Electronic – Why do phasors work with s-domain transfer functions

circuit analysislaplace transformphasor

In as few words as possible, here is my question:

Why can we get the output phasor by multiplying the input phasor by the s-domain transfer function evaluated at the (complex?) frequency we're dealing with?

An example will serve to better explain:

schematic

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab

(Note: I am tacitly ignoring the initial conditions; for now I want to simplify the problem and only consider the steady-state response)

$$H(s)=\frac{V_C}{V_{in}}=\frac{1/(sC)}{sL+R+1/(sC)}=\frac{\frac 1{LC}}{s^2+s\frac R L +\frac 1{LC}}$$

If we wanted \$V_C\$­ as a phasor, we would simply perform

$$V_C = V_{in}\cdot H(j2\pi \cdot1000)=3\angle45˚\cdot \frac{\frac 1{LC}}{-4\pi^2 \cdot 1000^2+j2\pi \cdot 1000\frac R L +\frac 1{LC}}$$

This would result in some complex number, which we would interpret as representing a sinusoid in the time domain. (Note: Already I'm confused… the input voltage waveform is not a complex number in the s-domain; it's actually some function of s).

I can understand how phasors arise naturally when solving DEs in the time domain; you assume your output is of the form \$Ae^{j2\pi ft + \phi}\$ and the time-dependence cancels out in the equation. I can also understand that multiplying by the transfer function in the s-domain produces the correct output in the time domain (provided the system is LTI). I can even understand why Ohm's Law, KVL, and KCL work in the s-domain.

However, after all that I can't get my head around this "abuse of notation". Phasors and s-domain expressions shouldn't have any business hanging around each other! So what am I missing here?

Best Answer

Actually, phasors and s-domain expression do have some relationship. Recall that the 's' variable in the laplace transform is defined as:

$$ s = \sigma + \text{j}\omega$$

So, when you substitute \$s\$ by \$\text{j}\omega\$ in a transfer function, you are taking your function to the phasor domain (which will produce the steady-state solution only, not the transient response).

Now, remember that when using phasors, you're taking advantage of Euler's identity, that is, \$e^{\text{j}\omega t}=\cos(\omega t)+\text{j}\sin(\omega t)\$. Even though you have a real source, say it is \$v(t)=\text{V}_o\cos(\omega t)\$, you can use Euler's identity to express it as

$$ v(t)=\text{V}_oe^{\text{j}\omega t}$$

or more rigorously defined as

$$ v(t)=\Re{[\text{V}_oe^{\text{j}\omega t}]}$$

where \$\Re\$ means that you want the real part of the expression. That's the case since your source is a cosine, or the real part of Euler's identity.

Alternatively, if you source were a sine, then

$$ v(t)=\Im{[\text{V}_oe^{\text{j}\omega t}]}$$

where \$\Im\$ means that you want the imaginary part of Euler's identity.

That means, that once you solve your circuit, you need to take either the real (if your source was a cosine) or the imaginary (if your source was a sine) part of the complex valued solution.

Hope it helps!