ABSTRACT
A Fourier series changes a periodic function into an infinite expansion of a function in terms of sines and cosines. In engineering and physics, expanding functions in terms of sines and cosines is useful because it makes it possible to more easily manipulate functions that are just too difficult to represent analytically. The fields of electronics, quantum mechanics and electrodynamics all make great use of Fourier series. The Fourier series has become one of the most widely used and useful mathematical tools available to any scientist. Fourier series provides a method of analysing periodic functions into their constituent components. Alternating currents and voltages, displacement, velocity and acceleration of slider-crank mechanisms and acoustic waves are typical practical examples in engineering and science where periodic functions are involved and often require analysis. For an exact representation of a complex wave, an infinite number of terms are, in general, required.
