SawtoothWave [x]
gives a sawtooth wave that varies from 0 to 1 with unit period.
SawtoothWave [{min,max},x]
gives a sawtooth wave that varies from min to max with unit period.
SawtoothWave
SawtoothWave [x]
gives a sawtooth wave that varies from 0 to 1 with unit period.
SawtoothWave [{min,max},x]
gives a sawtooth wave that varies from min to max with unit period.
Details
- SawtoothWave [0] is 0.
- SawtoothWave automatically threads over lists. »
Examples
open all close allBasic Examples (3)
Evaluate numerically:
Plot over a subset of the reals:
SawtoothWave is a piecewise function over finite domains:
Scope (34)
Numerical Evaluation (6)
Evaluate numerically:
Numerically evaluate a sawtooth with specified range:
Evaluate to high precision:
The precision of the output tracks the precision of the input:
Evaluate efficiently at high precision:
SawtoothWave threads over lists in the last argument:
Compute the elementwise values of an array using automatic threading:
Or compute the matrix SawtoothWave function using MatrixFunction :
Specific Values (4)
Value at zero:
Values at fixed points:
Evaluate symbolically:
Find a value of x for which SawtoothWave [{2,-3},x]=1 :
Visualization (4)
Plot the SawtoothWave function:
Visualize scaled SawtoothWave functions:
Visualize SawtoothWave functions with different maximum and minimum values:
Plot SawtoothWave in three dimensions:
Function Properties (10)
Function domain of SawtoothWave :
It is restricted to real inputs:
Function range of SawtoothWave [x]:
SawtoothWave is periodic with period 1:
The area under one period is :
SawtoothWave is not an analytic function:
It has both singularities and discontinuities at the integers:
SawtoothWave [x] is neither nondecreasing nor nonincreasing:
SawtoothWave is not injective:
SawtoothWave [x] is not surjective:
SawtoothWave [x] is non-negative:
SawtoothWave is neither convex nor concave:
Differentiation and Integration (5)
First derivative with respect to :
Derivative of the two-argument form with respect to :
The second (and higher) derivatives are zero except at points where the derivative does not exist:
If a==b, SawtoothWave [{a,b},x] is constant and its derivatives are zero everywhere:
Integrals over finite domains:
Series Expansions (5)
Since SawtoothWave is odd except for a constant, FourierTrigSeries gives a simpler result:
The two results are equivalent:
FourierCosSeries of a scaled SawtoothWave :
Taylor series at a smooth point:
Series expansion at a singular point:
Taylor expansion at a generic point:
Applications (2)
Fourier decomposition of sawtooth wave signal:
Sawtooth wave sound sample:
Properties & Relations (4)
Use FunctionExpand to expand SawtoothWave in terms of elementary functions:
Use PiecewiseExpand to obtain a piecewise representation over an interval:
Integration:
SawtoothWave [x] is lower semicontinuous but not upper semicontinuous at the origin:
This differs from TriangleWave [x], which is both upper and lower semicontinuous, and thus continuous:
As well as SquareWave [x], which is only upper semicontinuous:
Visualize the three functions:
Possible Issues (1)
SawtoothWave is not defined for complex arguments:
See Also
Related Guides
Related Links
History
Text
Wolfram Research (2008), SawtoothWave, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SawtoothWave.html.
CMS
Wolfram Language. 2008. "SawtoothWave." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SawtoothWave.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (2008). SawtoothWave. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SawtoothWave.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_sawtoothwave, author="Wolfram Research", title="{SawtoothWave}", year="2008", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SawtoothWave.html}", note=[Accessed: 17-November-2025]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_sawtoothwave, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={SawtoothWave}, year={2008}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SawtoothWave.html}, note=[Accessed: 17-November-2025]}