The University of Sydney

School of Mathematics and Statistics

Solutions to Week 4 Board Tutorial

MATH1023: Multivariable Calculus and Modelling Semester 2

APPLICATIONS OF SEPARABLE EQUATIONS

(Week 3 lectures)

1. The rate of change of N radioactive atoms is proportional to N.

(a) Write a differential equation for the number of radioactive atoms N.
Solution:
dN
= −kN,
dt
for some positive constant k.
(b) Solve this differential equation for N in terms of N0 , where N0 is the value
of N at time t = 0.
Solution: Separating the variables
dN
Z Z
= −k dt
N
so
ln N = −kt + C,
and so
N = exp(−kt + C) = A exp(−kt).
Putting N = N0 at t = 0 gives N = N0 e−kt .
(c) Compute the content of radioactive carbon C 14 (as a percentage of the living
value) of a fossilised tree that is claimed to be 3000 years old. Note that the
half-life of C 14 is 5730 years.
Solution: When t = 5730, N = N0 /2 so we have
1
N0 = N0 e−5730k .
2

Rearranging, this gives k = − ln(1/2)

5730
= 0.000121.
When t = 3000, N = N0 exp(−0.000121 × 3000) = N0 e−0.363 = 0.696N0 .
Thus, the amount of C 14 in the fossilised tree should be 69.6% of that for a
living tree.

2. An animal population has a net growth rate per unit population which varies with
the seasons, being positive in summer and negative in winter. Let x(t) be the size
of the population at time t, which is measured in years. The following differential
equation is suggested as a model for this situation:
dx
= (k cos 2πt)x (k a positive constant).
dt
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(a) What is the period of cos 2πt?
Solution: The period is one (year).
(b) What time of year do you think t = 0 represents ?
Solution: When t = 0, cos 2πt takes its maximum value of 1. Since k
is positive, k cos 2πt is a maximum at t = 0, and so the population has its
greatest rate of increase. Usually this is late spring or early summer.
(c) Can you explain why x has been multiplied by (k cos 2πt) in this model?
Solution: The factor k is a constant of proportionality, and the situa-
tion described by this model is that the rate of change of population size is
proportional to cos 2πt × x. The term cos 2πt × x represents population size
multiplied by a factor which varies sinusoidally with time, and completes one
cycle per year. Note that cos 2πt varies between +1 and −1, and is positive
for half the year, and negative for the other half. So, dx/dt = (k cos 2πt)x
gives a rate of change which varies with the seasons, as well as with popula-
tion size.
(d) Solve the equation to find x(t), given that x = x0 at t = 0.
Solution: Separating the equation,
1 k sin 2πt
Z Z
dx = k cos 2πt dt so ln x = + C.
x 2π
 
k sin 2πt
Therefore, x = exp +C .
2π
Putting x = x0 when t = 0 gives x0 = eC so x = x0 e(k sin 2πt)/2π .
(e) Does x(t) have a limiting value as t → ∞ ?
Solution: The exponent in this solution varies sinusoidally with time and
so has no limiting value. The population size is cyclic, repeating itself each
year.
(f) What are the maximum and minimum values of x and when do they occur?
Solution: The maximum value occurs when sin 2πt = 1, and the minimum
when sin 2πt = −1. The values are x = x0 ek/2π and x = x0 e−k/2π respec-
tively. They occur when 2πt = π/2 or t = 1/4 and 2πt = 3π/2 or t = 3/4,
i.e. a quarter of a year and three quarters of a year later than the maximum
of the growth rate (perhaps late summer and late winter).

2
3. A trout farmer believes that, if she doesn’t remove any fish from a certain tank,
the population of fish is modelled by the differential equation
dP
= 2P − 0.01P 2,
dt
where P is the number of fish after t years.
(a) Suppose the farmer initially stocks the tank with 50 fish.
(i) What is the maximum number of fish the tank can support long-term
and according to this model?
Solution: Note that P = 200 is an equilibrium solution, since
dP dP
= 0 if P = 200. If P > 200, < 0, and P decreases to 200.
dt dt
Hence the maximum number of fish that the tank can support is 200.
(ii) Find P for which the population is increasing most rapidly.
dP
Solution: We have to maximise = 0.01P (200 − P ). This is a
dt
quadratic function, whose graph is a concave down parabola passing
through the P axis at 0 and 200. For such a parabola, the maximum
occurs half way between the two P intercepts. So the population
increases most rapidly when P = 12 (0 + 200) = 100.
(iii) Find an explicit formula for P in terms of t.
Solution: Separating the variables, the equation can be written as
dP
Z Z
= 0.01 dt .
P (200 − P )
Partial fractions gives
1 1 1
= + ,
P (200 − P ) 200P 200(200 − P )
and so the above equation becomes
Z  
1 1 1
Z
+ dP = 0.01 dt.
200 P 200 − P
Therefore
 
1  P P
= Ae2t (A = ±e200C ).

ln   = 0.01t+C, or
200 200 − P  200 − P

50 P e2t
Since P (0) = 50, A = 150
= 13 . Hence = , and
200 − P 3
200
P (t) = .
1 + 3e−2t
(iv) How long will it be before there are 199 fish in the tank?
P e2t
Solution: Use the equation = to find t at which P =
200 − P 3
199.
199 e2t
With P = 199, we have = .
200 − 199 3
So e2t = 3 × 199, and t = 12 ln(597) ≈ 3.196. That is, it takes just over
3 years.

