Key Points

• Stability may be classified as Absolute stability and

Relative stability.
• Absolute stability is a qualitative measure of stability. It
refers to the condition of whether the system is stable
or unstable.
• Once the system is found to be stable, it is of interest
to determine how stable it is, and this degree of
stability is a measure of degree of stability is a measure
of relative stability.
• Relative stability is a quantitative measure of stability.
• It is a quantitative measure of how fast the transients
die out in the system.
•
 Key Points
• Relative stability may be measured by relative settling times of
each root or pair of roots.
• The settling time of poles is inversely proportional to the real
part of the roots.
• As the root(or pair of roots) moves further away from the
imaginary axis, the relative stability of the system improves.
Important Concepts
1.If all the roots of the CE have negative real parts ,the system is
stable.
2.If any root of the CE has the positive real part or if there is a
repeated root on the imaginary axis,the system is unstable.
3.If all the roots of the CE have negative real parts except for the
presence of one or more non repeated roots on imaginary axis,
the system is limitedly stable.