Integral over 2 pi of Cosine of n x/Mistake

Source Work

• 1961: I.N. Sneddon: Fourier Series: Chapter One: $\S 2$. Fourier Series: $(4)$

Mistake

$\ds \int_0^{2 \pi} \cos n x \rd x = 0$

It is implicit that $n$ ranges over all integers.

The author has neglected to specify the case where $n = 0$:

$\ds \int_0^{2 \pi} \cos n x \rd x = \begin {cases} 0 & : n \ne 0 \\ 2 \pi & : n = 0 \end {cases}$

As it stands, the Fourier coefficient $a_0$ is glossed over.

Sources

• 1961: I.N. Sneddon: Fourier Series ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter One: $\S 2$. Fourier Series: $(4)$