Equations with

2.2 Homogeneous Coefficients

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Homogeneous Polynomials
Polynomials in which all terms are of same degree are
called homogeneous polynomials.

Examples of homogeneous polynomials are:

−3 +4
+
+7

2
Homogeneous Functions
The concept of homogeneity may be extended to functions
other than polynomial.

A function ( , ) is said to be homogeneous of degree

k in and if and only if
, = ( , ).

3
Homogeneous Functions
Example:
Consider the function
⁄
, =2 − .
Then,
⁄
, =2 −

⁄
, = −
, = ,
Hence , is homogeneous of degree 3.

4
Homogeneous Coefficients
A differential equation with homogeneous coefficients is
of the form

, + , =0

where , and ( , ) are both homogeneous functions

in and of the same degree.

5
Homogeneous Coefficients
To solve equation , we do a substitution of
=
which will transform the differential equation into a
separable equation in and .

Note: Similarly, we may do = substitution to get a

separable equation in and .

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Example 1
Solve the differential equation
+ + − =0

Solution:
The coefficients
, = + and
, = −
are both homogeneous of degree 2.

Let = , then = and = + .

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

Substituting to the original equation, we get

+ + − + =0

+ + − + =0

+ + − + − =0

+ + − =0

1+ + 1− =0
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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

"# %&' #'

$ + =0
% '

% & % '
+ =0
% '

%
+ −1 + =0
% '

Integrating both sides, we get

() + − + 2() 1 + =*

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

Substituting = back into the equation, we get the

solution

() + − + 2() 1 + =*

() + () = +*

( )"
() ∙ " = +*

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

( )"
() = +*

Raise both sides as a power of e

,-( )" ⁄ = ( ⁄ ) .
/
( )" (0) .
= ∙

.
Replacing by *% , we can also express the solution as

⁄
( + ) = *%

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