Past exam of the mathematical methods II course of the University of Oxford 2022 12 c Solution 2026-10-25
The product-to-sum identity gives , and , with all other modal coefficients zero. If is the string's linear mass density, the initial potential energy vanishes and orthogonality gives the modal energy of a stringConsequently for . The fundamental mode carries the most energy, with fraction . Comparing displacement coefficients without their frequency factors would give the wrong energy test.