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Method of Isoclines
An isocline for the differential equation y′ = f (x, y) is a set of points in the xy-plane where all the
solutions have the same slope dy/dx

𝑑𝑦
=𝑐
𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑐 → 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠

Method of isoclines for sketching direction fields STEPS:

1. we draw different isoclines with different c
2. As c is the numerical value of the slope 𝑑𝑦/𝑑𝑥 of every solution curve as it crosses the
isocline, we draw hash marks with slope c along the isocline 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑐 for a few selected
values. The hash marks constitute a part of the direction field for the differential equation.

EXAMPLE: 𝑦’ = 𝑥 + 𝑦,

the isoclines are the straight lines 𝑥 + 𝑦 = 𝑐 → 𝑦 = −𝑥 + 𝑐

mark slope c on each isocline (there are some between isoclines here too)

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