Laplace Transforms with MATLAB
a. Calculate the Laplace Transform using Matlab
Calculating the Laplace F(s) transform of a function f(t) is quite simple in Matlab. First
you need to specify that the variable t and s are symbolic ones. This is done with the
command
>> syms t s
Next you define the function f(t). The actual command to calculate the transform is
>> F=laplace(f,t,s)
To make the expression more readable one can use the commands, simplify and pretty.
here is an example for the function f(t),
tt etetf 22 25.15.325.1)( −− ++−=
>> syms t s
>> f=-1.25+3.5*t*exp(-2*t)+1.25*exp(-2*t);
>> F=laplace(f,t,s)
F =
-5/4/s+7/2/(s+2)^2+5/4/(s+2)
>> simplify(F)
ans =
(s-5)/s/(s+2)^2
>> pretty(ans)
s - 5
----------
2
s (s + 2)
which corresponds to F(s),
2
)2(
)5(
)( +
−
=ss
s
sF
Alternatively, one can write the function f(t) directly as part of the laplace command:
>>F2=laplace(-1.25+3.5*t*exp(-2*t)+1.25*exp(-2*t))
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