3
 (v) Sketch a graph of y = P (t).
Solution:
P
250

200

50

3 t

(b) Now suppose that the farmer initially stocks the tank with 250 fish. Find
the solution P (t), and sketch its graph.
P
Solution: We use the general solution = Ae2t , as in (a)(iii), and
200 − P
the initial condition P (0) = 250. This gives A = −5, and
200
P = ·
1 − 15 e−2t
The graph is the dotted curve in the above diagram.
(c) If the trout farmer were to remove 75 fish from the tank each year, then the
differential equation modelling population size would be
dP
= 2P − 0.01P 2 − 75.
dt

(i) Find a solution to this differential equation, supposing that the farmer
initially stocks the tank with 60 fish.
Solution: Separating variables, the equation can be written as:
dP
Z Z
= −0.01 dt.
(P − 150)(P − 50)
Using partial fractions, we have
1 1 1
= − .
(P − 150)(P − 50) 100(P − 150) 100(P − 50)
So the above equation becomes
Z  
1 1 1
Z
− dP = −0.01 dt.
100 P − 150 P − 50

4
 Hence
 
1  P − 150  P − 150
ln   = −0.01t + C, or = Ae−t .
100  P − 50  P − 50
Since P = 60 when t = 0, we have
60 − 150 P − 150
A= = −9, and so = −9e−t .
60 − 50 P − 50
On rearranging this we obtain
150(1 + 3e−t )
P = ·
1 + 9e−t
(ii) According to this model, what is the size of the fish population in the
long-term?
Solution: For the long term behaviour, we let t → ∞. Since e−t → 0
150(1 + 0)
as t → ∞, we have P → = 150.
1+0
(iii) What should the farmer expect to happen if she initially stocks the
tank with 40 fish?
dP
Solution: Note that = −0.01(P − 150)(P − 50) = 0 and thus
dt
dP
dt
< 0 for all P < 50. So if the farmer initially stocks 40 fish, the
population will decay to zero and be extinct.

4. When people smoke, carbon monoxide is released into the air. In a room of volume
50 m3 , smokers introduce air containing 0.05 mg/m3 of carbon monoxide at the
rate of 0.002 m3/min. Assume that the smoky air mixes immediately with the rest
of the air, and that the mixture is pumped through an air purifier at a rate of
0.002 m3 /min. The purifier removes all the carbon monoxide from the air passing
through it.
(a) Write a differential equation for m(t), the mass of carbon monoxide in the
room at time t, where t is measured in minutes. Hint: dmdt
= mass rate in −
mass rate out, see lecture notes.
Solution: If m(t) is the mass of carbon monoxide in the room at time t,
then
dm
= mass rate in − mass rate out.
dt
The smoky air is entering at the rate of 0.002 m3 /min and contains 0.05 mg/m3
of CO. So the rate at which CO is introduced is 0.05 × 0.002 mg/min. At
time t, the 50 m3 room contains m mg of CO, and so the concentration of
m m
CO is mg/m3 and the rate at which it is removed is 0.002 × mg/min.
50 50
Therefore
dm m
= 0.05 × 0.002 − 0.002 × = 0.00002(5 − 2m).
dt 50
(b) Solve the differential equation, assuming that there was no carbon monoxide
in the room initially.

5
 Solution: This is a separable equation:
dm
Z Z
= 0.00002 dt
5 − 2m
1
− ln |5 − 2m| = 0.00002t + C
2
5 − 2m = Ae−0.00004t (A = ±e2C ) .

Since there is no carbon monoxide in the room initially, m = 0 when t = 0,

and so A = 5. We therefore have
5 
m= 1 − e−0.00004t .
2
(c) What happens to the value of m(t) in the long run?
5
Solution: In the long run m → . That is, in the 50 m3 room, the
2
concentration of CO is eventually 2.5/50 or 0.05 mg/m3 .
(d) It is dangerous for people to be in the room if the mass of carbon monoxide
per unit volume reaches 0.001 mg/m3 . How long does it take for this to
happen?
Solution: We want to find the time at which the mass of carbon monoxide
is 0.001 × 50 = 0.05 mg. So we have
5

0.05 = 1 − e−0.00004t ,
2
ln(0.98)
and hence t = − ≈ 500 min.
0.00004