MATH 308 Lecture 2

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Lecture Notes


Exercise 4

p′(t)=0.03p(t)p′(t)p(t)=0.03ln⁡(p(t))=0.03t+Cp(t)=e0.03t+C=eCe0.03t=Ae0.03t

This is called the general solution

Given intial condition p(0)=200, we can find particular values for the unknown constants in the general solution:

p(0)=Ae0.03⋅0A=200p(t)=200e0.03t

This unique solution is called the particular solution


In Maple, you can solve Diff Eq's as follows:

> eq1 := p'(t) = 0.03*p(t);
> dsolve(eq1, p(t));               # Gives general solution
> dsolve({eq1, p(0) = 200}, p(t)); # Gives particular Solution


Exercise 5

Show that y=(Ax+B)e−x+1 is a solution to y″+2y′+y=1.

y′=(A−B−Ax)e−xy″=−Ae−x−(A−B−Ax)e−x(−Ae−x−(A−B−Ax)e−x)+2((A−B−Ax)e−x)+((Ax+B)e−x+1)=1e−x((−2A+B+2A−2B+B)+x(A−2A+A))+1=1e−x(0+x(0))+1=1

Therefore, (Ax+B)e−x+1 is a solution.


Find a solution that satisfies the initial condition y(0)=3 and y′(0)=1.

y(0)=(0A+B)e0+1=3=B+1y′(0)=(A−B−0A)e0=1=A−BB=2A=3

Direction Fields

Works for first-order differential equations only!

Example: y′(x)=x2−y2

To plot in Maple:

> with(DETools):
> DEplot(D(y)(x) = x^2-y(x)^2, y(x), x=-10..10, y=-10..10);

A solution has a horizontal tangent at (x,y) if y′(x)=0=x2−y2, so for x=±y, the direction field lines are horizontal.

Are these values minima, maxima, or inflection points? Use second derivative test

y″(x)=2x
  • For x≥0, it's a local minimum
  • For x≤1, it's a local maximum
  • For x=0, we don't know

Particular solutions can be plotted in the direction fields:

> with(DETools):
> DEplot(D(y)(x) = x^2-y(x)^2, y(x), x=-10..10, y=-10..10, [[0,1], [1,-0.5], [-1,-2], [-3,0]], linecolor=blue);


Until Next Time