ES14

Differential Equation For Engineers

Applications of First-Order
Differential Equations
 Application of Differential Equation

 Differential equations are absolutely fundamental to modern science

and engineering. Almost all of the known laws of physics and
chemistry are actually differential equations.

 Differential equation models are used extensively in biology to study

biochemical reactions, population dynamics, organism growth, and
the spread of diseases.
 Growth, Decay and Continuous Compund
Interest Problems

Let N(t) denote the amount of substance (or population) that is either growing or decaying. If we assume that
dN/dt, the time rate of change of this amount of substance, is proportional to the amount of substance present, then
dN/dt = kN, or

Solving the differential equation, the solution will be

Where: c is the initial value and can be found from the initial condition and k is the constant of
proportionality, Note: If k > 0 the exponential growth occurs, and if k < 0 the exponential decay occurs.
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE 1.
Radium decomposes at a rate proportional to the amount at
any instant. In 100 years, 100mg of radium decomposes to
96mg. How many mg will be left after 200 years?

ANSWER.
• 92.16 mg
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE 2.
A person places $20,000 in a savings account which pays 5
percent interest per annum, compounded continuously. Find
(a) the amount in the account after three years, and
(b) the time required for the account to double in value,
presuming no withdrawals and no additional deposits.

Answers:
(a)$23,236.68
(b)13.86 years
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE 3.
The population of a certain country is known to increase at a rate
proportional to the number of people presently living in the country. If
after two years the population has doubled, and after three years the
population is 20,000, estimate the number of people initially living in the
country.

Answer:
7062
Temperature Problem
 Newton’s Law of Cooling

The time rate of change of the temperature of a body is proportional to the temperature
difference between the body and its surrounding medium.

Let T denote the temperature of the body and let Tm denote the temperature of the
surrounding medium. Then the time rate of change of the temperature of the body
dT/dt, and Newton's law of cooling can be formulated as dT/dt = k(T - Tm), where k is
a positive constant of proportionality.

T(t) = Tm + cekt
𝑑𝑡
is negative in a cooling process (T > Tm)
𝑑𝑇
𝑑𝑡
is positive in a heating process (T < Tm)
𝑑𝑇
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE 1.
A body at an unknown temperature is placed in a room which is held at
a constant temperature of 30°F. If after 10 minutes the temperature of
the body is 0°F and after 20 minutes the temperature of the body is
15°F, find the unknown initial temperature.

ANSWERS:
-30°F
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE 2.
A body at a temperature of 50°F is placed outdoors where the
temperature is 100°F. If after 5 minutes the temperature of the body is
60°F, find
(a) how long it will take the body to reach a temperature of 75°F and
(b) the temperature of the body after 20 minutes.

Answers:
(a) t = 15.4 mins
(b) T = 79.5°F
Assignment

1. A metal bar at a temperature of 100°F is placed in a room at a constant temperature of 0°F.

If after 20mins the temperature of the bar is 50°F. Find the time it will take the bar to reach
25°F.

2. A bacteria culture is known to grow at a rate proportional to the amount present. After one
hour, 1000 strands of the bacteria are observed in the culture; and after four hours, 3000
strands. Find;
(A) an expression for the approximate number of strands of the bacteria present in the
culture at any time t and;
(B) the approximate number of strands of the bacteria originally in the culture.
3. A certain radioactive material is known to decay at a rate proportional to the amountpresent.
If initially there is 50 milligrams of the material present and after two hours it is observed that
the material has lost 10 percent of its original mass, find
(a) an expression for the mass of the material remaining at any time t,
(b) the mass of the material after four hours, and
(c) the time at which the material has decayed to one half of its initial mass.

