On the recovery of the time average of continuous and discrete time functions from their Laplace and z-transforms

The determination of the time averages of continuous functions or discrete time sequences is important for various problems in physics and engineering, and the generalized final-value theorems of the Laplace and z-transforms, relevant to functions and sequences not having a limit at infinity, but having a well-defined average, can be very helpful in this determination. In the present contribution, we complete the proofs of these theorems and extend them to more general time functions and sequences. Besides formal proofs, some simple examples and heuristic and pedagogical comments on the physical nature of the limiting processes defining the averaging are given. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.