Find the solution of the initial-value problem
where α\alpha is a non-zero constant.
We apply the Laplace transform to both sides. We have
and similarly, ℒ(y′)=sℒ(y){\mathcal{L}}(y^{\prime})=s{\mathcal{L}}(y). Thus ℒ(y′′+α2y)=(s2+α2)ℒ(y){\mathcal{L}}\left(y^{\prime\prime}+\alpha^{2}y\right)=(s^{2}+\alpha^{2}){% \mathcal{L}}(y).
On the other side, we have ℒ(cosαx)=ss2+α2.{\mathcal{L}}(\cos\alpha x)={\frac{s}{s^{2}+\alpha^{2}}.} Equating both sides and dividing by (s2+α2)(s^{2}+\alpha^{2}), we have ℒ(y)=s(s2+α2)2.{\mathcal{L}}(y)={\frac{s}{(s^{2}+\alpha^{2})^{2}}.}