APPLICATION OF

FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION

• Newton’s Law of Cooling
“The rate at which a body cools is proportional to the difference between
the temperature of the body and that of the medium.”

where:
𝒅𝑻 𝒅𝑻
∝ 𝑻 − 𝑻𝒎 ≈ = 𝒌 𝑻 − 𝑻𝒎 → 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕 T = temperature of the
substance/body
𝑻 = 𝑻𝒎 + 𝑪𝒆𝒌𝒕 → 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 t = time
k = proportionality constant
Tm = temperature of the
medium
1) A thermometer reading 10 degrees Celsius is brought in a room
whose temperature is 18 degrees Celsius. One minute later, the
thermometer reading is 14 degrees Celsius. How long does it take
until the reading becomes 16 degrees Celsius?
Solution:
𝒅𝑻 𝑑𝑇
= 𝒌 𝑻 − 𝑻𝒎 ‫𝑇 ׬‬−𝑇𝑚 = ‫𝑡𝑑𝑘 ׬‬
𝒅𝒕
ln 𝑇 − 𝑇𝑚 = 𝑘𝑡 + 𝐶
𝑒 ln(𝑇−𝑇𝑚) = 𝑒 𝑘𝑡+𝐶
𝑘𝑡
𝑇 − 𝑇𝑚 = 𝑒 ∙ 𝑒 𝐶 : But 𝒆 𝑪
=𝑪
𝑇 − 𝑇𝑚 = 𝑒 𝑘𝑡 ∙ 𝐶
𝑇 − 𝑇𝑚 = 𝐶𝑒 𝑘𝑡
𝑇 = 𝑇𝑚 + 𝐶𝑒 𝑘𝑡
∴ 𝑇 = 10°𝐶, 𝑇𝑚 = 18°𝐶
@𝑡 = 0, 𝑇 = 10℃, 𝑇𝑚 = 18℃
𝑇 = 𝑇𝑚 + 𝐶𝑒 𝑘𝑡
10 = 18 + 𝐶𝑒𝑘(0)
10 = 18 + 𝐶
𝑪 = −𝟖

@𝑡 = 1 𝑚𝑖𝑛, 𝑇 = 14℃, 𝑇𝑚 = 18℃

14 = 18 − 8𝑒𝑘 1 𝑇 = 𝑇𝑚 + 𝐶𝑒 𝑘𝑡
14 = 18 − 8𝑒 𝑘
14 − 18 = −8𝑒 𝑘
−4 1
= 𝑒𝑘 = = 𝑒𝑘
−8 2
1 𝑘 𝟏
ln = ln 𝑒 = 𝐥𝐧 =𝒌
2 𝟐
@𝑡 =? , 𝑇 = 16℃ 𝑡
1 1
𝑇 = 𝑇𝑚 + 𝐶𝑒 𝑘𝑡 ln = ln
4 2
1
ln 2 𝑡
16 = 18 − 8𝑒 1 1
𝑡 ln
1 ln = t ln
16 − 18 = −8𝑒 2 4 2
1
−2 𝑡 ln 2
=𝑒 1
−8 ln
1 1
𝑡= 4
𝑡 ln 2
=𝑒 1
4 ln
1 1 2
ln 𝑡
=𝑒 2
4
1 1 𝑡 𝒕 = 𝟐 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔
=
4 2
 APPLICATION OF
FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION
• Laws of Growth and Decay
“The rate at which the substances changes is proportional to the quantity
of substance present at any time.”

𝒅𝒙 where:
= 𝒌𝒙 → 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
𝒅𝒕
x = quantity of substance present at any time
𝒙 = 𝑪𝒆𝒌𝒕 → 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 t = time
k = proportionality constant
1) Radium decomposes in air at the rate proportional to the
present amount. If initially there are 20 grams, and after 10
years, 0.6% of the original amount decomposed:
a) Set a model that will predict the amount of radium at any time t.
b) What is the half-life of the radium?
c) What is the amount remaining in 900 years?

𝑑𝑥 𝑥 = 𝑒 𝑘𝑡 ∙ 𝑒 𝑐
= 𝑘𝑥
𝑑𝑡 𝑥 = 𝐶𝑒 𝑘𝑡
𝑑𝑥 @𝑡 = 0, 𝑥 = 20𝑔
න = න 𝑘𝑑𝑡
𝑥
20 = 𝐶𝑒𝑘(0)
𝑒 ln 𝑥 = 𝑒 𝑘𝑡+𝐶 𝐶 = 20
𝑥 = 𝑒 𝑘𝑡+𝐶
@𝑡 = 10 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑥 = 20 − 20 0.006 = 19.88𝑔
𝑥 = 𝐶𝑒 𝑘𝑡
19.88 = 20𝑒𝑘(10)
19.88 = 20𝑒 10𝑘
19.88
= 𝑒 10𝑘
20
19.88
ln = ln 𝑒 10𝑘
20
19.88
ln = 10𝑘
20
1 19.88
𝑘 = ln
10 20

𝟏 𝟏𝟗.𝟖𝟖
𝐥𝐧 𝒕
𝒙 = 𝟐𝟎𝒆 𝟏𝟎 𝟐𝟎
𝑥 = 10𝑔, 𝑡 =?
1 19.88
ln 𝑡 1
[10 = 20𝑒 10 20 ]
20
𝑡 19.88
10 ln
= 𝑒 10 20
20
19.88 𝑡
1 ln
=𝑒 20 10
2
1 19.88 𝑡
ln = ln
2 20 10
1 𝑡 19.88
ln = ln
2 10 20
1 19.88
10 ln = 𝑡 ln
2 20
1
10 ln
2
𝑡= 19.88 = 𝟏𝟏𝟓𝟏. 𝟕𝟖 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔
ln 20
𝑥 = 𝐶𝑒 𝑘𝑡
1 19.88
ln 𝑡
𝑥 = 20𝑒 10 20
𝑡 19.88
ln
𝑥 = 20𝑒 10 20

@𝑡 = 900
900 19.88
ln( )
𝑥 = 20𝑒 10 20

𝒙 = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟔𝟑 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒔
2) The population of a town grows at the rate proportional to
the population present at any time t. The initial population
of 500 increases by 15% in 10 years. What will be the
population in 30 years?
𝑥 = 50 , 𝑡 = 0
𝑥 = 𝐶𝑒 𝑘𝑡
500 = 𝐶𝑒𝑘(0)
𝐶 = 500

@𝑡 = 10 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑥 = 500 + 0.15 500 = 575

𝑥 = 𝐶𝑒 𝑘𝑡
575 = 500𝑒𝑘(10)
575 1 575
ln = ln 𝑒 10𝑘 𝑘= ln
500 10 500
 1 575
ln 500 𝑡
𝑥= 500𝑒 10
𝑡 575
ln
𝑥= 500𝑒 10 500

@𝑡 = 30 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑥 =?

30 575
ln
𝑥= 500𝑒 10 500

𝒙 = 𝟕𝟔𝟎