Math 2243 Sec 10.

LAPLACE TRANSFORMS

Overview
LaPlace Transforms and Fourier Transforms are two of the most useful tools in solving physical problems resulting in systems of linear differential equations, especially electrical circuits. They are two types of a class of functions known as integral transforms. Integral transforms are used to try to answer the question: How much is a given function f(t) like a particular standard function? We usually like to have a number that gives us an idea of just how close is the function to the known standard function. Example: How close is a given radio signal to a sine function with a known frequency?

We will start with LaPlace Transforms and the function that comes up most often the exponential function.

Definition:

The LaPlace Transform of a function f(t) is: F(s) = { f(t) } = for all values of s for which the improper integral converges. Note: only for t 0.

Example:

f(t) = e2t F(s) = { e2t } = << we will do the details in class >> =

Notation:

{ e2t } =

s > 2.

In general: { eat } =

s>a

LaPlace Transforms are linear: { f(t) g(t) } = { f(t) } { g(t) } And { c f(t) } = c { f(t) }

Using both of the facts above: 1) 2) { e0t } = { k (constant) } = { k e0t } = k { e0t } = k( ) =

Another useful formula: { tn } = Use the above formulas to find: 3) { t3 } 4) { t5 }

5)

{ -3t4 }

6)

{ 3t4 2t2 + t 5 }

Notation:

LaPlace Transforms are often expressed in terms of: the gamma function: (x) = (n+1) = n!

In particular: So: { tn } =

(1) = 1

and

Note the table of functions in the margin on page 581.

Find the inverse LaPlace Transforms of:

7)

8)

9)

10)

11)

12)