LAPLACE

TRANSFORMS
INTRODUCTION
There aretechniques for finding the system response of a system
described by a differential equation, based on the replacement of
functio ns of a real variable (usually time or distance) by certain
frequency-dependent representations, or by functions of a complex
variable dependent upon frequency. The equations are converted from
the time or space domain to thefrequency domainthrough the use of
mathematical transforms.
The Laplace Transformation
Time Domain Frequency Domain
Laplace Transform

Differential Algebraic
equations equations

Input Input
excitation e(t) excitation E(s)
Output Output
response r(t) response R(s)
Inverse Laplace Transform
 THE LAPLACE TRANSFORM
Let f(t) be a real function of a real variable
t (time) defined fort>0. Then

is called the Laplace transform off(t). The Laplace transform is a

function of a complex variables. Often s is separated into its real and
imaginary parts: s=+j , where  and  are real variables.
 THE INVERSE LAPLACE
TRANSFORM
Let F(s)be the Laplace transform of a function
f(t), t>0. The contour integra

where c> 0 ( 0 as above) is called the inverse Laplace transform F(s)

of .
Functional Laplace Transform Pairs
Time Domain Frequency Domain
f(t), t>0 F(s)
1.  1
2. K K/s
3. Kt K/s2
4. Ke-at K/(s+a)
5. Kte-at K/(s+a)2
6. Ksint K/(s2+2)
7. Kcost Ks/(s2+2)
8. Ke-atsint K/((s+a)2+2))
9. Ke-atcost K(s+a)/((s+a)2+2))
Operational Laplace Transform Pairs
Time Domain Frequency Domain
f(t), t>0 F(s)
10. t s
11. f(t) F(s)
12. L-1{F(s)}=f(t) L{f(t)}=F(s)
13. Af1(t) + Bf2(t) AF1(s)+BF2(s)
t F ( s)

14.
 f ( )d
0
s

df (t ) sF ( s)  f (0 )
15. dt
Inverse Laplace Transform
The inverse Laplace transform is usually more difficult than a simple
table conversion.

8( s  3)( s  8)
X ( s) 
s( s  2)( s  4)
Partial Fraction Expansion
If we can break the right-hand side of the equation into a sum of terms
and each term is in a table of Laplace transforms, we can get the inverse
transform of the equation (partial fraction expansion).

8( s  3)( s  8) K1 K2 K3
X ( s)    
s( s  2)( s  4) s s2 s4
Repeated Roots
In general, there will be a term on the right-hand side for each root of
the polynomial in the denominator of the left-hand side. Multiple roots
for factors such as (s+2)n will have a term for each power of the factor
from 1 to n.

8( s  1) K1 K2
Y ( s)   
( s  2) 2
s  2 ( s  2) 2
 Complex Roots
Complex roots are common, and they always occur in conjugate pairs. The
two constants in the numerator of the complex conjugate terms are also
complex conjugates.

5.2 K K*
Z ( s)  2  
s  2 s  5 ( s  1  j 2) ( s  1  j 2)

where K* is the complex conjugate of K.

 Solution of Partial Fraction
Expansion
The solution of each distinct (non-multiple) root, real or
complex uses a two step process.
◦ The first step in evaluating the constant is to multiply both
sides of the equation by the factor in the denominator of the
constant you wish to find.
◦ The second step is to replace s on both sides of the equation
by the root of the factor by which you multiplied in step 1
 8( s  3)( s  8) K1 K2 K3
X ( s)    
s( s  2)( s  4) s s2 s4

8( s  3)( s  8) 8(0  3)(0  8)

K1    24
( s  2)( s  4) s0
(0  2)(0  4)

8( s  3)( s  8) 8( 2  3)( 2  8)
K2    12
s( s  4) s 2
2( 2  4)
 8( s  3)( s  8) 8( 4  3)( 4  8)
K3    4
s( s  2) s 4
4 ( 4  4 )

The partial fraction expansion is:

24 12 4
X ( s)   
s s2 s4
The inverse Laplace transform is found from the functional table
pairs to be:

