.

Definition .
An equation involving independent variable x, dependent variable y and the differential
dy d 2 y
coefficients , ,........ is called differential equation.
dx dx 2
dy dy
Examples : (i) 1 x y (ii)  xy  cot x
dx dx
3
 d4y  dy d 2y  dy 
2
(iii)  4   4  4 y  5 cos 3 x (iv) x 2  1   0
 dx 
2
 dx  dx dx

Order of a differential equation:

The order of a differential equation is the order of the highest derivative occurring in the
differential equation.

Degree of a differential equation:

The degree of a differential equation is the degree of the highest order derivative, when
differential coefficients are made free from radicals and fractions. In other words, the degree of
a differential equation is the power of the highest order derivative occurring in differential
equation when it is written as a polynomial in differential coefficients.
 2
dy  dy 
Example: The order and degree of the differential equation y  x  a 2    b 2 are
dx  dx 

(a) 1, 2 (b) 2, 1 (c) 1, 1 (d) 2, 2

dy
Solution: (a) Clearly, highest order derivative involved is , having order 1.
dx
Expressing the above differential equation as a polynomial in derivative,
2 2
 dy   dy 
we have  y  x   a2    b 2
 dx   dx 
2
 dy  dy
i.e., (x 2  a 2 )    2 xy  y2  b2  0
 dx  dx
In this equation, the power of highest order derivative is 2. So its degree is 2.

1
1
d 2y  dy  3
Example: The order and degree of the differential equation     x 4  0 , are respectively
dx 2  dx 
(a) 2, 3 (b) 3, 3 (c) 2, 6 (d) 2, 4

d 2y
Solution: (a) The highest order derivative involved is which is the 2nd order derivative. Hence order of the
dx 2
differential equation is 2. Making the above equation free from radical, as far as the derivatives are
concerned, we have
3 3
 d 2y 1   d 2y 1 
  x 4  
dy
i.e.   x 4   dy  0
 dx 2  dx  dx 2  dx
   
d 2y
The exponent of highest order derivative will be 3. Hence degree of the differential equation is 3.
dx 2

d 2y  dy 
2
 d 2y 
Example: The degree of the differential equation     2  
dx 2
3
 dx 
x log  dx 2  is
 
(a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) None of these
  d 2y 
Solution: (d) The above equation cannot be written as a polynomial in derivatives due to the term x 2 log  2  .
 dx 
Hence degree of the differential equation is ‘not defined’.

2 3
dy 1  dy  1  dy 
Example: The order and degree of y  1         ....... is
dx 2 !  dx  3 !  dx 
(a) 1, 2 (b) 1, 1
(c) Order 1, degree not defined (d) None of these

dy
dy
Solution: (b) The given differential equation can be re-written as y  e dx  ln y 
dx
This is a polynomial in derivative. Hence order is 1 and degree 1.

d 2y  dy 
Example: The order and degree of  sin    x is
dx 2
 dx 
(a) 2, 1 (b) Order 2, degree not defined
(c) 2, 0 (d) None of these

d 2y
Solution: (b) As the highest order derivative involved is . Hence order is 2.
dx 2
The given differential equation cannot be written as a polynomial in derivatives, the degree is not
defined.

Example: If m and n are order and degree of the equation

3
 d2y 
5  2
 d2y  3
 dx   d y  x 2  1 , then
 2  4.
 dx  d3y dx3
dx3
(A) m = 3, n = 3 (B) m = 3, n = 2
(C) m = 3, n = 5 (D) m = 3, n = 1
Solutions : The given differential equation can be written as
5 3 2
 d2y   d3y   d2y   d3y  d3y
 2  3  4. 
 2  3  
x 2
 
1
dx 3
 dx   dx   dx   dx 
 m = 3, n = 2
Hence (B) is the correct answer.