ale80571_ch01_002-028.

qxd 12/2/11 12:20 PM Page 3

Lecture 7
Middle Technical University Subject: Electrical Circuit Analysis
Electrical Engineering Technical College Dr. Inas Jawad Kadhim
Department of Electrical Engineering Techniques Lecture: Introduction to the Laplace Transform
______________________________________________ ______________________________________________

1. Introduction to the Laplace Transform

The idea of transformation should be familiar by now. When using phasors for the analysis of circuits, we
transform the circuit from the time domain to the frequency or phasor domain. Once we obtain the phasor
result, we transform it back to the time domain. The Laplace transform method follows the same process: we
use the Laplace transformation to transform the circuit from the time domain to the frequency domain,
obtain the solution, and apply the inverse Laplace transform to the result to transform it back to the time
domain.
The Laplace transform is significant for a number of reasons. First, it can be applied to a wider variety of inputs
than phasor analysis. Second, it provides an easy way to solve circuit problems involving initial conditions,
because it allows us to work with algebraic equations instead of differential equations. Third, the Laplace
transform is capable of providing us, in one single operation, the total response of the circuit comprising both
the natural and forced responses.

2. Definition of the Laplace Transform

Given a function f(t), its Laplace transform, denoted by F(s) or L[ f (t)],
is defined by


L[ f (t)]
F(s)

0 
f (t)est dt (1)

where s is a complex variable given by

s
s  j
(2)

0e j
t 0
2 cos 2
t  sin 2
t
1

Steps to Find the Inverse Laplace Transform:

1. Decompose F(s) into simple terms using partial fraction expansion.
2. Find the inverse of each term by matching entries in Table 2.

Second Year 1
ale29559_ch15.qxd 07/17/2008 01:17 PM Page 687

Middle Technical University Subject: Electrical Circuit Analysis

Electrical Engineering Technical College Dr. Inas Jawad Kadhim
Department of Electrical Engineering Techniques Lecture: Introduction to the Laplace Transform
______________________________________________ ______________________________________________
3. Properties of the Laplace Transform

TABLE 1 TABLE 2

Properties of the Laplace transform. Laplace transform pairs.*

Property f(t) F(s) f(t) F(s)
Linearity a1 f1(t)  a2 f2(t) a1F1(s)  a2F2 (s) d(t) 1
1
Fa b
1 s u(t)
Scaling f (at) s
a a
f (t  a)u(t  a) eas F(s) 1
Time shift eat
at sa
Frequency shift e f (t) F(s  a)
1
df t
Time sF(s)  f (0) s2
dt
differentiation n!
d 2f tn n1
s2F(s)  s f (0)  f ¿(0) s
dt 2 1
teat
d 3f s 3F(s)  s2 f (0)  sf ¿(0) (s  a)2
dt 3 f –(0) n!
t neat
d nf snF(s)  sn1 f (0)  sn2 f ¿(0) (s  a)n1
dt n  p  f (n1) (0)

sin
t
t
s 
2
2

1
Time integration f (t) dt F(s)
s s
0 cos
t
d s2 
2
Frequency t f (t)  F(s)
ds s sin u 
cos u
differentiation sin(
t  u)

s2 
2


f (t)
Frequency F(s) ds s cos u 
sin u
t cos(
t  u)
integration s
s2 
2
F1(s)
Time periodicity f (t)  f (t  nT )

1  esT eat sin
t
(s  a)2 
2
Initial value f (0) lim sF(s)
sS
sa
eat cos
t
Final value f (
) lim sF(s) (s  a)2 
2
sS0

Convolution f1(t) * f2 (t) F1(s)F2(s)

*Defined for t  0; f (t)  0, for t 6 0.

Second Year 2
Middle Technical University Subject: Electrical Circuit Analysis
Electrical Engineering Technical College Dr. Inas Jawad Kadhim
Department of Electrical Engineering Techniques Lecture: Introduction to the Laplace Transform
______________________________________________ ______________________________________________
Example 1 Obtain the Laplace transform of f (t)  d(t)  2 u (t)  3e2tu(t).
Solution:
By the linearity property,
F(s)  L[d(t)]  2L[ u (t)]  3L[e2tu (t)]
1 1 s2  s  4
12 3 
s s2 s(s  2)

Example 2 Determine the Laplace transform of f (t)
t 2 sin 2t u (t).

Solution:
We know that
2
L[sin 2t]

s  22
2

Using frequency differentiation in Eq. (15.34),

d2
a b
2
F(s)
L[t 2 sin 2t]
(1)2
ds 2 s2  4
4s 12s2  16

a 2 b
2
d
ds (s  4) 2
(s  4)3

Example 3 Find the inverse Laplace transform of

3 5 6
F(s)
  2
s s1 s 4

Solution:
The inverse transform is given by

f (t)
L1[F(s)]
L1 a b  L1 a b  L1 a 2 b

3 5 6
s s1 s 4

(3  5et  3 sin 2t) u (t), t0
where Table 2 has been consulted for the inverse of each term.

Example 4 Find f(t) given that

s2  12
F(s)

s(s  2) (s  3)

Solution:
Unlike in the previous example where the partial fractions have been
provided, we first need to determine the partial fractions. Since there
are three poles, we let
s2  12 A B C

 
s(s  2) (s  3) s s2 s3
where A, B, and C are the constants to be determined.

Second Year 3
ale29559_ch15.qxd 07/10/2008 04:06 PM Page 688

Middle Technical University Subject: Electrical Circuit Analysis

Electrical Engineering Technical College Dr. Inas Jawad Kadhim
Department of Electrical Engineering Techniques Lecture: Introduction to the Laplace Transform
______________________________________________ ________________________________________

s2  12
A
sF(s) 0 s
0
`
12


2
(s  2) (s  3) s
0 (2) (3)
s2  12 4  12
B
(s  2) F(s) 0 s
2
`

8
s(s  3) s
2 (2) (1)
s2  12 9  12
C
(s  3) F(s) 0 s
3
`

7
s(s  2) s
3 (3) (1)

Thus, A
2, B
8, C
7, and Eq. (15.9.1) becomes

2 8 7
F(s)
 
s s2 s3
By finding the inverse transform of each term, we obtain
f (t)
(2  8e2t  7e3t ) u (t)

Second Year 4
Middle Technical University Subject: Electrical Circuit Analysis
Electrical Engineering Technical College Dr. Inas Jawad Kadhim
Department of Electrical Engineering Techniques Lecture: Introduction to the Laplace Transform
______________________________________________ ______________________________________________

Practice Problems

Problem 1 Find the Laplace transform of f (t)  (cos (3t)  e5t)u(t).

2s2  5s  9
Answer: .
(s  5) (s2  9)

Problem 2 Find the Laplace transform of f (t)
t 2 cos 3t u(t).

2s (s2  27)
Answer: .
(s2  9)3

Problem 3 Determine the inverse Laplace transform of

3 5s
F(s)
1  
s  4 s2  25

Answer: d(t)  (3e4t  5 cos(5t)) u (t).

Problem 4 Find f(t) if

6(s  2)
F(s)

(s  1) (s  3) (s  4)

Answer: f (t)
(et  3e3t  4e4t ) u (t).

Second Year 5