AP Calculus AB and BC glossary

Periodic Function

Also called: Periodicity, Period of a function

A periodic function repeats its values on a fixed period: some p > 0 satisfies f(x + p) = f(x) for every x in the domain, and the period means the smallest such p.

f(x+p)=f(x),p>0f(x + p) = f(x), \quad p > 0

Differentiate both sides of f(x+p)=f(x)f(x + p) = f(x) and the chain rule gives f(x+p)=f(x)f'(x + p) = f'(x), so every derivative of a 2π2\pi periodic function is again 2π2\pi periodic. That is all periodicity buys. The four step cycle sinxcosxsinxcosxsinx\sin x \to \cos x \to -\sin x \to -\cos x \to \sin x comes from the specific rules ddxsinx=cosx\frac{d}{dx}\sin x = \cos x and ddxcosx=sinx\frac{d}{dx}\cos x = -\sin x, not from repetition: g(x)=sinx+sin2xg(x) = \sin x + \sin 2x is 2π2\pi periodic, every derivative of it is too, and yet g(x)=sinx+16sin2xg''''(x) = \sin x + 16\sin 2x, which is nowhere near a return to gg.

Accumulation is where the pattern can break. 0xsintdt=1cosx\int_0^x \sin t \, dt = 1 - \cos x is still periodic, but 0x(1+sint)dt=x+1cosx\int_0^x (1 + \sin t) \, dt = x + 1 - \cos x is not, because the integrand has a non zero average over one period and the running total drifts upward forever.

The mistake

Turning L'Hopital's rule loose on a periodic piece. For limxx+sinxx\lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{x + \sin x}{x}, differentiating gives 1+cosx1\frac{1 + \cos x}{1}, which never settles, and a failed L'Hopital attempt proves nothing about the original. Split it as 1+sinxx1 + \frac{\sin x}{x} and the limit is 11.

Appears in: Unit 1: Limits and Continuity