MATH142

Essentials of Engineering Mathematics

First-Order ODEs

I. Separable
II. Homogeneous
III. Linear
IV. Exact
V. Bernoulli

V. Bernoulli Equations

Definition: A Bernoulli equation is a DE of the form

𝒅𝒚
+ 𝑷(𝒙)𝒚 = 𝑸(𝒙)𝒚𝒏
𝒅𝒙

where 𝑛 is any real number other than 0 or 1.

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Steps for Solving a Bernoulli Equation
1. Write the DE in the following form

𝒅𝒚
+ 𝑷(𝒙)𝒚 = 𝑸(𝒙)𝒚𝒏 (𝐼)
𝒅𝒙

2. Divide (𝐼) by 𝒚𝒏 ( or multiply (𝐼) by 𝒚−𝒏 )

𝒅𝒚
𝒚−𝒏 𝒅𝒙 + 𝑷(𝒙)𝒚𝟏−𝒏 = 𝑸(𝒙) (𝐼𝐼)

𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑦
3. Let 𝒗 = 𝒚𝟏−𝒏 ⟹ 𝑑𝑥
= (1 − 𝑛)𝑦 −𝑛 𝑑𝑥 ( Differentiate 𝑣 w.r.t 𝑥)

𝑑𝑦 1 𝑑𝑣
𝑦 −𝑛 =
𝑑𝑥 (1 − 𝑛) 𝑑𝑥

𝑑𝑦 1 𝑑𝑣
4. Substitute 𝑣 = 𝑦1−𝑛 and 𝑦 −𝑛 𝑑𝑥 = (1−𝑛) 𝑑𝑥 in (𝐼𝐼) , we get:

1 𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑣
(1−𝑛) 𝑑𝑥
+ 𝑃(𝑥)𝑣 = 𝑄(𝑥) or + (1 − 𝑛)𝑃(𝑥)𝑣 = (1 − 𝑛)𝑄(𝑥) (𝐼𝐼𝐼)
𝑑𝑥

5. Equation (𝐼𝐼𝐼) is a linear equation in 𝑣 . We proceed and solve for 𝑣.

6. Substitute back 𝑣 by 𝑦1−𝑛 and solve for 𝑦 in terms of 𝑥 if possible.

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 𝑑𝑦
Example 1: Solve 𝑑𝑥
+ 𝑦 = 𝑒 𝑥 𝑦 −2

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 𝑑𝑦
Example 2: Solve 𝑥 𝑑𝑥 + 𝑦 = 𝑥 3 𝑦 2