TARLAC STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Engineering and Technology

M222C | ADVANCED MATHEMATICS FOR CE

Solutions to Nonhomogeneous
Linear Higher Order ODEs with
Constant Coefficient
Part 2 – Method of Variation of Parameters

ENGR. CHARMAINE CZENINIA O. REGUINDIN, M. Eng.

Instructor
METHOD OF
VARIATION OF
PARAMETERS
(MVP)
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Method of variation of parameters

• General method of solving the particular solution of a linear differential

equation
• Not subject to restrictions (e.g. 2 conditions imposed by MUC)
• This method, developed by Lagrange, is more difficult to apply than
MUC.

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Method of variation of parameters

Let 𝑦1 , +𝑦2 , … , 𝑦𝑛 be a set of 𝑛 LI solutions to the associated

homogeneous DE, 𝑓 𝑥 = 0. The complementary solution 𝑦𝑐 is

𝑦𝑐 = 𝑐1 𝑦1 𝑥 + 𝑐2 𝑦2 𝑥 + ⋯ 𝑐𝑛 𝑦𝑛 𝑥

where 𝑐𝑖 are arbitrary constants. The particular solution to the DE is

𝑦𝑝 = 𝑣1 𝑦1 𝑥 + 𝑣2 𝑦2 𝑥 + ⋯ 𝑣𝑛 𝑦𝑛 𝑥

where 𝑣𝑖 is an unknown function of 𝑥.

College of Engineering and Technology M222C | Advanced Mathematics for CE
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Method of variation of parameters

For 2nd order differential equation of the form 𝑦" + 𝑝(𝑥)𝑦′ + 𝑞(𝑥)𝑦 =
𝑟(𝑥), the corresponding complementary and particular solutions can be
written in the form
𝑦𝑐 = 𝑐1 𝑦1 𝑥 + 𝑐2 𝑦2 𝑥 𝑦𝑝 = 𝑣1 𝑦1 𝑥 + 𝑣2 𝑦2 𝑥
To find 𝑣𝑖 , we need to solve each function 𝑣𝑖′
𝑊1 𝑥 𝑊2 𝑥
𝑣1 ′ = ; 𝑣2 ′ =
𝑊 𝑥 𝑊 𝑥
where
𝑦1 𝑦2 0 𝑦2 𝑦1 0
𝑊 𝑥 = 𝑦 ′ 𝑦2 ′ 𝑊1 𝑥 = 𝑊2 𝑥 =
1 𝑟 𝑦2 ′ 𝑦1 ′ 𝑟
College of Engineering and Technology M222C | Advanced Mathematics for CE
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nonHomogeneous linear ode

EXAMPLE 3.4

Solve the given ODE:

𝑦 ′′ − 4𝑦 ′ + 4𝑦 = 𝑥 2 𝑒 𝑥

College of Engineering and Technology M222C | Advanced Mathematics for CE

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nonHomogeneous linear ode

EXAMPLE 3.2

Solve the given ODE:

𝑦 ′′ − 4𝑦 ′ + 4𝑦 = 𝑥 2 𝑒 𝑥

ANSWERS

𝑦 = 𝑐1 + 𝑐2 𝑥 𝑒 2𝑥 + 𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 + 6 𝑒 𝑥

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METHOD OF VARIATION OF PARAMETERS: GENERAL CASE

For an nth order ODE, the functions 𝑣𝑖 can be calculated using

these general forms,
𝑊𝑖 𝑥
𝑣𝑖 ′ =
𝑊 𝑥 Replace the ithcolumn
of the W(x) matrix
where
𝑦1 𝑦2 ⋯ 𝑦𝑛 𝑦1 ⋯ 0 ⋯ 𝑦𝑛
𝑦1′ 𝑦2′ ⋯ 𝑦𝑛′ 𝑦1′ ⋯ 0 ⋯ 𝑦𝑛′
⋮ ⋮ ⋯ ⋮ ′
𝑊 𝑥 = 𝑊𝑖 𝑥 = 𝑦1′ ⋯ 0 ⋯ 𝑦𝑛′ ′
⋮ ⋮ ⋰ ⋮ ⋮ ⋯ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮
𝑛−1 𝑛−1 𝑛−1
𝑦1 𝑦2 ⋯ 𝑦𝑛 𝑦1𝑛−1 ⋯ 𝑟 ⋯ 𝑦𝑛𝑛−1

College of Engineering and Technology M222C | Advanced Mathematics for CE

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Practice problem:

Practice Problem 1

Determine the general solution of the given equation

using MVP:
𝑦 ′′ + 𝑦 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥 − 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥

ANSWER

1
𝑦 = 𝐴𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥 + 𝐵𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥 + 𝑥(𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥 + 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥)
2

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reference
Kreyszig, E., Kreyszig H., and Norminton, E. Advanced Engineering
Mathematics – 10th ed. (2011). John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Hoboken,
N.J.

College of Engineering and Technology M222C | Advanced Mathematics for CE

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