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4. Laplace Transforms of the Unit Step Function

We saw some of the following properties in the Table of Laplace Transforms.

Recall u(t) is the unit-step function.

1
1. ℒ{u(t)} = ​

s
e−as
2. ℒ{u(t − a)} = ​

s
3. Time Displacement Theorem:

If F (s) = ℒ{f (t)} then ℒ{u(t − a) ⋅ g (t − a)} = e−as G(s)

[You can see what the left hand side of this expression means in the section Products Involving Unit Step Functions.]
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Examples
Sketch the following functions and obtain their Laplace transforms:

⎧0 t<a
(a) f (t) = ⎨ A
⎩
​ ​
a<t<b
0 t>b

Assume the constants a, b, and A are positive, with a < b.

Answer

The function has value A between t = a and t = b only.

f(t)

t
a b

Graph of f (t) = A ⋅ [u(t − a) − u(t − b)].

We write the function using the rectangular pulse formula.

f (t) = A ⋅ [u(t − a) − u(t − b)]

 e−as
We use L {u(t − a)} = ​

s
We also use the linearity property since there are 2 items in our function.

e−as e−bs
L {f (t)} = A[ ​
− ​
]
s s

⎧ 0 t<a
(b) f (t) = ⎨ et−a
⎩
​ ​
a<t<b ​

0 t>b

Assume the constants a and b are positive, with a < b.

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Answer

Our function is f (t) = et−a . This is an exponential function (see Graphs of Exponential Functions).

When t = a, the graph has value ea−a = e0 = 1.

f(t)
e b−a

1 t
a b
Graph of f (t) = et−a ⋅ {u(t − a) − u(t − b)}.

The function has the form:

 f (t) = et−a ⋅ {u(t − a) − u(t − b)}
We will use the Time Displacement Theorem:

L {u(t − a) ⋅ g (t − a)} = e−as G(s)

1
Now, in this example, G(s) = L {et } =
s−1
​

L {et−a ⋅ [u(t − a) − u(t − b)]}

= L {et−a ⋅ u(t − a) − et−a ⋅ u(t − b)}

We now make use of a trick, by noting (t − a) = (b − a) + (t − b) and re-writing et−a as eb−a et−b :

= L {et−a ⋅ u(t − a) −eb−a et−b ⋅ u(t − b)}

[We have introduced e b−a, a constant, for convenience.]

= L {et−a ⋅ u(t − a)}− eb−a L {et−b ⋅ u(t − b)}

[Each part is now in the form u(t − c) ⋅ g (t − c), so we can apply the Time Displacement Theorem.]

1 1
= e−as × −eb−a × e−bs ×
s−1 s−1
​ ​

e−as eb−a−bs
= −
s−1 s−1
​ ​

e−as − eb−a−bs
=
s−1
​

⎧ 0 t<0
(c) f (t) = ⎨ sin  t
⎩
​ ​
0<t<π

0 t>π

Answer

Here is the graph of our function.

f(t)

t
π

Graph of f (t) = sin t ⋅ [u(t) − u(t − π )].

The function can be described using Unit Step Functions, since the signal is turned on at t = 0 and turned off at t = π , as
follows:

f (t) = sin t ⋅ [u(t) − u(t − π )]

Now for the Laplace Transform:

L {sin  t ⋅ [u(t) − u(t − π )]} = L {sin  t ⋅ u(t)}− L {sin  t ⋅ u(t − π )}

Now, we need to express the second term all in terms of (t − π ).

From trigonometry, we have:

sin (t − π ) = − sin  t

So we can write:

L {sin  t ⋅ u(t)}− L {sin  t ⋅ u(t − π )}

= L {sin  t ⋅ u(t)}+ L {sin (t − π ) ⋅ u(t − π )}

1 1
= + (e−πs ) 2
s2 +1 s +1
​ ​

1 + e−πs
=
s2 + 1
​