Unit Step Function Uo(t)

A function is said to be discontinuous if it exhibits points of discontinuity, that is, if the function
jumps from one value to another without taking on any intermediate values. A well-known
discontinuous function is the unit step function uo(t) * or u(t) which is defined as

(1)
It is also represented by the waveform in Figure 1

In the waveform of Figure 1, the unit step function uo(t) changes abruptly from 0 to 1 at t= 0
But if it changes at t= to instead, its waveform and definition are as shown in Figure 2.

Likewise, if the unit step function changes from 0 to 1 at = –t0 as shown in Figure 3, it is
denoted as u0 t + t0

Other forms of the unit step function are shown in Figure 4

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Unit step functions can be used to represent other time varying functions such as the rectangular
pulse shown in Figure 5. This pulse is represented as

The unit step function offers a convenient method of describing the sudden application
of a voltage or current source. For example, a constant voltage source of applied at 24
V, can be denoted as 24u0(t) V.
Likewise, a sinusoidal voltage source v(t) = Vm cos wt V that is applied to a circuit at
t = t0, can be described as v(t) = (Vm cos wt)u0(t – t0) V. Also, if the excitation in a
circuit is a rectangular, or triangular, or saw tooth, or any other recurring pulse, it can
be represented as a sum (difference) of unit step functions.

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Example 1
Express the square waveform of Figure 6 as a sum of unit step functions. The vertical dotted
lines indicate the discontinuities at T 2T 3T , and so on

Solution:
The line segment 1 has height A, starts at t = 0, and terminates at t = Ton the time axis. Then, as in
Figure 5, this segment can be expressed as

(2)

The line segment 2 has height -A, starts at t = T, on the time axis, and terminates at t = 2T. This
segment can be expressed as

(3)
Line segment 3 has height A, starts at t = 2T, and terminates at t = 3T. This segment can be
expressed as

(4)
Line segment 4 has height -A, starts at t = 3T, and terminates at t = 4T. This segment can
be expressed as

(5)
Thus, the square waveform of Figure 6 can be expressed as the summation of (10.2) through
(10.5), that is,

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 (6)

Combining like terms, we obtain

(7)

Example 2
Express the symmetric rectangular pulse of Figure 7 as a sum of unit step functions.

Solution:
This pulse has height A, it starts at t = –T 2, and terminates at t = T 2 . Therefore, with reference
to Figures 3 and 4 (b), we obtain

(8)

Example 3
Express the symmetric triangular waveform shown in Figure 8 as a sum of unit step functions.

Solution:
As a first step, we derive the equations of the linear segments 1 and 2 shown in Figure 9.

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For line segment 1,

(9)
and for line segment 2,

(10)
Combining (9) and (10), we obtain

(11)

Example 4
Express the waveform shown in Figure 10 as a sum of unit step functions.

Solution:
As in the previous example, we first find the equations of the linear segments 1 and 2 shown in
Figure 11.

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Following the same procedure as in the previous examples, we obtain

Multiplying the values in parentheses by the values in the brackets, we obtain

Or

and combining terms inside the brackets, we obtain

Two other functions of interest are the unit ramp function and the unit impulse or delta function. We
will discuss the unit ramp function first.

Unit Ramp Function u1(t)

Delta Function δ(t)

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