Boyce/DiPrima 10th ed, Ch 10.

4: Even and Odd

Functions
Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems, 10th edition, by William E. Boyce and Richard C. DiPrima, ©2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

• Before looking at further examples of Fourier series it is useful

to distinguish two classes of functions for which the Euler-
Fourier formulas for the coefficients can be simplified.
• The two classes are even and odd functions, which are
characterized geometrically by the property of symmetry with
respect to the y-axis and the origin, respectively.

1 L n x
an   f ( x) cos dx
L  L L
1 L n x
bn   f ( x) sin dx
L  L L
 Definition of Even and Odd Functions

• Analytically, f is an even function if its domain contains the

point –x whenever it contains x, and if f (-x) = f (x) for each x
in the domain of f. See figure (a) below.
• The function f is an odd function if its domain contains the
point –x whenever it contains x, and if f (-x) = - f (x) for each x
in the domain of f. See figure (b) below.
• Note that f (0) = 0 for an odd function.
• Examples of even functions
are 1, x2, cos x, |x|.
• Examples of odd functions
are x, x3, sin x.
 Arithmetic Properties

• The following arithmetic properties hold:

– The sum (difference) of two even functions is even.
– The product (quotient) of two even functions is even.
– The sum (difference) of two odd functions is odd.
– The product (quotient) of two odd functions is even.
• These properties can be verified directly from the definitions,
see text for details.
 Integral Properties

• If f is an even function, then

L L
L
f ( x)dx  2 f ( x)dx
0

• If f is an odd function, then

L
 L
f ( x)dx  0
• These properties can be verified directly from the definitions,
see text for details.
 Cosine Series

• Suppose that f and f ' are piecewise continuous on [-L, L) and

that f is an even periodic function with period 2L.
• Then f(x) cos(n x/L) is even and f(x) sin(n x/L) is odd. Thus
2 L n x
an   f ( x) cos dx, n  0,1, 2,
L 0 L
bn  0, n  1, 2,
• It follows that the Fourier series of f is
a0  n x
f ( x)    an cos
2 n 1 L
• Thus the Fourier series of an even function consists only of the
cosine terms (and constant term), and is called a Fourier
cosine series.
 Sine Series

• Suppose that f and f ' are piecewise continuous on [-L, L) and

that f is an odd periodic function with period 2L.
• Then f(x) cos(n x/L) is odd and f(x) sin(n x/L) is even. Thus
an  0, n  0,1, 2,
2 L n x
bn   f ( x) sin dx, n  1, 2,
L 0 L
• It follows that the Fourier series of f is

n x
f ( x)   bn sin
n 1 L
• Thus the Fourier series of an odd function consists only of the
sine terms, and is called a Fourier sine series.
 Example 1: Sawtooth Wave (1 of 3)

• Consider the function below.

 x,  L  x  L
f ( x)   , f ( x  2 L)  f ( x )
0, x  L
• This function represents a sawtooth wave, and is periodic with
period T = 2L. See graph of f below.
• Find the Fourier series representation for this function.
 Example 1: Coefficients (2 of 3)

• Since f is an odd periodic function with period 2L, we have

an  0, n  0,1, 2,
L
n x 2  L   n x n x n x 
2
2 L
bn   x sin dx     sin  cos 
L 0 L L  n   L L L 0


2L
 1n1 , n  1, 2,
n
• It follows that the Fourier series of f is
2L 
 1n1 sin n x
f ( x) 


n 1 n L
 Even Extensions

• It is often useful to expand in a Fourier series of period 2L a

function f originally defined only on [0, L], as follows.
• Define a function g of period 2L so that
 f ( x), 0 x L
g ( x)   , g ( x  2 L)  g ( x )
 f ( x),  L  x  0
• The function g is the even periodic extension of f. Its Fourier
series, which is a cosine series, represents f on [0, L].
• For example, the even periodic extension of f (x) = x on [0, 2]
is the triangular wave g(x) given below.

 x,  2  x  0
g ( x)  
 x, 0 x2
 Odd Extensions

• As before, let f be a function defined only on (0, L).

• Define a function h of period 2L so that
 f ( x), 0 x L

h( x)   0, x  0, L , h( x  2 L )  h( x )
 f ( x)  L  x  0

• The function h is the odd periodic extension of f. Its Fourier
series, which is a sine series, represents f on (0, L).
• For example, the odd periodic extension of f (x) = x on [0, L) is
the sawtooth wave h(x) given below.
 x,  L  x  L
h( x )  
0, x  L
 General Extensions

• As before, let f be a function defined only on [0, L].

• Define a function k of period 2L so that
 f ( x), 0  x  L
k ( x)   , k ( x  2 L)  k ( x )
m( x),  L  x  0
where m(x) is a function defined in any way consistent with
Theorem 10.3.1. For example, we may define m(x) = 0.
• The Fourier series for k involves both sine and cosine terms,
and represents f on [0, L], regardless of how m(x) is defined.
• Thus there are infinitely many such series, all of which
converge to f on [0, L].
 Example 2

• Consider the function below.

1  x, 0  x  1
f ( x)  
 0, 1  x  2
• As indicated previously, we can represent f either by a cosine
series or a sine series on [0, 2]. Here, L = 2.
• The cosine series for f converges to the even periodic
extension of f of period 4, and this graph is given below left.
• The sine series for f converges to the odd periodic extension of
f of period 4, and this graph is given below right.