TOPIC 2

LAPLACE TRANSFORMS
2.1 Definition of the Laplace transform
2.2 Properties of the Laplace transform
- Linearity
- First shift Theorem
2.3 Laplace transform of derivatives
2.4 Inverse Laplace transform
2.5 Using partial fractions to find the inverse Laplace transform
2.6 Solving linear constant coefficient differential equations using the Laplace
transform
2.7 Sample problems related to engineering applications using Laplace
transforms:

2.1 Definition of the Laplace transform



L { f (t )}  F ( s )   0
f (t )e  st dt s0

Example 1 Find the Laplace transform of f (t )  1

Solution
 
 e  st  1 1
L {1}   1e  st
dt      (0  1) 
0   s 0 s s

Example 2 Find the Laplace transform of t.

Solution
 
 e  st 
L {t}   te dt   td  
 st

0 0  s 


1
s

te  st  
0 
1
s 0
e  st dt


1 1  e  st 
  [ 0  0]   
s s   s 0

1
 1 1
 2
(0  1)  2
s s

Example 3 Find the Laplace transform of e  at .

Solution
 

 e e dt  e
 at  at  st ( a  s )t
L {e }  dt
0 0


 e ( s  a ) t  1 1
   (0  1) 
  (s  a)  0 sa sa

2.2 Properties of the Laplace transform

2.2.1 Linearity

L { f (t )   g (t )}   L { f (t )}   L ( g (t )}   F (s)   G(s)

Example 1 Find the Laplace transform of

(a)  3  7e 3t  6 sin 2t (b) 2t  5 cos 3t
Solution
(a) L {3  7e 3t  6 sin 2t}  3 L {1}  7 L {e 3t }  6 L {sin 2t}
1 1 2
 3   7 6 2
s s3 s 4
3 7 12
   2
s s3 s  4

(b) L {2t  5 cos 3t}  2L {t}  5 L {cos 3t}

2 5s
  2
s 2
s 9
2.2.2 First shift theorem
If L { f (t )}  F ( s ), then L {e  at f (t )}  F ( s  a )
Example 1 Use the first shift theorem to find the Laplace transform of
(a) e 4 t t 2 (b) e 2t t 3
(c) e 5t sin 3t (d) e t cosh 4t

2
Solution
(a) Here
a  4 and f (t )  t 2

Therefore
2
F ( s) 
s3
Hence
 3t 2 2
L {e t }  F ( s  4) 
( s  4) 3

(b) Here
a  2 and f (t )  t 3
Therefore
6
F ( s) 
s4
Hence
6
L {e t}  F ( s  2) 
2t

( s  2) 4

(c) Here
a5 and f (t )  sin 3t
Therefore
3
F ( s) 
s 9
2

5t 3
Hence L {e sin 2t}  F ( s  5) 
( s  5) 2  9

(d) Here
a  1 and f (t )  cosh 4t
Therefore
s
F (s) 
s  16
2

3
 s 1
Hence L {e cosh 4t}  F ( s  1) 
t

( s  1) 2  16

2.3 Laplace transform of derivatives

Let f (t ) be a function of t, and f ' and f" the first and second derivatives of f. The

Laplace trans form of f (t ) is F (s ) . Then

L  f '  sF ( s )  f (0)

L  f "  s 2 F ( s )  sf (0)  f ' (0)

Generally,
L f ( n)
s n
F ( s )  s n 1 f (0)  s n  2 f ' (0)  ...  f ( n 1)
(0)

Example 1 If L  x (t )  X ( s ) and x(0)  2, x' (0)  1, write the expressions for

(a) 2 x"3x' x
(b)  x"2 x' x
Solution L  x '  sX ( s )  x(0)  sX ( s)  2
L

 x"  s 2 X ( s )  sx (0)  x' (0)  s 2 X ( s )  2 s 

(a) L


{2 x"3 x ' x}  2 s 2 X ( s )  2 s  1  3 sX ( s )  
4
  
 2 s 2  3s  1 X ( s )  4 s  8

(b) L

  x"2 x' x  ( s 2 X ( s)  2s  1)  2( sX ( s)  2)
 ( s 2  2 s  1) X ( s )  2s  5

2.4 Inverse Laplace transform

Since L { f (t )}  F ( s), we use the symbol L 1 to denote the inverse Laplace transfrom
and we write
f (t )  L 1  F (s )

Therefore, from the Table 3.1, we have

1   n!  n  s 
L 1    1, L 1  n 1   t , L 1  2 2
 cos at ,
s s  s  a 
and so on. Like L, the operator L 1 can be shown to be a linear operator.