4. A person places $5000 in an account that accrues interest compounded continuously.

Assuming no additional deposits or withdrawals, how much will be in the account after seven
years if the interest rate is a constant 8.5 percent for the first four years and a constant 9.25
percent for the last three years?
 Mixing (Non-Reacting Fluids)
We shall always reserve Q = Q(t) to denote the amount
of substance in the tank at any given time t. The time
rate of change of Q, dQ/dt, equals the rate at which salt
enters the tank minus the rate at which salt leaves the
tank. The differential equation involved here arises
from the following natural relationship:
dQ/dt = input rate – output rate
The main assumption that we will be using here is that
the concentration of the substance in the liquid is
uniform throughout the tank. Clearly this will not be the
case, but if we allow the concentration to vary
depending on the location in the tank the problem
becomes very difficult and will involve partial
differential equations, which is not the focus of this
course.
Input rate = (Solution of concentration flows in)*(Rate of flow in)
Output rate = (Solution of concentration flows out)*(Rate of flow out)
Solution of concentration, c1 (grams/liter),
flows in at a rate of r1 (liters/minute)
Q(t) = amount of substance in the tank at time t
V(t) = volume of solution in the tank at time t
c2(t) = Q(t)/V(t) = concentration of substance in the tank at
time t
Solution of concentration, c2
(grams/liter), flows out at a rate of r2
(liters/minute)
Where: V(t) = r1t – r2t + V0; V0 = initial volume
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE 1.
In a tank are 100L of brine containing 50 kg
total of salt, pure water is allowed to run into
the tank at the rate of 3L/min. Brine runs out of
the tank at the rate of 2L/min. How much salt is
in the tank at the end of 1hr?

Answers:
19.53kg
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE 2.
A tank initially holds 100 gal of a brine solution
containing 20 Ib of salt. At t = 0, fresh water is
poured into the tank at the rate of 5 gal/min,
while the well stirred mixture leaves the tank at
the same rate. Find the amount of salt in the
tank at any time t.

ANSWERS:
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE. ANSWERS:
A tank initially holds 100 gal of a brine solution
containing 1 Ib of salt. At t = 0 another brine
(a)
solution containing 1 Ib of salt per gallon is (b) 0.338 min
poured into the tank at the rate of 3 gal/min,
while the well-stirred mixture leaves the tank at
the same rate. Find
(a) the amount of salt in the tank at any time t
and
(b) the time at which the mixture in the tank
contains 2 Ib of salt.
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE. ANSWERS:
A tank contains 8L (liters) of water in which is
dissolved 32 g (grams) of chemical. A solution
(a) 296/3 g
containing 2 g/L of the chemical flows into the (b) 37/17 g/L
tank at a rate of 4 L/min, and the well-stirred
mixture flows out at a rate of 2 L/min.
(a) Determine the amount of chemical in the
tank after 20 minutes.
(b) What is the concentration of chemical in
the tank at that time?
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

Electrical Circuits
RL Circuit. For a series circuit containing only a resistor (R) and an inductor (L), Kirchhoff’s second law (voltage law) states that the sum of
the voltage drop across the resistor (RI) and the voltage drop across the inductor (L(dI/dt)) is the same as the impressed voltage or an
electromotive force (E) on the circuit.

Thus, RI + L(dI/dt)= E
or

Where:
dI/dt = time rate of change of the current in amperes per second
I = amount of current in amperes
R = resistance in ohms
L = inductor in henries
E = electromotive force (emf) in volts
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

Electrical Circuits
RC Circuit. For a series circuit containing only a resistor (R) and capacitor (C), Kirchhoff’s second law (voltage law) states that the sum of
the voltage drop across the resistor (RI) and the voltage drop across a capacitor (q/C) is the same as the impressed voltage or an
electromotive force (E) on the circuit.

Thus, RI + q/C = E

The relationship between q and I is , therefore, R(dq/dt) + q/C = E or

Where:
dq/dt = time rate of change of the electrical charge in coulombs per second
q = amount of electrical charge in coulombs
R = resistance in ohms
C = capacitance in farads
E = electromotive force (emf) in volts
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE. ANSWERS:
An RL circuit has an emf of 5 volts, a resistance
of 50 ohms, an inductance of 1 henry, and no
initial current. Find the current in the circuit at
any time t.
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE. ANSWERS:
An RL circuit has an emf given (in volts) by
3sin2t, a resistance of 10 ohms, an inductance
of 0.5 henry, and an initial current of 6 amperes.
Find the current in the circuit at any time t.
 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
APPLICATIONS OF FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE. ANSWERS:
A 100-volt electromotive force is applied to an
RC series circuit in which the resistance is 200 (a)
ohms and the capacitance is 10-4 farad. Find
(a) the charge q(t) on the capacitor if q(0) = 0
(b) the current i(t)
(b)