Part II Problems and Solutions

Problem 1: [Second order ODEs via Laplace transform] Find the unit impulse response
of the following operators by means of the Laplace transform.
(a) 3D2 + 6D + 6I.
(b) D4 − I.
1 1 1
Solution: (a) w(t) has Laplace transform W (s) = = . L(sin t) =
3s2 + 6s + 6 3 ( s + 1)2 + 1
1
s2 +1
, so by s-shift w(t) = 13 u(t)e−t sin t.
1
(b) W (s) = . The roots of s4 − 1 are ±1 and ±i, so we can write
s4−1
1 a b c d
4
= + + + . Cover-up gives easily a = b = 14 ,
s −1 s−1 s+1 s−i s+i
c = 4i , d = − 4i . So
w(t) = u(t) 14 et + e−t + ieit − ie−it = u(t) 12 (sinh(t) − sin(t))
� �

(where sinh(t) = 12 (et + e−t ), the hyperbolic sine function)

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18.03SC Differential Equations��

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