GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL of ELECTRICAL and COMPUTER ENGINEERING

ECE 3084
Summer 2014
Problem Set #5
Assigned: 20-Jun-13
Due Date: 26-June-13

Your homework is due at the start of class on Thursday, June 26.

You may turn in your homework up to one day late, by 3:00 PM the following day. A
30% penalty will be assessed on late homeworks (even homeworks turned in on the day it
is due but not at the start of class, although the penalty might be slightly less at our discretion).
A sheet of Laplace transform pairs and properties has been posted to the Resources
section of the T-square website. You will want to print this out and have it handy while you are
working on the homework, along with the sheet of Fourier transform pairs and properties.

Refrain from looking at backfiles of homework and

exam solutions i.e., word in Georgia Tech parlance
from previous versions of ECE2025, ECE2026, or ECE3084,
beyond your own materials assembled while taking those
classes and any old material we explicitly provide to you.

From http://http://math.cos.ucf.edu/ anevai/courses/map2302-a/creative-2/resources/MichaelRogers.jpg

PROBLEM 5.1:
Consider the Laplace transform
X(s) =

2(s + 1)
.
s(s + 2)2

(a) Use the residue method (also called the Heaviside cover-up method) discussed in class
to find the coefficients in the partial fraction expansion:
X(s) =

c2
c3
c1
+
+
.
s
s + 2 (s + 2)2

The numbering of the coefficients may differ from what was presented in lecture. (Everybody
uses different conventions, so you might as well get used to it now.) Dont forget that finding
c2 using the usual residue method will involve taking a derivative.
(b) Find x(t), the inverse Laplace transform of X(s), using your answer from part (a).
(c) The residue method for repeated roots can become tedious when it involves repeated derivatives. Finding c1 and c3 using the residue method wasnt too bad, but finding c2 was a bit
more painful. Lets try another trick for finding c2 . Given the c1 and c3 you found in part (a),
find c2 by plugging the values for c1 and c3 , and also plugging s = 1, into the equation
2(s + 1)
c1
c2
c3
=
+
+
.
s(s + 2)2
s
s + 2 (s + 2)2

(1)

Note: There wasnt anything particularly magical about choosing s = 1. We technically could

have chosen s = 2, s = 4, s = e42 , or s = 6.02 1023 , although clearly some values of s

would be more convenient than others. However, plugging s = 0 or s = 2 into (1), in the
form given, would have been problematic; an equation that says infinity is equal to infinity
wouldnt push us in any useful direction.
(d) The lectures focused on the residue method, which is also called sometimes called the Heaviside coverup method. Another method, sometimes referred to as the fraction-clearing
or cross-multiplication method, would be to multiply both sides of (1) by s(s + 2)2 ,
multiply out all the factors, and then write out three equations: 1) an equation in
which all the coefficients of s2 on the left hand side are equated with all the coefficients of s2
on the right hand side, 2) an equation in which all the coefficients of s of the left hand side
are equated with all the coefficients of s on the right hand side, and 3) an equation in which
all the constants on the left hand side are equated with all the constants on the right hand
side. You may hear this referred to as collecting like terms. Oh, and then you solve that
set of equations. Find c1 , c2 , and c3 using this technique. (Of course, you will want to
make sure your results match your previous answers).

PROBLEM 5.2:
In class, we took the inverse Laplace transform of
X(s) =

s2

10
+ 4s + 29

by completing the square as follows:

X(s) =

s2

10
10
5
=
=2
.
2
2
+ 4s + 4 + 25
(s + 2) + 5
(s + 2)2 + 52

We then easily looked up the Laplace transform as

x(t) = 2 exp(2t) sin(5t)u(t).
Lets try a more direct partial fraction expansion.
(a) Using the quadratic equation, we can find the roots of the denominator and write X(s) as
X(s) =

c2
c1
+
.
s + 2 j5 s + 2 + j5

Use the residue method discussed in class to find c1 .

(b) Although we know that c2 = c1 , to get some practice, compute c2 directly using the
residue method. Make sure that indeed c2 = c1 .
(c) Use your answers to (a) and (b) and the usual inverse Laplace transform pair
L

exp(t)u(t)

1
s+

to write x(t), the inverse transform of X(s), as the sum of two one-sided complex
sinusoids multiplied by complex constants.
(d) Use Eulers formula to rewrite your answer to part (a) in the form of a decaying
sinusoid
A exp(bt) cos(0 t + )u(t),
i.e. find real constants A,b, 0 , and in the above expression from your answer in (c).
(e) Make sure your answer in (d) is consistent with the answer we found in class using the
complete-the-square method.

PROBLEM 5.3:
Use Laplace transforms to solve the following initial value problems, which explore variations on a
theme:
(a) y + 2y = e4t u(t), y(0 ) = 1
(b) y + 2y = e2t u(t), y(0 ) = 1
(c) y + 2y = 0, y(0 ) = 1
(d) y + 2y = (t), y(0 ) = 0

PROBLEM 5.4:
Suppose an LTI system is defined by the system function (also known as the transfer function)
H(s) =

3s + 5
.
s2 + 4

(a) Find the differential equation that relates the input to this system, x(t), to its output,
y(t). Please place all terms with y(t) and its derivatives on the left hand side and all terms
with x(t) and its derivatives on the right hand side.
(b) Find the impulse response h(t), i.e., the inverse Laplace transform of H(s), by writing
H(s) as the sum of two terms, one with 3s in the numerator and one with 5 in the
numerator, and inverting each term so that you can write h(t) as the sum of two terms, one
containing a cosine function and the other containing a sine function.
(c) Use phasor addition (you should remember this from ECE2026 and ECE2040) to write
you answer in (b) with a single term containing a cosine with some appropriate
phase. (You will need to use a calculator or computer for this).

PROBLEM 5.5:
Suppose an LTI system is defined by the system function (also known as the transfer function)
H(s) =

5s
.
s2 + 2s + 5

(a) Complete the square in the denominator to rewrite H(s) in the form:
H(s) =

s
.
(s + )2 +

(b) If there wasnt an s in the numerator, wed be in good shape, since it would match the form
of a decaying sine function. Similarily, if it had the form
(s + )
,
(s + )2 +
it would match the form of a decaying cosine function. Rewrite H(s) in a form like
H(s) =

(s + )

2
(s + ) + (s + )2 +

so that you can write h(t) in a form with two terms, the first consisting of a decaying
cosine and the second consisting of a decaying sine.
(c) Use phasor addition to rewrite your answer in (b) as a decaying cosine with some
appropriate phase.

PROBLEM 5.6:
Find the inverse Laplace transform of
X(s) =

2s3 + 9s2 + 11s + 2

.
s2 + 4s + 3

Since the degree of the numerator is greater than the degree of the denominator, you will first need
to apply polynomial long division1 to rewrite X(s) in a form like
X(s) = As + B +

s2

s+C
+ Ds + E

(2)

Note that the inverse Laplace transform of s is 0 (t), which is the weird doublet presented in
d
class. Incidentally, it follows the property that f (t) 0 (t) = dt
f (t), but you dont need to know
that to work this problem.
The other problems on this homework attacked the expressions like the last term in (2) in
various ways. Techniques that lead us directly to sinusoidal expressions, such as completing the
square, are not as applicable here since the zeros of the denominator are real and hence do not
correspond to a sinusoidal time function. You will need to do a partial fraction expansion, using
whatever approach you like.

There are many examples on line, for instance, at http://www.sosmath.com/algebra/factor/fac01/fac01.html

and http://www.purplemath.com/modules/polydiv2.htm.