![enter image description here][1] [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/LoBab.gif Above you see a $12$-frame animation of the family of trig polynomials $$ P_k(t) =\cos t+\cos 2t+\cos 3t+\cos kt,\;\;\; k=4,\dotsc, 15. $$ I have included it to illustrate the fact that there seems to be another quantity relevant to your question, besides $n$, namely the degree $d=\max\{k_i;\;\;i=1.\dotsc, n\}$. In the above example $n=6$ but the degree varies from $4$ to $15$.