4 0 4

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