The Laplace Transform and its Application to

Circuit Analysis
Jason Creighton
May 13, 2011
Abstract
This paper presents an overview of the Laplace transform along with
its application to several well-known electrical circuits. There is a focus
on systems which other analytical methods have difficulty solving, such
as those containing discontinuous forcing terms. Each analytical solution
was tested empirically against the actual behavior of the circuit.

Introduction

Before we examine the Laplace transform, lets first discuss notation and then
a problem related to the Laplace transform.

1.1

Notation

In electrical circuit analysis, the imaginary unit is generally given as:

j=

instead of i to avoid confusion with current. Also, real and imaginary parts
of a complex number will be denoted as:
Re(a + bj) = a
Im(a + bj) = b

1.2

Solving Recurrence Relations

Suppose we have some sequence an defined by the relation:

an+2 7an+1 + 10an = 0;

a0 = 7;

a1 = 26

In other words, for every an in the sequence the above equation must hold,
and the first two numbers in the series are 7 and 26. How could we go about
finding what the rest of the numbers in this sequence are? One way would be

to re-arrange the above equation to find an in terms of the previous two entries
in the sequence:
an = 7an1 10an2
Since we already know a0 and a1 , we can start calculating the sequence:
a2 = 7(26) 10(7)

= 112

a3 = 7(112) 10(26)

= 524

a4 = 7(524) 10(112)

= 2548

a5 = 7(2548) 10(524)

= 12596

Obviously we could continue calculating forever. But can we discover some

closed-form equation to find any arbitrary entry without having to calculate the
entire sequence?
Lets define a function A(x) to be:
A(x) =

an xn

n=0

This seems like a strange thing to define, but first convince yourself that this
function has meaning. If we add up every entry in the (infinite!) sequence an ,
multiplying each entry by xn , then for some values of x, the summation will
converge and A(x) will be defined.
Lets try to get our recurrence relation into a form resembling A(x). We can
multiply each term by xn+2 :
an+2 xn+2 7an+1 xn+2 + 10an xn+2 = 0
We can sum both sides and factor some powers of x where appropriate:

an+2 xn+2 7xan+1 xn+1 + 10x2 an xn = 0

n=0

Next we rewrite this as three summations and subtract terms outside the
summations to allow us to write the term being summed as an xn :

an x a1 x a0 7x

n=0

!
n

an x a0

n=0

Since A(x) =

n=0

+ 10x2

an xn = 0

n=0

an xn , we can write it in terms of A(x):

A(x) a1 x a0 7x (A(x) a0 ) + 10x2 A(x) = 0

We can substitute in a0 = 7 and a1 = 26 and solve for A(x):

7 23x
10x2 7x + 1
Using partial fractions decomposition, we find that:
A(x) =

A(x) =

3
4
+
1 2x 1 5x

Recall that, for |r| < 1:

rn =

n=0

1
1r

We can use this to rewrite A(x) as:

A(x) = 3

(2x)n + 4

(5x)n

n=0

n=0

Simplifying:
A(x) =

[3(2n ) + 4(5n )] xn

n=0

PWhat nis the point of all this? Remember we originally defined A(x) =
n=0 an x . Comparing that to the above equation, its clear that:
an = 3(2n ) + 4(5n )
By defining a function A(x) as a power series, we were able to find an explicit
solution for a recurrence relation. Notice that we never actually evaluated A(x)
for any value of x; we merely used its definition to reach our solution.

