Assignment 1

This assignment, taken from the exercises in Unit 1, is worth 7.5% of your grade.
We recommend that you hand it in after you complete Unit 1. You must show all of
your work in order to obtain full marks. For your convenience, each exercise
mentions the section of the Study Guide that corresponds to the given problem.

Note: Each of the questions below is of equal weight, and each will be marked out
of twenty (20) points. Remember, to gain full marks, you must show your work.

Section 1.1 1. a. Derive the diffusion equation for a chemical pollutant by considering the total
amount of the chemical between x = a and x = b.
b. If u(x, t) is the solution of the heat equation in a rod (0 < x < L), give an
expression for the total thermal energy contained in the rod.

Section 1.2 2. Given the following initial boundary value problem,

8
>
> @u @2u
>
> =
>
> @t @x2
<
> u(x, 0) = f (x)
>
>
>
>
: @u (0, t) = 1; @u (L, t) = ,
>
@x @x
a. determine an equilibrium temperature distribution, if one exists, and
b. find the values of for which there are such equilibrium solutions.
Section 1.3 3. a. Solve the following initial boundary value problem for the heat equation
8
> @u @2u
>
> = D , 0<x<L, t>0
> @x2
< @t
>

> u(x, 0) = f (x)

>
>
>
>
:
u(0, t) = u(L, t) = 0 , t > 0,

9⇡x
when f (x) = 6 sin
L
b. Solve the following initial boundary value problem for the diffusion equation
8
>
> @u @2u
>
> =D 2 , 0<x<L, t>0
>
> @t @x
<
> u(x, 0) = f (x)
>
>
>
> @u @u
>
: (0, t) = (L, t) = 0 , t > 0,
@x @x
8
< 0 , x < L/2
when f (x) =
: 1 , x > L/2.

Partial Differential Equations 1

 Section 1.3 4. Determine the equilibrium temperature distribution for the thin circular ring
described in Figure 2.4.1 (p. 59),
a. by finding the steady state solution directly.
Hint: See Section 1.4 of the textbook.
b. by computing the limit as t ! 1 of the time-dependent solution.

Section 1.4 5. a. Sketch the Fourier series (on the interval L  c  L), and determine the
Fourier coefficients of the function
8
< 1, x < 0
f (x) =
: 2, x > 0 .

b. Sketch the Fourier cosine series and determine the Fourier coefficients of the
function
8
< 0, x < L/2
f (x) =
: x, x > L/2 .

2 Mathematics 476