2 t 4 t
x (t )  24  12e  4e
 Repeated Roots
Any unrepeated roots are found as before.
The constants of the repeated roots (s-a)m are found by first breaking the
quotient into a partial fraction expansion with descending powers from m to 0:

Bm B2 B1
 
(s  a) m
(s  a) 2
( s  a)
The constants are found using one of the following:

1 d m i
 P( s) 
Bi   m
(m  i )! dsmi  Q( s) /(s  a1 )  s a1

P(a )
Bm 
Q ( s) / ( s  a ) m
sa
 8( s  1) K1 K2
Y ( s)   
( s  2) 2
s  2 ( s  2) 2

8( s  1)( s  2) 2
K2   8( s  1) s2  8
( s  2) 2
s 2
 1 d  8( s  1) 
Bi   2
8
(2  1)! ds  ( s  2) /(s  2)  s 2
2

The partial fraction expansion yields:

8 8
Y ( s)  
s  2 ( s  2) 2
The inverse Laplace transform derived from the functional
table pairs yields:

2 t 2 t
y (t )  8e  8te
A Second Method for
Repeated Roots
8( s  1) K1 K2
Y ( s)   
( s  2) 2
s  2 ( s  2) 2

8(s  1)  K1 (s  2)  K2

8s  8  K1s  2K1  K 2

Equating like terms:

8  K1 and 8  2K1  K 2
8  K1 and 8  2K1  K 2

8  2  8  K2

8  16  8  K 2
Thus
8 8
Y ( s)  
s  2 s  22

y (t )  8e 2t  8te2t
 Another Method for Repeated
Roots
8( s  1) K1 K2
Y ( s)   
( s  2) 2
s  2 s  22

As before, we can solve for K2 in the usual manner.

8( s  1)( s  2) 2
K2   8( s  1) s2  8
( s  2) 2
s 2
 8( s  1) 2 K1 8
( s  2)
2
 ( s  2)  ( s  2) 2

( s  2) 2
s2 s  22

d 8( s  1) d s  2 K1  8


ds ds
8  K1

8( s  1) 8 8
Y ( s)   
( s  2) 2
s  2 s  22

y (t )  8e 2t  8te2t
Unrepeated Complex Roots
Unrepeated complex roots are solved similar to the process for
unrepeated real roots. That is you multiply by one of the denominator
terms in the partial fraction and solve for the appropriate constant.
Once you have found one of the constants, the other constant is simply
the complex conjugate.
Complex Unrepeated Roots
*
5.2 K K
Z ( s)  2  
s  2 s  5 ( s  1  j 2) ( s  1  j 2)
5.2( s  1  j 2)
K   j13
.
( s  1  j 2)( s  1  j 2) s 1 j 2

K  j13
*
.
 5.2  j1.3 j1.3
Z ( s)  2  
s  2s  5 ( s  1  j 2) ( s  1  j 2)

e  j1.3 e j1.3
Z ( s)  
( s  1  j 2) ( s  1  j 2)
Case 1: Functions with repeated linear roots

Consider the following example:

6s
F(s) = 2
(s + 1)(s + 2)
◦ F(s) should be decomposed for Partial Fraction Expansion as follows:

6s A B C
F(s) = = + +
(s + 1)(s + 2)2 s +1 s + 2 s + 22
 Using the residue method:

6s -6
A  (s  1)F(s) s  -1    -6
s  2 s  -1
12

6s - 12
C  (s  2) F(s)
2
   12
s  -2 s  1 s  -2  1
d d  6s  6 6
B  (s  2) F(s)
2
    6
ds s  -2 ds  s  1  s  -2 s  12 s  -2
 1 2
so

6s -6 6 12
F(s) = = + +
(s + 1)(s + 2)2 s +1 s + 2 s + 22
◦ and f(t) = [-6e-t + (6 + 12t)e-2t ]u(t)
Case 2: Functions with complex roots
If a function F(s) has a complex pole (i.e., a complex root in the
denominator), it can be handled in two ways:
◦ 1) By keeping the complex roots in the form of a quadratic
◦ 2) By finding the complex roots and using complex numbers to evaluate the
coefficients
Example: Both methods will be illustrated using the
following example.
◦ Note that the quadratic terms has complex roots.