1.3

A Continuous version of the Power Series

It might be useful to have a continuous version of the power series. The continuous analogue of summation is integration, and we will write f (t) instead of
an :
Z
F (x) =
f (t)xt dt
0

Now, this is an improper integral, and since we dont know what f (t) is,
we cant say for sure when well be able to evaluate it. But if x > 1, for most
functions, the integral will not converge. And we want to avoid x < 0 to keep
from having to deal with imaginary numbers. So in most cases well only be
able to evaluate this when 0 < x < 1.
When integrating, it is generally easier to have e as the base of your exponential functions. So lets substitute: x = eln(x) .

f (t)eln(x)t dt

F (x) =
0

And since our variable x is now somewhat awkward, lets introduce a substitution s = ln(x):
Z
F (s) =
f (t)est dt
0

Why did we pick s = ln(x) instead of the seemingly more natural s =

ln(x)? Because if we take the logarithm of a number in (0, 1), well get a
negative number. Wed prefer to deal with positive values of our variables, so
we factor a negative out of s, and F (s) is now defined for s > 0. As you may
have guessed, this is exactly the definition of the Laplace transform.

The Laplace Transform

The Laplace transform F (s) of some function f (t) is defined as:

Z
F (s) = L {f (t)} =
est f (t) dt
0

where t is a real number and s is a complex number. Again, as in the

recurrence relation case, convince yourself that this has meaning: As long as s
is positive, est will decay to 0 as t , and the product of est and f (t) will
converge so long as f (t) doesnt grow at some crazy rate.
One important property of the Laplace transform is that it is a linear operator. That is, if a and b are constants:
L {a f (t) + b g(t)} = aL {f (t)} + bL {g(t)}
This follows because integration is a linear operator:
Z

est [a f (t) + b g(t)] dt

Z
Z
=a
est f (t) dt + b
est g(t) dt

L{a f (t) + b g(t)} =

= aL {f (t)} + bL {g(t)}

2.1

Example: The Laplace Transform of 1

Lets start with a very simple example, f (t) = 1. By the definition of the
Laplace transform,
Z
L {1} = F (s) =
est (1) dt
0

Of course, the integral is improper, so this is actually:

Z
F (s) = lim

est dt

We can find the anti-derivative easily:


T
1
est
T
s
t=0

F (s) = lim

Evaluating the anti-derivative at the endpoints, we find:

F (s) = lim
T

i
1 h sT
e
es(0)
s

e0 is obviously 1, and so:


i
1 h
lim esT 1
s T
When evaluating the limit, we can regard s as a constant, so limT esT
is 0, but only if s > 0. So we have:
F (s) =

1
,s > 0
s
Notice that a constant function in the t-domain is not a constant function
in the s-domain.
L {1} =

2.2

Laplace Transform of a derivative

Suppose we want the Laplace transform of f 0 (t), but we dont know f (t). Can
we find the transform in terms of L{f (t)}?
Z
0
L{f (t)} =
est f 0 (t) dt
0

We have a product of two functions of t that we need to integrate. We can

use integration by parts to find:
Z
 st

0
L{f (t)} = e f (t) t=0 + s
est f (t) dt
0

The remaining integral is clearly L{f (t)}, so:

L{f 0 (t)} = sL{f (t)} f (0)
We can use this rule to find higher order derivative. For example:
L{f 00 (t)} = sL{f 0 (t)} f 0 (0)
= s[sL{f (t)} f (0)] f 0 0
= s2 L{f (t)} s f (0) f 0 (0)
5

2.3

The Laplace Transform of an Integral

If we have some function g(t) which contains an integral:

Z t
g(t) =
f (u) du
0

Then:
1
F (s)
s
So with the Laplace transform, derivatives and integrals turn into algebraic
factors.
G(s) =

2.4

Common Laplace Transforms

L{1} =
L{t} =
L{tn } =
L{eat } =
L{sin(at)} =
L{cos(at)} =

1
s
1
s2
n!
n+1
s
1
sa
a
2
s + a2
s
s2 + a2

Notice that most Laplace transforms tend to be rational functions. This

means that techniques such as partial fraction expansion are frequently used
when solving problems with the Laplace transform.

