M222C | ADVANCED MATHEMATICS FOR CE

MODULE 2
NONHOMOGENOUS EQUATIONS:
METHOD OF UNDETERMINED COEFFICIENTS

2.1 Method of Undetermined Coefficients

Standard form:
𝑑𝑛 𝑦 𝑑𝑛−1 𝑦 𝑑𝑦
𝑎0 + 𝑎1 + ⋯ + 𝑎𝑛−1 + 𝑎𝑛 𝑦 = 𝑅(𝑥) → (1)
𝑑𝑥 𝑛 𝑑𝑥 𝑛−1 𝑑𝑥

Where,
𝑎0 , 𝑎1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎2 … 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠

The general solution of this equation is:

𝑦 = 𝑦𝑐 + 𝑦𝑝

where,
𝑦𝑐 = 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
= 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 (1)
𝑦𝑝 = 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

Steps:
1. Determine the solution of the homogenous equation such that the
solution is called 𝑦𝑐 (𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛)
2. Determine the particular solution, 𝑦𝑝
3. Find the general solution 𝑦 = 𝑦𝑐 + 𝑦𝑝

Examples:

1. (𝐷2 + 4𝐷 + 4)𝑦 = 2𝑒 2𝑥
𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑐 :
𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 (𝐷2 + 4𝐷 + 4)𝑦

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𝑚2 + 4𝑚 + 4 = 0
(𝑚 + 2)(𝑚 + 2)
𝑚1 = 𝑚2 = −2
𝑦𝑐 = (𝑐1 + 𝑐2 𝑥)𝑒 −2𝑥

𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑝 :

𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 2𝑒 2𝑥
𝑦𝑝 = 𝐴𝑒 2𝑥

𝑦𝑝′ = 2𝐴𝑒 2𝑥

𝑦𝑝′′ = 4𝐴𝑒 2𝑥

𝑦𝑝′′ + 4𝑦𝑝′ + 4𝑦𝑝 = 2𝑒 2𝑥

4𝐴𝑒 2𝑥 + 4(2𝐴𝑒 2𝑥 ) + 4𝐴𝑒 2𝑥 = 2𝑒 2𝑥

16𝐴𝑒 2𝑥 = 2𝑒 2𝑥
1
𝐴=
8
1
𝑦𝑝 = 𝑒 2𝑥
8

𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦:
𝑦 = 𝑦𝑐 + 𝑦𝑝
1
𝑦 = (𝑐1 + 𝑐2 𝑥)𝑒 −2𝑥 + 𝑒 2𝑥
8

2. (𝐷2 + 2𝐷 + 1)𝑦 = 8𝑒 3𝑥

𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑐 :

(𝐷2 + 2𝐷 + 1)𝑦

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 M222C | ADVANCED MATHEMATICS FOR CE

𝑚2 + 2𝑚 + 1 = 0
(𝑚 + 1)(𝑚 + 1) = 0

𝑚 = −1 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑒

𝑦𝑐 = 𝑒 −𝑥 (𝑐1+ 𝑐2 𝑥)

𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑝 :

𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 8𝑒 3𝑥

𝑦𝑝 = 𝐴𝑒 3𝑥

𝑦𝑝 ′ = 3𝐴𝑒 3𝑥

𝑦𝑝 ′′ = 9𝐴𝑒 3𝑥

𝑦𝑝′′ + 2𝑦𝑝′ + 𝑦𝑝 = 8𝑒 3𝑥

9𝐴𝑒 3𝑥 + 6𝐴𝑒 3𝑥 + 𝐴𝑒 3𝑥 = 8𝑒 3𝑥

9𝐴 + 6𝐴 + 𝐴 = 8

1
𝐴=
2

1
𝑦𝑝 = 𝑒 3𝑥
2

𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦:

𝑦 = 𝑦𝑐 + 𝑦𝑝

1
𝑦 = 𝑒 −𝑥 (𝑐1 + 𝑐2 𝑥) + 𝑒 3𝑥
2

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 M222C | ADVANCED MATHEMATICS FOR CE

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