The code here shows a typical example of such a square wave generated using the functionality included in the scipy Python package. We have used a period of \( \tau=0.2 \).
import numpy as np
import math
from scipy import signal
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
# number of points
n = 500
# start and final times
t0 = 0.0
tn = 1.0
# Period
t = np.linspace(t0, tn, n, endpoint=False)
SqrSignal = np.zeros(n)
SqrSignal = 1.0+signal.square(2*np.pi*5*t)
plt.plot(t, SqrSignal)
plt.ylim(-0.5, 2.5)
plt.show()
For the sinusoidal example the period is \( \tau=2\pi/\omega \). However, higher harmonics can also satisfy the periodicity requirement. In general, any force that satisfies the periodicity requirement can be expressed as a sum over harmonics,
$$ \begin{equation} F(t)=\frac{f_0}{2}+\sum_{n>0} f_n\cos(2n\pi t/\tau)+g_n\sin(2n\pi t/\tau). \tag{2} \end{equation} $$