An elastic string is released from rest in a triangular configuration. It is fixed at both ends. The governing partial differential equation is

The complete solution is a Fourier sine series in x:


The plot (for c = L = 1) is generated from the first five 
 non-trivial terms in the Fourier series.
The Maple file is available here.
If the initial configuration is a simple sine function instead 
 of the triangle function, then the Fourier series collapses to a 
 single non-zero term.   
 For example, if    , 
 then the complete solution becomes
, 
 then the complete solution becomes


 [Return to your previous page]
    
 [Return to your previous page]
 [Return to the home page for this course]
    
 [Return to the home page for this course]