[Math] Algebraically find the fundamental period of a $\cos^2(2\pi t)$

periodic functionssignal processingtrigonometry

How do I find algebraically the fundamental period $T$ of $\cos^2(2\pi t) $? I understand that the condition for periodicity is $x(t) = x(t+T)$ and that $\ \omega=2\pi f ={2 \pi \over T} $ but I don't know how to get the period of the sinusoid without graphing it.

Best Answer

I ended up realizing that the easiest way to go about it would be to convert the $ cos^2(2\pi t) $ into a term without a square via the double angle formulas, so that it would turn into $ 1 \over 2 $ * $ cos(4\pi t) $ and some constant. Using the angular frequency formula above, the period then is 0.5s.

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