Definition

The Laplace transform is a linear operator

that switched a function f(t) to F(s).
Specifically:
where:
Go from time argument with real input to a
complex angular frequency input which is
complex.
First-Order Differential Equations
• Consider a linear time-invariant system defined by:
dy (t )
 ay (t )  bx(t )
dt
• Apply the one-sided Laplace transform:
sY ( s )  y (0  )  aY ( s )  bX ( s )

• We can now use simple algebraic manipulations to find the solution:

( s  a )Y ( s )  y (0 )  bX ( s )
y (0  ) bX ( s )
Y ( s)  
sa
• If the initial condition  azero, we can find the transfer function:
s is

Y (s) b
H ( s)  
s  a function, which ignores the initial condition, of interest?
X ( s )transfer
• Why is this
(Hints: stability, steady-state response)

• Note jwe can also find the b frequency response of the system:
H ( e  )  H ( s ) s  j 
j  a
RC Circuit
• The input/output differential equation:
dy (t ) 1 1
 y (t )  x(t )
dt RC RC
y (0  ) 1 / RC
Y (s)   X (s)
s  1 / RC s  1 / RC
• Assume the input is a unit step function:
1
x(t )  u (t )  X ( s ) 
s
y (0  ) 1 / RC  1  y (0  ) 1 1
Y (s)      
s  1 / RC s  1 / RC  s  s  1 / RC s s  1 / RC
• We can take the inverse Laplace transform to recover the output signal:
y (t )  y (0  )e  (1 / RC )t  1  e  (1 / RC )t , t  0
• For a zero initial condition:
y (t )  1  e  (1 / RC ) t , t  0
Second-Order Differential Equation
• Consider a linear time-invariant system defined by:
d 2 y (t ) dy (t ) dx(t )
2
 a 1  a 0 y (t )  b1  b0 x(t ) assume x(0  )  0
dt dt dt
• Apply the Laplace transform:
dy (t )
s 2 Y ( s )  y (0  ) s   a1 [ sY ( s )  y (0  )]  a 0Y ( s )  b1 sX ( s )  b0 X ( s )
dt t 0 
y (0  ) s  y˙ (0  )  a1 y (0  ) b1 s  b0
Y (s)   X ( s)
s  a1 s  a 0
2
s  a1 s  a 0
2

• If the initial conditions are zero:

Y (s) b s  b0
H (s)   2 1
X ( s) s  a1 s  a 0
• Example:
d 2 y (t ) dy (t ) 2
 6  8 y (t )  2 x (t )  H ( s ) 
dt 2 dt s 2  6s  8
x(t )  u (t )  X ( s )  1 / s
2  1  0.25 0.5 0.25
Y (s)      
s 2  6s  8  s  s s2 s4
y (t )  0.25  0.5e  2t  0.25e  4t , t  0
Nth-Order Case
• Consider a linear time-invariant system defined by:
d N y (t ) N 1 d i y (t ) M d i x(t )
  ai   bi (M  N )
dt N i 0 dt i
i 0 dt i

b0  b1 s  b2 s 2 ...  bM s M
H (s) 
a 0  a1 s  a 2 s 2 ...  s N
• Example:
s 2  2s  16 1
H (s)  3 X ( s ) 
s  4 s 2  8s s2
s 2  2 s  16 s 1 1 2
Y (s)  H (s) X ( s)  3   
 
s  4s  8s s  2 ( s  2)  4 s s  2
2 2

 1 
y (t )  e  2t cos2t   sin 2t   1  2e  2t , t  0
 2 
Circuit Analysis
• Voltage/Current Relationships:

Diff. Eq. : Laplace Transform :

v(t )  Ri (t ) V ( s)  RI ( s )

dv(t ) 1 1 1
 i (t ) V ( s)  I ( s )  v(0)
dt C Cs s

di (t ) V ( s)  LsI ( s )  Li (0)
v(t )  L
dt

• Series Connections (Voltage Divider):

Z1 ( s)
V1 ( s )  V (s)
Z1 (s)  Z 2 ( s)
Z 2 (s)
V2 ( s )  V ( s)
Z1 (s)  Z 2 (s)
Circuit Analysis (Cont.)
• Parallel Connections (Current Divider):

Z 2 (s)
I1 ( s)  I (s)
Z1 (s)  Z 2 (s)
Z1 (s)
I 2 ( s)  I (s)
Z1 ( s)  Z 2 (s)

• Example:
1 / Cs
Vc ( s )  X (s)
Ls  R  (1 / Cs )
V (s) 1 / LC
H ( s)  c  2
X ( s ) s  ( R / L) s  (1 / LC )

R
VR ( s)  X (s)
Ls  R  (1 / Cs )
V (s) ( R / L) s
H ( s)  c  2
X ( s ) s  ( R / L) s  (1 / LC )