2.5

A Simple Example

Consider the system:

y 00 (t) 7 y 0 (t) + 10 y(t) = 0;

y(0) = 7;

y 0 (0) = 26

We simply apply the Laplace transform to both sides of the equation. We

write L{y(t)} as Y (s):
 2

s Y (s) s y(0) y 0 (0) 7 [sY (s) y(0)] + 10 Y (s) = 0
Substitute in our initial conditions, and solve for Y (s):
Y (s) =

7s + 23
7s + 23
=
s2 7s + 10
(s 2)(s 5)
6

Notice that the denominator is the characteristic equation of the differential

equation. We use partial fraction expansions to obtain:
Y (s) =

3
4
+
s2 s5

We recognize the form of the Laplace transform of eat , and taking advantage
of the linearity of the transform, we have:
y(t) = 3e2t + 4e5t
Notice the similarity between the solution of this problem and the solution
of the recurrence relation. In particular, if you were to substitute x = 1/s into
A(x), you would get sY (s).

2.6

The Heaviside Function

In order to have discontinuous forcing terms, we can make use of the so-called
Heaviside function H(t):

0, t < 0
H(t) =
1, t 0
In particular, it is useful to note that:
L{H(t c)f (t c)} = ecs F (s)
And of course if follows that:


L1 ecs F (s) = H(t c)f (t c)
In essence, this says that shifting a function in the t-domain multiplies the
function some exponential factor in the s-domain.

2.7

The Delta Function

Consider a function  (t), where  is some small, positive constant:

 1
0t<
,
 (t) =
0, t < 0 or t > 
The area under the function 1 regardless of the value we pick for :
Z 
1
1 
dt = [t]t=0 = 1

0 
The limit as  0 is the delta function:
(t) = lim  (t)
0

This leaves us with a function with some somewhat odd properties. At t = 0,

there is a spike that is infinitely high and infinitely narrow, but the area under
the spike is still only 1:
Z
(t) dt = 1
0


(t) =

, t = 0
0, t 6= 0

The physical analogue of the delta function might be a sharp blow from
a hammer to a mass-spring system, which imparts a nearly instantaneous but
finite impulse.
Notice that the derivative of the step function is the delta function:
d
H(t) = (t)
dt

2.8

Periodic Functions

Lets say that we want to want to find the Laplace transform of a function that
repeats periodically. We say that the window of a function f with a period
of T is:

f (t),
0t<T
w(t) =
0,
T t < , t < 0
Notice that f (t) can be written as a sum of translated window functions:
f (t) = w(t) + w(t T ) + w(t 2T ) + =

w(t kT )

k=0

Since the window function is 0 outside of its window, and H(t kT ) is 1

when t kT , H(t kT )w(t kT ) = w(t kT ). So:
f (t) =

H(t kT )w(t kT )

k=0

Now we can take the Laplace transform:

F (s) =

ekT s W (s) = W (s)

k=0

eT s

k

k=0

The summation is a geometric series. When eT s < 1, it converges to:

esT

k

k=0

So finally:

1
1 eT s

L{f (t)}(s) =

W (s)
1 eT s

The Inverse Laplace Transform

In practice, to perform the inverse Laplace transform, we take advantage of the

linearity of the transform and find the inverse by referring to a table. But this
is only valid if no two distinct functions have the same Laplace transform. Is
that the case?
It turns out that the answer is yes, but its difficult to prove, so the result
will be presented without proof:
If f (t) and g(t) are continuous functions and L{f (t)} = L{g(t)}, then f (t) =
g(t) for all t > 0. In other words, for continuous functions, the Laplace transform
is unique.
Given that, if F (s) = L{f (t)} and f (t) is continuous and of exponential
order:
f (t) = L1 {F (s)}
A function has exponential order if and only if there exists some and M
such that:
|f (t)| M et , for all t 0

3.1

Convolutions

Often when performing an inverse Laplace transform, we encounter a product

of two terms whose inverses we recognize. A result, which we will not prove, is
that:
Z t
1
L {F (s)G(s)} =
f (u)g(t u) du
0

Circuits

We examine a number of basic circuits, solve the problem analytically using

the Laplace transform, and then check our result empirically against an actual
circuit.

