Laplace Transforms

Introduction
The Laplace transforms can be used to simplify to process of solving initial
conditioned, linear differential equations with constant coefficients. These are
achieved by transforming them to algebraic equations, and then solve the algebraic
equation algebraically. Then, the solution in the transformed domain can be inverse
transformed back to the original domain by using inverse Laplace transforms. We
shall learn the whole process mentioned in this chapter.

Definition of the Laplace Transforms

The Laplace transform of a function in the domain ‘ ’, denoted as is a
function in the domain , defined by

.
The constant parameter s is assumed to be large enough such that the product
converges to zero as to ensure the existence of .

Example:
Find the Laplace transforms of the following functions.
1) , where a is a constant
2) , where a is a constant
3) , where n is a positive integer
4)
5)
6)
7)

Solution:
1) By definition,

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2. By definition,

*Note: Throughout the chapter it is assumed that s has a value such that all integrals
exist.

3)

4) By using the result of example (2),

But, Euler has discovered that, . Therefore,

By equating the imaginary part and the real part, we obtain:

, and .

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5)

6)

Laplace transforms of some common functions

All the results obtained previously are listed in a look-up table that contained inside
the formula booklet.

Linearity Properties of Laplace Transforms

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Laplace Transform is linear, which means if , and ,
and are constants, then

Together the linearity and the table of transforms, we can find the Laplace transforms
of some common functions.

Example:

Exercise:
Find the following Laplace Transforms:
1) 2) 3)

Answer:
1) 2) 3)

Some theorems of Laplace transform

There are a lot more functions which its Laplace transforms cannot be found by using
the linearity properties and standard table only. Therefore we need some theorems to
help us. We shall learn 3 theorems in this course.

Theorem 1 (First Shift theorem)

If , then .

*Remark: The transform of is thus similar to with ‘s’

everywhere in the result replaced by .

Example:

Find .

Solution:

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Since , therefore .

Exercise:
Find the following Laplace transforms by using theorem 1.
1) 2) 3)

Answer:

1) 2) 3)

Theorem 2 (Multiplying by )

If , then .

In general, .

Examples:
1) Find .

Solution:

2) Find .

Solution:

3. Find .

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Solution:

Theorem 3 (dividing by t)

If , then , provided that exists.

Example:
Find , given that exists.

Solution:
By theorem 3,

Inverse Laplace Transforms

It is the reverse process of Laplace transforms. i.e., if , then, the
inverse Laplace transform of , denoted as , is given by
.

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Method 1: Finding inverse by referring to standard table
Examples:
1) Find .
Solution:
Since , therefore

2) Find .
Solution:
Since , therefore

3) Find .
Solution:
Since , therefore

4) Find .
Solution:
Since , therefore

5) Find .
Solution:
Since , therefore

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Exercise:
Find the following inverse Laplace transforms.

1) 2) 3)

Answer:
1) 2) 3)

Method 2: Finding inverse by completing the square and making

use of theorem 1
If the denominator is a quadratic expression that cannot be factored into linear factors,
you may try to make use of the square form of quadratic expression.

Examples:
1) Find

Solution:
First, express into square form:

Then,

2) Find

Solution:

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 First, express into square form:

Then,

Method 3: Finding inverse by partial fractions

Quite frequent, we need to express a fraction into a sum of partial fractions in order to
inverse Laplace transform it by recognizing the inverse of each of the partial fractions
instead.

Examples:
1) Find

Solution:

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2) Find
Solution:

3) Find

Solution:

Therefore, , and

Exercise:

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Find the following inverse Laplace transforms.

1) 2) 3)

4) 5) 6)

7)

Answer:
1) 2) 3)
4) 5) 6)
7)

Method 4: Finding inverse by making use of theorem 2

Sometime we need to make use of theorem 2 to get the inverse, as illustrated below.

Example:

Find .

Solution:
This fraction form, not in the standard table but can be obtained by

differentiate with respect to .

Therefore,

So,

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Exercise:

Find .

Answer:

Solving differential equations using Laplace transforms

As discussed in the introduction part, Laplace transforms can be used to solve
constant coefficient differential equations.

One of the advantages of using the Laplace Transform to solve differential equations
is that all initial conditions are automatically included during the process of
transformation, so one does not have to find the homogeneous solutions and the
particular solution separately.

New Notations
In order to make the calculations look neater, we shall use the new notations instead.

and the derivatives of :

1) represented by ,
2) represented by ,

3) represented by , and so on…

The initial conditions:

1) The value of when is represented by ,

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2) The value of when is represented by ,

3) The value of when is represented by , and so on…

The Laplace transforms of and its derivatives:

1) ,
2) ,
3) , and so on…

*Remark: The derivations of the Laplace transforms of derivatives can be found in the
appendix section of this note.

Procedures of solving differential equations using Laplace

transforms:

Step 1: Transform the differential equation in “t” domain into an algebra equation in
“s” domain by using Laplace transforms.

Step 2: Solve the algebra equation in “s” domain algebraically to get the solution in
terms of “s”.

Step 3: Transform the solution in “s” domain into the solution in “t” domain by using
inverse Laplace transforms.

The general guideline of the process of solving differential equations using Lapalce
transform can be illustrated by the following block diagrams.

Eqn in “t” Eqn in “s”

+ − × ÷

Sol in “t” Sol in “s”

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Example:
Solve the following equations:
1) , given that .

2) , given that at .

3) , given that at , and .

4) , given that at , and .

Solution:
1) ,

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 .

3) ,

By Cover-up method,

4. ,

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Express into a sum of partial fractions,

Let .

Let

Equating the coefficient of

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APPENDIX
Transforms of derivatives

Therefore,

(1)

By using the formula (1),

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Therefore,

(2)

Similarly, by using formula (2),

Therefore,

(3)

The transforms of the higher derivatives can be obtained in the similar way.

In new notations,
(1)
(2)
(3)

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