Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Problems
dx
= kx, x(t0 ) = x0 (1)
dt
In physics the IVP (1) models the process of estimating the amount of
radioactive substance remaining at any time t or the temperature of a cooling
body. Similarly in chemistry, it may be used to estimate the amount os
chemicals that remain at any time during certain chemical processes.
dN
= kN, N (0) = N0 (2)
dt
ln3
3N0 = N0 e0.4055t1 ⇒ t1 = ≈ 2.71 hours .
0.4055
Applications of First Order Ordinary Differential Equations – p. 2/1
Carbon Dating
Answer: If A0 be the original amount of C-14, then the associated IVP is once
again of the same type as in the previous problem and it has the solution
A(t) = A0 ekt . Since A(t) = A0 /2 when t = 5600 years, we have
A0 ln2
= A0 e5600t ⇒ k = − = −0.00012378.
2 5600
A0 ln1000
= A0 e −0.00012378t1
⇒ t1 = ≈ 55, 800 years.
1000 0.00012378
Applications of First Order Ordinary Differential Equations – p. 3/1
Electrical Circuits
di
L + Ri = E(t) (3)
dt
Thus the given problem gives rise to the IVP
1 di
+ 10i = 12, i(0) = 0 (4)
2 dt
6
Upon solving it we get the current flow as i(t) = 5 − 65 e−20t .
Applications of First Order Ordinary Differential Equations – p. 4/1
Fluid Mixtures
Answer: If A(t)be the amount of salt in the tank at any time t, then
dA
= (Rate of entry) − (Rate of exit) = R1 − R2 .
dt
For the given problem the rate at which salt enters the tank is
R1 = (3gal/min) × (2lb/gal) = 6lb/min
and the rate at which salt leaves the tank is
A A
R2 = (3gal/min) × ( lb/gal) = lb/min.
300 100
Applications of First Order Ordinary Differential Equations – p. 5/1
Fluid Mixtures
dA A
=6− , A(0) = 50 (5)
dt 100
If in the preceding example, the well stirred solution is pumped out at a slower
rate of 2 gallons per minute, then the solution is accumulating at a rate of
(3 − 2)gal/min = 1 gal/min. After t minutes
there are 300 + t gallons of brine
A 2A
in the tank so that R2 = (2gal/min) × 300+t lb/gal = 300+t lb/min and
the IVP (5) takes the form
dA 2A
+ = 6, A(0) = 50, (6)
dt 300 + t
This has the solution A(t) = 2(300 + t) − (4.95 × 107 )(300 + t)−2 .
Applications of First Order Ordinary Differential Equations – p. 6/1
Applications of nonlinear equations: Population
Growth
In particular if a(> 0) is the average birthrate and the average death rate is
proportional to the population P (t) at any time t, then the rate of growth per
1 dP
individual ( ) satisfies
P dt
1 dP
= (average birth rate − average death rate) = a − bP.
P dt
Thus if P0 be the initial population, this gives rise to the IVP
dP
= aP − bP 2 , P (0) = P0 (7)
dt
This has the solution
aP0
P (t) = .
bP0 + (a − bP0 )e −at
dx
= kxy
dt
Answer: Assuming that nobody leaves the campus throughout the duration of
the disease, we seek the solution of the following IVP.
dx
= kx(1000 − x), x(0) = 1.
dt
1000
This has the solution x(t) = . Using the fact that x(4) = 50
1 + 999e −1000kt
−1 19 1000
we have k = ln = 0.0009906 so that x(t) = .
4000 999 1 + 999e−0.0009906t
Thus the number of students affected after 6 days is
1000
x(6) = = 276 students.
1 + 999e−5.9436
Applications of First Order Ordinary Differential Equations – p. 10/1
Problems from mechanics: Falling bodies
It is well known that free-falling bodies close to the surface of the earth
accelerate at a constant rate g. Since acceleration is the first derivative of
velocity which in turn is the first derivative of the distance s(t) covered in
time t, the vertical distance covered by the body is described by the equation
d2 s
= g.
dt2
d2 s dv dv ds dv
If v(t) be the velocity at any time t then 2 = = = v . Thus if
dt dt ds dt ds
the body is falls from rest from a height h close to the earth’s surface, then
this gives rise to the following first order IVP in v.
dv
v = g, v(h) = 0 (9)
ds
dv
m = mg − kv.
dt
Thus if the body falls from a height h, then this gives rise to the initial value
problem
dv k
v + v = g, v(h) = 0 (10)
ds m
A rocket of mass m is propelled from the surface of the earth. its motion is
resisted by gravitational force which is inversely proportional to the square of
the distance covered at any time t. Thus its motion is described by the
equation
d2 s k
m 2 =− 2
dt s
where k is the constant of proportionality.
Using the fact that the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the earth is
g if R be the radius of the earth, this yields the equation mg = k/R 2 . Thus if
v0 be the initial velocity of the rocket, then the velocity v(s) at any height s is
the solution of the IVP
dv gR2
v = − 2 , v(R) = v0 (11)
ds s
1 2 ds
2 mv(t) = mg(a cos α − a cos θ) where v(t)(=
dt
) is the
velocity at time t and θ is the angular displacement of the pendulum from the
vertical position at any time t. Since s = aθ, this gives rise to the IVP
1 dθ 2
2 a dt = g(cos θ − cos α), θ(0) = α (12)
Suppose that a suspended wire hangs under its own weight. Then the curve
described by the shape of the wire is the solution of an IVP of second order
which may be reduced to two IVPs of first order.
We examine a portion of the wire between the lowest point P1 and any other
point P2 . This portion of the wire is at an equilibrium under the action of three
forces, namely, the weight of the segment P1 P2 , the tensions T1 and 2 in the
wire at P1 and P2 respectively. If w be the linear density of the wire and s the
length of P1 P2 , then the weight of P1 P2 is ws.
Resolving the tension T2 into its horizontal and vertical components T2 cos θ
and T2 sin θ respectively (see figure), the following equation arise from the
equilibrium condition.
T1 = T2 cos θ (13)
ws = T2 sin θ (14)
ws
But from (13) and (14) we have tan θ = so that
T1
dy ws
= (17)
dx T1
d2 y w ds
Differentiating the above equation with respect to x we have 2 = .
dx T1 dx
Now using (16) we have
s 2
d2 y
w dy
= 1+ .
dx2 T1 dx
dy
Setting p = , we get the IVP
dx
dp wp
= 1 + p2 , p(0) = 0, (19).
dx T1
dy wx
The solution of this IVP is the first order ODE = tan . The latter gives
dx T1
rise to the second IVP
dy wx
= tan , y(0) = 0, (20).
dx T1