Example 1 Find the inverse Laplace transform of

2 16 7
(a) (b) (c)
s3 s3 s4

Solution
(a) Since

5
 2 2!
3
 2 1 ,
s s
we have
2  2!  2
L 1  3   L 1  21   t
s  s 
(b) Since
16 2!
3
 8  2 1 ,
s s
we have
16   2! 
L 1  3   8L 1  2 1   8t 2
s  s 

(c) Since
7 7 3!
4
  31
s 3! s
we have
7 7 1  3!  7 3
L 1  4   L  31   t
 s  3! s  6

Example 2 Find the inverse Laplace transform of

3s 4
(a) (b)
s 42
s 9
2

s3 2s  7
(c) (d)
s2  9 s 2  16

Solution
3s s
(a) Since 3 2
s 4
2
s  22
we have
 3s   s 
L 1  2   3L 1  2 2 
 3 cos 2t
s  4 s  2 

6
 4 4 3
(b) Since   2
s  9 3 s  32
2

we have
 4  4 1  3  4
L 1  2  L  2 2
 sin 3t
s  9 3 s  3  3

(c) Since
s3 s 3
 2 2 2 2
s 9 s 3 s 3
2

we have
 s3   s 3 
L 1  2   L 1  2 2  2 2   cos 3t  sin 3t
s  9 s  3 s 3 

(d) Since
2s  7 s 7 4
 2 2   2
s  16
2
s 4 2
4 s  43
we have
 2s  7   s  7 1  4 
L 1  2   2 L 1  2 2 
 L  2 2
 s  16  s  4  4 s  4 
7
 2 cos 2t  sin 2t
4

Example 3 Use the first shift theorem to find the inverse Laplace transform of the
following functions.

10 7 s 1
(a) (b) (c)
( s  2) 4 ( s  3) 5 ( s  1) 2  4

s2 s3 2s  3
(d) (e) (f)
( s  1) 2  9 s  6 s  13
2
s  6 s  13
2

Solution

7
From the first shift theorem, sin ce L {e  at f (t )}  F ( s  a ) , then L 1
{F ( s  a )}  e  at f (t ).

(a) Note that

10 10 3! 5 3! 5
  31
  31
 F ( s  2) .
( s  2) 4
3! ( s  2) 3 ( s  2) 3

This shows that

3!
a  2 and F ( s) 
s 31
Then
 3!  3
f (t )  L 1{F ( s )} =L 1  31 
t
s 
Therefore
 10  5 1  3! 
L 1  4 
 L  31 
 ( s  2)  3  ( s  2) 
5  2t 3
 e t
3
(b) Note that
7 7 4! 7
  4 1
 F ( s  3)
( s  3) 5
4! ( s  3) 24

This shows that

4!
a  3 and F ( s) 
s 41
Then
 4!  4
f (t )  L 1{F ( s )} =L 1  4 1 
t
s 

Therefore
 7  7  4! 
L 1  5 
 L 1  4 1 
 ( s  3)  24  ( s  3) 

8
 7 3t 4
 e t
24

(c) Note that

s 1 s 1
  F ( s  1)
( s  1)  4 ( s  1) 2  2 2
2

This shows that

s
a  1 and F ( s) 
s  22
2

Then
 s 
f (t )  L 1{F ( s )} =L 1  2
 cos 2t
s  2 
2

Therefore
 s 1   s 1 
L 1    L 1  2 
 e t cos 2t
 ( s  1) 2
 4   ( s  1) 2
 2 

(d) Note that

s2 ( s  1)  3 s 1 3
  
( s  1)  9 ( s  1)  3
2 2 2
( s  1)  3
2 2
( s  1) 2  3 2

Since
 s2   s 1   3 
L 1    L 1  2 
 L 1  2 
 ( s  1)  9   ( s  1)  3   ( s  1)  3 
2 2 2

we need to find the two inverses separately.

For the first inverse,
s 1
a  1 ,  F1 ( s  1)
( s  1) 2  3 2

and hence
s
F1 ( s ) 
s  32
2

Then,
 s 
f 1 (t )  L 1{F1 ( s )} =L 1  2 2
 cos 3t
s  3 

9
 Therefore
 s 1 
L 1  2 
 e t cos 3t (1)
 ( s  1)  3 
2

For the second inverse,

3
a  1 ,  F2 ( s  1)
( s  1) 2  3 2

and hence
3
F2 ( s ) 
s  32
2

Then
 3 
f 2 (t )  L 1{F2 ( s )} =L 1  2 2 
 sin 3t
s  3 
Therefore
 3 
L 1  2 
 e t sin 3t (2)
 ( s  1)  3 
2

Finally, combining the two results (1) and (2), we obtain

 s2   s 1   3 
L 1    L 1  2 
 L 1  2 
 ( s  1)  9   ( s  1)  3   ( s  1)  3 
2 2 2

 e  t cos 3t  e  t sin 3t

(e) Completing the square of the denominator,

s3 s3
  F ( s  3)
s  6 s  13 ( s  3) 2  2 2
2

This shows that

s
a  3 and F (s) 
s  22
2

and hence
 s 
f (t )  L 1{F ( s )} =L 1  2
 cos 2t
s  2 
2

 s3   s3 
L 1  2   L 1  2 
 e 3t cos 2t
 s  6 s  13   ( s  3)  2 
2

10
(f) Since
2s  3 2s  6  3 s3 3 2
  2  
s  6 s  13 ( s  3)  2
2 2 2
( s  3)  2
2 2
2 ( s  3) 2  2 2

we have
 2s  3   s3  3  2 
L 1  2   2 L 1  2 
 L 1  2 
 s  6 s  13   ( s  3)  2  2  ( s  3)  2 
2 2

3 3t
 2e 3t cos 2t  e sin 2t
2

2.5 Using partial fractions to find the inverse Laplace transform

Example 1 Find the inverse L aplace transform of the following expressions.

