Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 28 views

    Math 2280 - Lecture 4: Separable Equations and Applications: Dylan Zwick Fall 2013

    Uploaded by

    Kawsar Mobin
    This document discusses solving separable differential equations. It begins by defining a separable differential equation as one where the function can be written as the product of a function of x and a function of y. It then explains how to solve these equations by separating the variables and integrating both sides. Examples are provided of explicitly and implicitly solving separable differential equations. Exponential growth and decay models are discussed as a common application. The document concludes by noting several homework problems, including standard problems and one challenging problem on the brachistochrone problem.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Math 2280 - Lecture 4: Separable Equations and Applications: Dylan Zwick Fall 2013

    Uploaded by

    Kawsar Mobin
    28 views8 pages
    This document discusses solving separable differential equations. It begins by defining a separable differential equation as one where the function can be written as the product of a function of x and a function of y. It then explains how to solve these equations by separating the variables and integrating both sides. Examples are provided of explicitly and implicitly solving separable differential equations. Exponential growth and decay models are discussed as a common application. The document concludes by noting several homework problems, including standard problems and one challenging problem on the brachistochrone problem.

    Original Title

    Lecture4

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    This document discusses solving separable differential equations. It begins by defining a separable differential equation as one where the function can be written as the product of a function of x and a function of y. It then explains how to solve these equations by separating the variables and integrating both sides. Examples are provided of explicitly and implicitly solving separable differential equations. Exponential growth and decay models are discussed as a common application. The document concludes by noting several homework problems, including standard problems and one challenging problem on the brachistochrone problem.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    28 views8 pages

    Math 2280 - Lecture 4: Separable Equations and Applications: Dylan Zwick Fall 2013

    Uploaded by

    Kawsar Mobin
    This document discusses solving separable differential equations. It begins by defining a separable differential equation as one where the function can be written as the product of a function of x and a function of y. It then explains how to solve these equations by separating the variables and integrating both sides. Examples are provided of explicitly and implicitly solving separable differential equations. Exponential growth and decay models are discussed as a common application. The document concludes by noting several homework problems, including standard problems and one challenging problem on the brachistochrone problem.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 8

    Math 2280 - Lecture 4: Separable

    Equations and Applications

    Dylan Zwick

    Fall 2013

    For the last two lectures we’ve studied first-order differential equations
    in standard form:

    y ′ = f (x, y).

    We learned how to solve these differential equations for the special sit-
    uation where f (x, y) is independent of the variable y, and is just a function
    of x, so f (x, y) = f (x). We also learned about slope fields, which give us a
    geometric method for understanding solutions and approximating them,
    even if we cannot find them directly.
    Today we’re going to discuss how to solve first-order differential equa-
    tions in standard form in the special situation where the function f (x, y) is
    separable, which means we can write f (x, y) as the product of a funciton of
    x, and a function of y.
    The exercises for this section are:

    Section 1.4 - 1, 3, 17, 19, 31, 35, 53, 68

    1
    Separable Equations and How to Solve Them
    Suppose we have a first-order differential equation in standard form:

    dy
    = h(x, y).
    dx

    If the function h(x, y) is separable we can write it as the product of two


    functions, one a function of x, and the other a function of y. So,

    g(x)
    h(x, y) = .
    f (y)

    In this situation we can manipulate our differtial equation to put ev-


    erything with a y term on one side, and everything with an x term on the
    other:

    f (y)dy = g(x)dx.

    From here we can just integrate both sides of the equation, and then
    solve for y as a funciton of x. Easy!
    For example, suppose we’re given the differential equation

    dP
    = P 2.
    dt

    We can rewrite this equation as

    dP
    = dt,
    P2

    and then integrate both sides of the equation to get

    1
    − = t + C.
    P

    2
    Solving this for P as a function of t gives us

    1 1
    P (t) = .
    C−t

    Note that this function has a vertical asymptote as t approaches C. If


    this is a population model, this is called doomsday!

