Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 4 14A c ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Rewrite the ratio of hyperbolic sines asFor , expand the denominator by the geometric series. Part (a) inverts each delayed exponential:At each finite time only finitely many terms are nonzero, so this reflected-step solution of the wave equation is locally a finite sum. The first front travels from ; the second is its sign-reversed reflection from the fixed endpoint, with repeated round trips. At the delays coincide and cancel. At the sum telescopes to for .
An equivalent standing-wave Fourier series isIts static ramp has exactly the sine coefficients , so cancellation gives the zero initial displacement in the interior. Both representations solve the equation away from the fronts and in the distributional sense across them; the convention agrees with Fourier midpoint values.