APPM 2360 EXAM 3 REVIEW

BRANDEN OLSON

Problem 1
Consider an unforced mass-spring system with mass m = 2, spring constant k = 8, and
damping constant b = 4p, where p > 0 is a constant.
a. Write down the differential equation that models this physical system.
Solution. Since the system is unforced, f (t) 0, our equation becomes
m
x + bx + kx = 0 2
x + 4px + 8x = 0
b. For different values of p, the solutions will behave differently. Find the threshold value
for p that separates these different behaviors.
Solution. The solutions will change when the equation becomes critically damped. Let
us set up the characteristic equation and find the value such that the discriminant is zero.
Our characteristic equation is
ar2 + br + c = 0 2r2 + 4pr + 8 = 0
p
p
p
4p (4p)2 64
4p (4p)2 4 2 8
=
= p p2 4
r=
22
4
2
2
And since = p 4, = 0 p 4 = 0 p = 2 since p > 0.
c. Sketch the solution for the mass-spring system when p = 1. Use initial conditions:
x(0) = 2, x0 (0) = 0.
Solution. Our equation becomes

r = 1 1 4 = 1 3 = 1 i 3 = 1, = 3

x(t) = et (c1 cos( 3t) + c2 sin( 3t))

x(0) = c1 = 2

x0 (t) = et (c1 cos( 3t) + c2 sin( 3t)) + et ( 3c1 sin( 3t) + 3c2 cos( 3t))
x0 (0) = c1 +

2
3c2 = 0 c2 =
3
1

BRANDEN OLSON

Thus, we are left with

2
x(t) = et (2 cos( 3t) + sin( 3t))
3

Problem 2
Consider the following differential equation:
ty 00 + (t 1)y 0 y = t2 , t > 0
a. Verify that y1 (t) = 1 t and y2 (t) = et are both solutions to the related homogeneous
differential equation.
Solution. Here we DO NOT want to re-derive these formulas. We just want to check that
they satisfy the equation by plugging them and their derivatives in. For y1 , we see that
y10 (t) = 1 and y100 (t) = 0, so
ty 00 + (t 1)y 0 y = t(0) + (t 1)(1) (1 t) = t + 1 1 + t 0
Furthermore, for y2 , we see that y20 (t) = et and y200 (t) = et , so
ty 00 + (t 1)y 0 y = tet + (t 1) et et = tet tet + et et 0
b. Find the general solution, y(t).

APPM 2360 EXAM 3 REVIEW

Solution. The fact that they gave us two solutions suggests that we can use variation of
parameters. But first, we need to check for linear independence. We can do this using the
Wronskian of y1 and y2 .




y1 y2
1 t et
W (y1 , y2 ) = det 0
= det
y1 y20
1 et
= et (1 t) + et = tet > 0 since t > 0 and et > 0
And so W 6 0 and we can therefore use variation of parameters. Putting our equation
into the correct form requires dividing by t:
t1 0 1
y y=t
y 00 +
t
t
From Cramers Rule we know that


0 y2
det
f y20
y2 f
et t
0

=
=
= 1
v1 =
W (y1 , y2 )
tet
y y2
det 10
y1 y20


y1 0
det 0
y f
(1 t)t
1t
y1 f
=
 1
=
= t = (1 t)et
v20 =
t
W (y1 , y2 )
te
e
y y2
det 10
y1 y20
Therefore,
Z
Z
v1 = v10 = 1 = t + C1 = t (C1 = 0)
Z
Z
IBP
0
v2 = v2 = (1 t)et = 2et tet + C2 = 2et tet (C2 = 0)

Our particular solution is yp = v1 y1 + v2 y2 and alas our general solution is

yt = yh + yp = c1 y1 + c2 y2 + v1 y1 + v2 y2
= c1 (1 t) + c2 et t(1 t) + (2et tet )et
= c1 (1 t) + c2 et + t2 t + 2 t
= c1 (1 t) + c2 et + t2 t + 2
Problem 3
Consider the linear differential equation
y 00 + 4y 0 + 5y = f (t)
. Using the Method of Undetermined Coefficients, write down the general form of the
particular solution, yp , for the following forcing functions. You do NOT need to solve for
the arbitrary coefficients.
a. f (t) = t + e2t

BRANDEN OLSON

Solution. First and foremost, we must find the homogeneous solution. Not only is this a
relevant part of the general solution, but it will allow us to determine which parts of the
particular solution we can neglect. The corresponding characteristic equation is

4 16 4 5
2
= 2 4 5 = 2 i
r + 4r + 5 = 0 r =
2
So our homogenous solution is
yh = e2t (c1 cos(t) + c2 sin(t))
. Since t P1 (t), we will need a general A1 (t) = a0 + a1 t as a term. Furthermore, we will
also need the e2t term. Thus,
yp = a0 + a1 t + c3 e2t
b. f (t) = et cos(2t)
Solution. Since et and e2t are linearly independent, we must include the et term in
yp . Furthermore, for the cos(2t) term, we will need a term of the form a0 cos(2t) +
b0 sin(2t). Thus,
yp = et (a0 cos(2t) + b0 sin(2t))
c. f (t) = e2t sin(t)
Solution. Note that terms of the form a0 e2t sin(t)+b0 e2t cos(t) are already incorporated
into our yh , so we must multiply everything by t:
yp = te2t (a0 cos(t) + b0 sin(t)
d. f (t) = te2t cos(t)
Solution. Here we need a solution of the form
yp = e2t [(a0 + a1 t) cos(t) + (b0 + b1 t) sin(t))]
Which contains terms in yh . To fix this, we multiply by t to arrive at
yp = te2t [(a0 + a1 t) cos(t) + (b0 + b1 t) sin(t))]
Problem 4
a. Find the eigenspace(s) for the eigenvalues of the following matrix:

0 1 1
A = 0 1 1
0 0
0

APPM 2360 EXAM 3 REVIEW

Solution. Our first step is to find all eigenvalues by solving the characteristic equation
det(A I) = 0:

1
1
det(A I) = det 0 1 1 = ()(1 )()
0
0

Because the determinant of an upper triangular matrix is just the product of its diagonal
elements. Our equation then becomes
2 (1 + ) = 0 = 0 (mult 2), 1
Now we can solve for each vi by solving the equation (A i I)vi = 0. For 1 = 0,

0 1 1 0
0 1 1 0
Av1 = 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0 0 0

1
0
v1 = 0 + 1
0
1
For 2 = 1,

1 1 0 0
1 1 1 0
(A + I)v2 = 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0

1
=> v2 = 1
0
And the eigenspaces are
( )
1
0

0 , 1
E=0 = span
0
1
( )
1
E=1 = span 1
0
b. Find all eigenvalues for the following matrix.

2 2 2
2 2 2

A=
2 2 2
2 2 2
2 2 2

2
2
2
2
2

2
2

2
2

HINT: One of the eigenvectors is v = (1, 1, 1, 1, 1)T , and you shouldnt have to solve
det(A I) to identify the eigenvalues.

BRANDEN OLSON

Solution. Note that the RREF of this matrix is

1 1 1
0 0 0

A =
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0

1
0
0
0
0

1
0

0
0

First, it is clear that A is nonsingular, so that means that A must have 0 has an eigenvalue.
Notice that for = 0, 4 eigenvectors will be yielded since there are 4 free parameters. So
= 0 must have multiplicity 4. Furthermore, since v = (1, 1, 1, 1, 1)T is an eigenvector,
then


10
1
10
1

Av = v
10 = 1
10
1
10
1
which makes it clear that = 10 is an eigenvalue. Since that is the fifth eigenvalue, we are
done.