Differential equation

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Not to be confused with Difference equation.

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Visualization of heat transfer in a pump casing, created by solving the heat equation. Heat is being
generated internally in the casing and being cooled at the boundary, providing a steady state temperature
distribution.

A differential equation is a mathematical equation that relates some function with

its derivatives. In applications, the functions usually represent physical quantities, the derivatives
represent their rates of change, and the differential equation defines a relationship between the
two. Because such relations are extremely common, differential equations play a prominent role
in many disciplines including engineering, physics, economics, and biology.
In pure mathematics, differential equations are studied from several different perspectives,
mostly concerned with their solutions—the set of functions that satisfy the equation. Only the
simplest differential equations are solvable by explicit formulas; however, some properties of
solutions of a given differential equation may be determined without finding their exact form.
If a closed-form expression for the solution is not available, the solution may be numerically
approximated using computers. The theory of dynamical systems puts emphasis
on qualitative analysis of systems described by differential equations, while many numerical
methods have been developed to determine solutions with a given degree of accuracy.
 Contents

 1History
 2Example
 3Types
o 3.1Ordinary differential equations
o 3.2Partial differential equations
o 3.3Non-linear differential equations
o 3.4Equation order
o 3.5Examples
 4Existence of solutions
 5Related concepts
 6Connection to difference equations
 7Applications
o 7.1Physics
 7.1.1Classical mechanics
 7.1.2Electrodynamics
 7.1.3General relativity
 7.1.4Quantum mechanics
o 7.2Biology
 7.2.1Predator-prey equations
o 7.3Chemistry
o 7.4Economics
 8See also
 9References
 10Further reading
 11External links