ME 501B Midterm Examination

Spring 2014

1) Find the interval of convergence of the infinite series (including the endpoints)

(!1)n ( x ! 1) # 2 n ( 3n ! 1) n =1
"

2) Obtain the general solution to the differential equation

d2y dy ! 2 x + 2 ny = 0 2 dx dx Verify that one of the solutions is a polynomial of degree n when n is a positive even integer or zero, whereas the other solution is a polynomial of degree n when n is a positive odd integer.
3) The differential equation x 4 y!! + " y = 0 has an irregular singular point at x = 0 . (a) Show that the substitution t = 1 x yields the equation

d 2 y 2 dy + + !y = 0 dt 2 t dt which has a regular singular point at t = 0 .

(b) Use the method of Frobenius to obtain two series solutions of the equation given in part (a) and thus find the general solution of the original equation. (c) extra credit Assuming ! > 0 , express the solution in closed form (hint: recall the series expansion for sin z and cos z ).! 4) Consider the Sturm-Liouville system

d 2 y dy + + (1 + ! ) y = 0 dx 2 dx y(0) = 0, y(1) = 0
(a) find the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions (consider all possibilities !" < # < " ) (b) obtain the orthogonality condition 5) Using all three versions of the method of Stodola & Vianello, estimate the smallest eigenvalue of the Sturm-Liouville system

d2y + ! xy = 0 dx 2

dy (0) = 0, y(1) = 0 dx

Take as an initial approximation, a polynomial satisfying both boundary conditions. You can use a computer algebra system or MATLABs quad function to calculate the definite integrals.