The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated as f₀ (or FF), is defined as the lowest frequency of a periodic waveform. In terms of a superposition of sinusoids (e.g. Fourier series), the fundamental frequency is the lowest frequency sinusoidal in the sum.

All sinusoidal and many non-sinusoidal waveforms are periodic, which is to say they repeat exactly over time. A single period is thus the smallest repeating unit of a signal, and one period describes the signal completely. We can show a waveform is periodic by finding some period T for which the following equation is true:

Where x(t) is the function of the waveform.

This means that for multiples of some period T the value of the signal is always the same. The least possible value of T for which this is true is called the fundamental period and the fundamental frequency (f₀) is:

^{[citation needed]}

Where f₀ is the fundamental frequency and T is the fundamental period.

The fundamental frequency of a sound wave in a tube with a single CLOSED end can be found using the following equation: