Transforming into a Harmonic Oscillator

You might come across situations where you need to transform functions that contain both sines and cosines into harmonic oscillators. Then you will need to use this formula:

Formula

Transforming into a Harmonic Oscillator

a sin cx + b cos cx = A sin(cx + ϕ) = A cos(cx + ϕ) where A = a2 + b2 tan ϕ = b a ϕ = ϕ π 2

and ϕ is in the same quadrant as the point (a,b). You can decide which quadrant an angle ϕ is in by comparing it to π 2, π, 3π 2 and 2π.

Note! It’s often useful to draw the unit circle to be sure that the value you have found for ϕ is in the correct quadrant.

When you are solving equations in the form

a sin cx + b cos cx = d

it’s a good idea to rewrite the left-hand side to fit the form A sin(cx + ϕ).

Example 1

Rewrite the expression sin 2x 4 cos 2x into a harmonic oscillator with sine as the base function: f(x) = A sin(cx + ϕ)

To rewrite the equation, you have to find the amplitude A and the phase ϕ first. The amplitude A is

A = a2 + b2 = 12 + (4)2 = 17.

When you’re finding the phase, you need to take the signs of a (x-axis) and b (y-axis) into account. As a > 0 and b < 0, you can see that (a,b) is in the fourth quadrant. That means you find the phase like this:

tan ϕ = b a = 4 1 ϕ = tan 1(4) 1.33 + nπ

As π 2 < 1.33 < 0, 1.33 is the value for ϕ you’re looking for. That makes the equation look like this on the form of a harmonic oscillator:

17 sin(2x 1.33)

Example 2

Solve the equation

3 sin 2x + 4 cos 2x = 1x

First, you find A:

A = a2 + b2 = 32 + 42 = 5

Then you find ϕ:

tan ϕ = b a = 4 3, ϕ = tan 1 (4 3) 0.93 + nπ

You get that ϕ 0.93 + n π. As a > 0 and b > 0, ϕ has to be in the first quadrant, and because 0 < 0.93 < π 2 1.57, you get ϕ = 0.93. That gives you

5 sin(2x + 0.93) = 1 sin(2x + 0.93) = 0.2

This equation has the solutions

2x1 + 0.93 = sin 10.2 + n 2π 0.2 + n 2π 2x2 + 0.93 = (π sin 1(0.2)) + n 2π (π 0.2) + n 2π

That gives you these two solutions:

x1 0.365 + n π x2 1.01 + n π

Example 3

Rewrite the expression 2 sin x + 3 cos x as a harmonic oscillator with the cosine as the base function: f(x) = A cos(cx + ϕ)

Note! When you want to make a cosine function, you need to subtract π 2 from the value you find for ϕ with the tan function. You get ϕ = ϕ π 2.

First, you find the amplitude A:

A = a2 + b2 = 22 + 32 = 13

When you’re finding the phase, you need to take the sign of a (x-axis) and b (y-axis) into account. As a > 0 and b > 0, you are in the first quadrant, and you can find the phase like this:

tan ϕ = b a = 3 2, ϕ = tan 1 (3 2) 0.98 + nπ

Because 0 < 0.98 < π 2, 0.98 is the value for ϕ you need to subtract π 2 from. You get

ϕ = 0.98 π 2 0.59

That means the harmonic oscillator is

13 cos(x 0.59)

Example 4

Solve the equation

4 sin 2x 2 cos 2x = 1x

First, you find A and ϕ to let you use the formula for the harmonic oscillator:

A = a2 + b2 = 42 + (2)2 = 20 tan ϕ = b a = 2 4 = 1 2 ϕ = tan 1 (1 2) 0.46 + nπ

A = a2 + b2 = 42 + (2)2 = 20 tan ϕ = b a = 2 4 = 1 2 ϕ = tan 1 (1 2) 0.46 + nπ

As a > 0 and b < 0, ϕ is in the fourth quadrant, and because

π 2 1.57 < 0.46 < 0

you can use

ϕ = 0.46 π 2 2.03

You get

20 cos(2x 2.03) = 1| ÷20 cos(2x 2.03) = 0.22 2x 2.03 = cos 1(0.22)

This base equation has the solutions

2x1 2.03 = cos 1(0.22) + n 2π 1.35 + n 2π 2x2 2.03 = cos 1(0.22) + n 2π 1.35 + n 2π

Solving these equations gives you

x1 1.69 + nπ x2 0.34 + nπ

These are the solutions to the equation, as there are no restrictions on x.

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