4s  1 3s  4
(a) (b)
s2  s s  3s  2
2

Solution
(a) We express the given expression as partial fractions:
4s  1 4s  1 A B
  
s  s s ( s  1)
2
s s 1
4 s  1  A( s  1)  Bs

Taking s  0 : A  1
Taking s  1 : B  3
Hence
4s  1 1 3
 
s  s s s 1
2

and therefore
 4s  1 
  1  3e
t
L 1  2
s  s

(b) We express the given expression as partial fractions:

11
 3s  4 3s  4 A B
  
s  3s  2 ( s  1)( s  2) s  1 s  2
2

3s  4  A( s  2)  B ( s  1)

Taking s  1 : A 1
Taking s  2 : B2
Hence
3s  4 1 2
 
( s  1)( s  2) s  1 s  2

and therefore
 3s  4  t 2t
L 1    e  2e
 ( s  1)( s  2) 

2.6 Solving linear constant coefficient differential equations using the Laplace
transform

Example 1 Solve the differential equation

dx
 3x  0 x ( 0)  2
dt
Solution
Taking the Laplace transform of the equation, we have
 dx 
L  3 x   L  0
 dt 

 dx 
L   3 L  x  0
 dt 
sX ( s )  2  3 X ( s )  0

2
X (s) 
s 3
Taking the inverse Laplace transform, we obtain
 2 
L 1  X ( s )  L 
1

 s  3
x (t )  2e 3t

12
Example 2 Solve the differential equation
dx
 2 x  4e 2t x ( 0)  1
dt
Solution
Taking Laplace transforms and incorporating the initial condition
x (0)  1 leads to

4
sX ( s )  1  2 X ( s ) 
s2
s2
X ( s) 
( s  2) 2

Resolving this rational term into partial fractions gives

s2 1 4
 
( s  2) 2
s  2 ( s  2) 2

That is
1 4
X (s)  
s  2 ( s  2) 2

Taking the inverse Laplace transform, we obtain

 1  1  4 
L 1  X ( s )  L 
1
 L  2 
s  2  ( s  2) 
The first inverse Laplace transform on the right-hand side,
1  1 
e
2t
L  (1)
s  2
We use the first shift theorem to obtain the inverse Laplace transform of
the second expression:

1  4 
L  2 
 4te 2 t (2)
 ( s  2) 

Combining the inverses (1) and (2), the desired solution is

x(t )  (1  4t )e 2 t

13
Example 3 Solve

y" y  t 2 y ( 0)  2

y ' ( 0)  0

Using the Laplace transform.

Solution
Taking Laplace transforms and incorporating the initial conditions leads to
2
s 2Y ( s )  2s  Y ( s)  
s3
Rearranging for Y (s ),
2
( s 2  1)Y ( s )    2s
s3
2( s 4  1) 2( s 2  1)( s 2  1)
 
s3 s3
2( s 2  1)
Y (s) 
s3
2 2
 
s s3
Taking the inverse Laplace transform gives
y (t )  2  t 2

Example 4 Solve the differential equation

d 2x dx
2
 5  6 x  2e t
dt dt
subject to the initial conditions x  1 and x '  0 at t  0.
Solution Taking Laplace transforms
2
[ s 2 X ( s )  sx(0)  x' (0)]  5[ sX ( s )  x(0)]  6 X ( s ) 
s 1
which on incorporating initial conditions and rearrangement gives
2
( s 2  5s  6) X ( s )  s5
s 1
That is

14
 2 s5
X (s)  
( s  1)( s  2)( s  3) ( s  2)( s  3)

Resolving the rational terms into partial fractions gives

1 1 1
X (s)   
s 1 s  2 s  3
Taking inverse transform gives the desired solution
x(t )  e  t  e 2t  e 3t

2.7 Sample problems related to engineering applications using Laplace transforms:

Problem 1
A first order differential equation involving current i in a series R-L circuit is given by:
di E
 5i  and i  0 at time t  0 . Use Laplace transforms to solve for i (t ) when:
dt 2
a) E = 20
b) E = 40e 3t
c) E  50 sin 5t
Answers:
a) i (t )  2  2e 5t
b) i (t )  10e 3t  10e 5t

15
 5 5t 5 5
c) i (t )  e  cos 5t  sin 5t
2 2 2
Problem 2
d 2 i R di 1
The equation 2
  i  0 rep resents a current i flowing in an electrical circuit
dt L dt LC
containing resistance R, inductance L and capacitance C connected in series. Let R = 200
ohms, L = 0.20 henry and C = 20x10-6 farads. Use Laplace transforms to solve the

di
equation for i given the boundary conditions that when t = 0, i = 0 and  100 .
dt
Answer: 100te 500 t

16