    Examples of Separable Differential Equations


    Suppose we’re given the differential equation

    dy 4 − 2x
    = 2 .
    dx 3y − 5

    This differential equation is separable, and we can rewrite it as

    (3y 2 − 5)dy = (4 − 2x)dx.

    If we integrate both sides of this differential equation

    Z Z
    2
    (3y − 5)dy = (4 − 2x)dx

    we get

    y 3 − 5y = 4x − x2 + C.

    This is a solution to our differential equation, but we cannot readily


    solve this equation for y in terms of x. So, our solution to this differential
    equation must be implicit.
    1
    Note that we’re playing a little fast and loose with the unknown constant C here.
    In particular, if we multiply an unknown constant C by −1, it’s still just an unknown
    constant, and we continue to call it (positive) C.

    3
    If we’re given an initial value, say y(1) = 3, then we can easily solve
    for the unknown constant C:

    33 − 5(3) = 4(1) − 12 + C ⇒ C = 9.

    So, around the point (1, 3) the differential equation will have the unique
    solution given implicitly by the curve defined by

    y 3 − 5y = 4x − x2 + 9.

    Example - Solve the differential equation

    dy 2
    = 6x(y − 1) 3 .
    dx

    4
    More room for the example problem.

    5
    A very common, and simple, type of differential equation that is used
    to model many, many things2 is:

    dx
    = kx,
    dt

    where k is some constant.


    Now, this is a separable equation, and so it can be solved by our meth-
    ods. First, we rewrite it as

    dx
    = kdt,
    x

    and then integrate both sides

    Z Z
    dx
    = kdt
    x

    to get

    ln x = kt + C.

    If we then exponentiate both sides we get

    x(t) = ekt+C = eC ekt = Cekt .3

    So, the solution to our differential equation is exponential growth (if


    k > 0) or exponential decay (if k < 0). If k = 0 the answer is just a boring
    unknown constant.
    2
    Compound interest, population growth, radioactive decay, etc...
    3
    The American Society for the Prevention of Notation Abuse would strongly protest
    this last equality. I’m just saying that eC , where C is an unknown constant, is itself just an
    unknown constant, and I don’t like having to come up with new letters, so I just continue
    to represent the unknown constant as C.

    6
    Radioactive decay is quite accurately measured by an exponential de-
    cay function. For 14 C decay, the decay constant is k ≈ −0.0001216 if t is
    measured in years.
    Example - Carbon taken from a purported relic of the time of Christ con-
    tained 4.6 × 1010 atoms of 14 C per gram. Carbon extracted from a present-
    day specimen of the same substance contained 5.0 × 1010 atoms of 14 C per
    gram. Compute the approximate age of the relic. What is your opinion as
    to its authenticity?

    7
    Notes on Homework Problems
    Problems 1.4.1, 1.4.3, 1.4.17, and 1.4.19 are all straightforward separable
    differential equations like the examples above.
    Problem 1.4.31 investigates the subtle distinctions between two seeminly
    very similar differential equations.
    Problem 1.4.35 and 1.4.53 are standard radiocarbon dating problems.
    Shouldn’t be too hard.
    Problem 1.4.68 is a challenge! It’s an introduction to one of the most
    awesome problems in the history of mathematics, the brachistochrone! It’s
    also the problem that led to a field of analysis called the “calculus of vari-
    ations”, which is extremely important in physics. In fact, it’s one of my fa-
    vorite ideas in all of nature! There’s a lecture in volume 1 of The Feynman
    Lectures on Physics about the principle of least action that I’d strongly rec-
    ommend you read. This problem won’t be graded, but I hope you give it
    some effort.

    You might also like

    pFad - Phonifier reborn

    Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

    Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


    Alternative Proxies:

    Alternative Proxy

    pFad Proxy

    pFad v3 Proxy

    pFad v4 Proxy