4.1

RC Circuit: Transient Response

The RC circuit is modeled by:

e(t) = Rq 0 +

1
q;
C

q(0) = 0

For our example, lets say that e(t) is a periodic square wave of period 2
and amplitude A. A square wave is exactly the kind of function that analytical
approaches tend to have difficulty with.
Taking the Laplace transform, we find:
E(s) = R[sQ(s) q(0)] +

1
Q(s)
C

Solving for Q(s):

Q(s) =

1
Rs+

1
C

E(s)

We cant go much further without finding E(s). Recall that to find the
Laplace transform of e(t), we need to find the Laplace transform of its window,
which well call w(t):
w(t) = A[H(t) H(t 1)]
where A is the amplitude of the square wave. The Laplace transform is:


1 es
1 es

=A
W (s) = A
s
s
s
Now, we found earlier that if W (s) is the Laplace transform of a window of
some function with period T , then the Laplace transform of that function is:
E(s) =

W (s)
1 es
=
A
1 eT s
s(1 e2s )

Notice that we can factor (1 e2s ):

E(s) = A

(1 es )
1
=A
s
s
s(1 e )(1 + e )
s(1 + es )

We can now substitute this into our expression for Q(s):

Q(s) = A

1
Rs+

Q(s) = A

1
s(R s +

1
C

1
s(1 + es )

Rearranging terms:
1
C)

1
1 + es

By partial fractions, we find:

1
s(R s +


1
C)

=C

Also notice that:

10

1
1

1
s s + RC

X
X


1
1
s n
=
=
e
=
(1)n ens
1 + es
1 (es ) n=0
n=0

So:


1
1
Q(s) = AC

1
s s + RC

X

(1)n ens

n=0

An expression in terms of s is constant with regard to the summation, so we

can move that inside the summation:
Q(s) = AC

(1)n ens

n=0

1
1

1
s s + RC

Were almost there. Remember that multiplying by ect in the s-domain

shifts the function in the t-domain:


L1 ecs F (s) = H(t c)f (t c)
It should be fairly clear that:


t
1
1
1

= 1 e RC
L
1
s s + RC
Bringing it all together, we have:
q(t) = AC



t
(1)n H(t n) 1 e RC

n=0

Finally, an expression for q(t), but it contains an infinite number of terms!

What good is it?
The key point is that for all t < n, H(t n) = 0. So if we are only interested
in the region t < 4, we need only calculate up to n = 3.
A real RC circuit was constructed to test this solution. The measured resistance, capacitance, and amplitude of square wave used were:

R = 954.15 k
C = 0.2258 F
A = 10 V
Figure 1 shows the result.

11

Expected
Actual

Voltage across capacitor (V)

10

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

Time (s)

Figure 1: Behavior of an RC circuit

4.2

RC Circuit: Frequency Response

The Laplace transform can also be used to find the transfer function of a
circuit. The transfer function is the ratio between the output voltage and the
input voltage of a circuit. Using the RC circuit above as an example, let vi (t) =
e(t) and vo (t) = C1 q(t). Then:
T (s) =

Q(s) C1
Vo (s)

=
Vi (s)
Q(s) Rs +

1
C

=

1
RCs + 1

We will not prove this, but if we let s = j, where is the frequency in

radians of a sinusoidal driving wave, the transfer function can tell us the phase
shift and magnitude of the response wave.
Notice that T (s) is a complex valued function. Recall that the magnitude
of some complex number is:
p
|a + bj| = a2 + b2
The magnitude of the output wave is given by the magnitude of the transfer
function. The phase shift of the output wave is:


Re[T (j)]
arctan
Im[T (j)]
12

Plotting the magnitude and phase of a transfer function on a logarithmic

scale is called a Bode plot. The gain or loss of the output is generally plotted
in decibels:
2

gain/loss in decibels = 10 log10 (|T (j)| )

