Differential equations
differential equations – Equations that contain
derivatives of functions.
order of differential equation – The order of the
highest-order derivative existing in the
differential equation.
degree of differential equation – The exponent
(degree) of the highest-order derivative existing
in the differential equation.
orthogonal trajectories – A family of curves that
are “perpendicular” to another family of curves.
Orthogonal trajectories satisfy the differential
equation
where OC is the original curve, and OT is its
orthogonal trajectory.
elimination of arbitrary constants – The
process of constructing a differential equation
from a family of curves so that all the arbitrary
constants are removed.
law of growth and decay – The change in
quantity of an entity P at any time t is directly
proportional to the quantity of P.
where k > 0 means growth and k < 0 means
decay.
Newton’s law of cooling – The change in
temperature T of an object at any given time t is
directly proportional to the difference between
the temperature T of the object and the
temperature of the environment T0.
First-order linear differential equations
• separable DE – DE which can be
expressed in the form
where P and Q are solely functions of
x and y, respectively. Separable DEs
can be solved by integrating both sides.
• homogeneous DE – DE in which
substituting x with kx and y with ky
yields the original DE. Homogeneous
DEs can be solved by letting either one
of
,
whichever leads to simpler equation,
and then solving the resulting equation
as if it is a separable DE.
• exact DE – A DE of the form P dx + Q
dy = 0, where P and Q are both
functions of x and y, is exact if and
only if
.
The solution is given by
where the union means listing all the
unique terms in the two integrals.
• non-exact DE – A DE of the form P
dx + Q dy = 0 such that
.
Case 1: If is
a function of x only, then the
integrating factor is
.
 Higher-order linear differential equations
Case 2: If is a
An nth-order homogeneous, linear differential
function of y only, then the integrating equation takes the form
factor is

.
where the y’s are functions of x, and the ’s
In both cases, multiply the integrating are real coefficients with . The
factor to the original equation, and then corresponding characteristic equation is
solve the resulting equation as if it is an
exact DE.

• first-order linear DE (FOLDE) – A DE If the characteristic roots are ,

of the form then the general solution to the DE is given by

where the ’s are real coefficients.

where P are Q are solely functions of x
only. The solution is given by Special case 1: If the roots are equal, for
example, , then the general
solution becomes

where is the integrating

factor. Special case 2: If two roots are complex
conjugates, for example, and
• Bernoulli DE – A DE of the form , then the general solution becomes

where P and Q are solely functions of x

and n is a positive integer greater than 1.
The solution to Bernoulli DE is obtain by
substituting , and then treating
the resulting equation as if it is a FOLDE.