2
5s - 6s + 21
F(s) = 2
(s + 1)(s + 2s + 17)
 Method 1: Quadratic factors in F(s)

F(s) should be decomposed for Partial Fraction Expansion as follows:

5s 2 - 6s + 21 A Bs + C
F(s) = = +
(s + 1)(s 2 + 2s + 17) s + 1 s 2 + 2s + 17
 A) Find A, B, and C by hand (for the
quadratic factor method):

Combining the terms on the right with a common denominator and

then equating numerators yields:

A(s 2 + 2s + 17) + (Bs + C)(s + 1) = 5s 2 - 6s + 21

Equating s 2 terms: A + B = 5   A = 2
 
Equating s terms: 2A + B + C = - 6  yields  B = 3
 
Equating constants: 17A + C = 21   C = - 13
 so

5s 2 - 6s + 21 2 3s - 13
F(s) = = +
(s + 1)(s 2 + 2s + 17) s + 1 s 2 + 2s + 17

now manipulating the quadratic term into the form for decaying cosine
and sine terms:

2 3(s + 1) -4(4)
F(s) = + +
s + 1 s + 1 + 4
2 2
s + 1 + 42
2
so

f(t) = e 2 + 3cos(4t) - 4sin(4t)u(t)

-t

The two sinusoidal terms may be combined if desired using the

following identity:

 -1  B  
Acos(wt) + Bsin(wt) = A + B cos wt - tan   
2 2

  A
 so

f(t) = e 2 + 5cos(4t + 53.13 )u(t)

-t
 Method 2: Complex roots in
F(s)
2
Note that the roots of are (s + 2s + 17)

s1 , s 2 =   jw = -1  j4
◦ so

5s 2 - 6s + 21 5s 2 - 6s + 21
F(s) = =
(s + 1)(s 2 + 2s + 17) (s + 1)(s + 1 - j4)(s + 1 + j4)
 A) Find A, B, and C by hand (for the
complex root method):

F(s) should be decomposed for Partial Fraction Expansion as follows:

*
A B B
F(s) = + + where B is a complex number
s + 1 s + 1 - j4 s + 1 + j4
*
and B is the conjugate of B .
 The inverse transform of the two terms with complex roots will yield a
single time-domain term of the form

2B = 2B/ = 2Be t cos(wt +  )

◦ Using the Residue Theorem:

5s 2 - 6s + 21 32
A = (s + 1)F(s) s = -1 = 2
= = 2
(s + 2s + 17) s = -1 16
 5s 2 - 6s + 21
B = (s + 1 - j4)F(s) s = -1 + j4 =
(s + 1)(s + 1 + j4) s = -1 + j4
5(-1,4) 2 - 6(-1,4) + 21
= = 2.5 /53.13
(-1 + j4 + 1)(-1 + j4 + 1 + j4)
*
It is not necessary to also find B , but doing so here illustrates the conjugate relationship.
* 5s 2 - 6s + 21
B = (s + 1 + j4)F(s) s = -1 - j4 =
(s + 1)(s + 1 - j4) s = -1 - j4
5(-1,-4) 2 - 6(-1,-4) + 21
= = 2.5 / - 53.13
(-1 - j4 + 1)(-1 - j4 + 1 - j4)
 So, f(t) = 2e -t u(t) + 2B/ = 2e -t u(t) + 5/53.13

f(t) = 2e -t
+ 5e cos(4t + 53.13 ) u(t)
-t

This can be broken up into separate sine and cosine terms using

cos(wt +  ) = cos( )cos(wt) - sin( )sin(wt)

 so

 
f(t) = 2e -t + 5e -t cos(53.13 )cos(4t) - sin(53.13 )sin(4t) u(t)

f(t) =  
2e -t + e -t 4cos(4t) - 3sin(4t) u(t)