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Question

The Fourier transform of the following time domain function is :

This question was previously asked in
UGC NET 2023 Electronic Science Question Paper (13-Dec-2023) (Shift 1)
The correct answer is

The waveform is a step, and the Fourier transform of a step has two parts — an impulse at the origin and a term falling away as 1/ω — which is the shape drawn in option 1.

\(\mathcal{F}\left\{u(t)\right\}=\pi\delta(\omega)+\dfrac{1}{j\omega}\)

Where each term comes from. Write the unit step as a constant plus a signum function:

\(u(t)=\dfrac{1}{2}+\dfrac{1}{2}\text{sgn}(t)\)

Each half transforms separately.

The constant 1/2. A DC level exists at exactly one frequency, zero, so its transform is concentrated entirely at the origin:

\(\mathcal{F}\left\{\tfrac{1}{2}\right\}=\pi\delta(\omega)\)

This is the impulse marked \(\pi\) in every option — it is what makes the step's average value non-zero, and its presence in all four sketches means it cannot discriminate between them.

The signum part. This carries the transition and gives

\(\mathcal{F}\left\{\tfrac{1}{2}\text{sgn}(t)\right\}=\dfrac{1}{j\omega}\)

whose magnitude is \(1/|\omega|\)large near the origin and decaying towards zero on both sides. That hyperbolic decay is the discriminating feature, and only option 1 shows it: curves rising steeply as \(\omega\to0\) from either side and falling away symmetrically.

Why the other sketches are wrong in principle. Options 2 and 3 show a magnitude that rises away from the origin and stays high, which would mean the step contains more energy at high frequency than at low — impossible for a waveform that is constant almost everywhere. Option 4 shows a curve dipping to a minimum near the origin, the exact inverse of the true behaviour.

A sanity check that needs no algebra. A step is a slowly varying signal: it changes once and then never again. Its spectrum must therefore be dominated by low frequencies, and the only high-frequency content comes from the single discontinuity — which is why the tail falls as \(1/\omega\) rather than vanishing altogether. A discontinuity always produces a \(1/\omega\) tail; a corner in the waveform would give \(1/\omega^{2}\).

Hence, the correct sketch is option 1.

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Similar Questions

  1. Fourier transform or Fourier integral of a function f(t) is given by

  2. Match the following :

    List - IList - II (spectrum |G(w)| in the original figure) 
    (a) Rectangular Pulse(i)
    (b) Double-sided Exponential(ii)
    (c) Cosine Pulse(iii)
    (d) Damped Sine(iv)

    Codes :

  3. Match the following lists :

    List – IList – II  
    a. 1i. \(\pi\delta(\omega)+\dfrac{1}{j\omega}\)
    b. u(t)ii. 1
    c. δ(t)iii. \(\dfrac{-2}{\omega^{2}}\)
    d. | t |iv. \(2\pi\delta(\omega)\)

Important Questions from Fourier Transform

  1. The FT of $x(t) = e^{4t} u(-t)$ is:
  2. Fourier transform of the unit impulse δ(t) is

  3. The function f(t) is a periodic function of period 2π. In the range (-π, π), it equals e-t. If f(t) = \(\sum\nolimits_{ - \infty }^\infty {{c_n}{e^{{\mathop{\rm int}} }}}\) denotes its Fourier series expansion, the sum \({\sum\nolimits_{ - \infty }^\infty {\left| {{c_n}} \right|} ^2}\) is

  4. The function f(t) has a Fourier transform F(ω). The Fourier transform of F(t) is

  5. Differentiating a signal in the time domain corresponds to _________ its FT in the frequency domain by _________.

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