A decibel is a tenth of a bel, with is a base-10 logarithmic scale. In other
words, every 10 decibels corresponds to an increase or decrease by a factor of
10.
The magnitude is squared because for historical reasons, Bode plots show
the gain or loss in power, which is generally proportional to the voltage squared.
Of course, we can bring the exponent outside of the logarithm:
gain/loss in decibels = 20 log10 (|T (j)|)1
The circuit we examine has resistance and capacitance of:

R = 551.4
C = 0.2262 F
Figures 2 and 3 show the amplitude and phase, respectively, of the circuit we
analyzed here. Figures 4 and 5 show the amplitude and phase of a similar circuit
in a highpass configuration, meaning that the output voltage is measured
across the resistor, not the capacitor.

4.3

RLC Circut: Frequency Response

Consider a series RLC circuit. We can use the same sort of analysis we used on
the RC circuit to determine its frequency response.
vi (t) = R i(t) + L i0 (t) +

1
q(t);
C

q(0) = 0;

i(0) = 0;

where q(t) is the charge on the capacitor. Wed like to have q(t) in terms
of i(t). Recall that the charge on a capacitor and the current through the
capacitor is related by q 0 (t) = i(t). By the fundamental theorem of calculus:
Z t
q(t) = q(0) +
i(u) du
0

By our initial condition, we have q(0) = 0, so:

Z
1 t
0
vi (t) = R i(t) + L i (t) +
i(u) du
C 0
We are interested in comparing the input voltage to the voltage across the
resistor:

13

Expected
Actual

-5
-10

dB

-15
-20
-25
-30
-35
-40
101

102

103

104

105

Freq (Hz)

Figure 2: Amplitude of the frequency response of a lowpass RC circuit

0

Expected
Actual

Phase (deg)

-20

-40

-60

-80

-100
101

102

103

104

105

Freq (Hz)

Figure 3: Phase of the frequency response of a lowpass RC circuit

14

0
-5

Expected
Actual

-10

dB

-15
-20
-25
-30
-35
-40
101

102

103

104

105

Freq (Hz)

Figure 4: Amplitude of the frequency response of a highpass RC circuit

100

Expected
Actual

Phase (deg)

80

60

40

20

0
101

102

103

104

105

106

Freq (Hz)

Figure 5: Phase of the frequency response of a highpass RC circuit

15

vo (t) = R i(t)
We take the Laplace transform of vi (t):
1
Vi (s) = R I(s) + L[sI(s) i(0)] +
I(s)
sC


1
= I(s) R + Ls +
sC
Taking the Laplace transform of vo (t) is trivial:
Vo (s) = R I(s)
The transfer function is:
T (s) =

Vo (s)
R I(s)

=
Vi (s)
I(s) R + Ls +

1
sC

=

RC s
LC s2 + RC s + 1

This was tested against an actual RLC circuit with resistance, inductance,
and capacitance of:

R = 118.55
L = 50.66 mH
C = 0.2262 F
The result in shown in Figures 6 and 7.

Conclusion

The Laplace transform is a useful tool for solving differential equations analytically, especially in cases with discontinuous forcing terms or a periodic,
non-sinusoidal forcing term.
In addition, analysis of circuits in the s-domain can yield insights into the
frequency response of the circuits.

References
[1] John Polking, Albert Boggess, David Arnold, Differential Equations with
Boundary Value Problems, 2nd Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.
[2] William Tyrrell Thomson, Laplace Transformation, 2nd Edition, PrenticeHall, 1960.

16

Expected
Actual

-5
-10

dB

-15
-20
-25
-30
-35
-40
101

102

103

104

105

Freq (Hz)

Figure 6: Amplitude of the frequency response of an RLC circuit

100

Expected
Actual

Phase (deg)

50

-50

-100
101

102

103

104

Freq (Hz)

Figure 7: Phase of the frequency response of an RLC circuit

17

105