Day 21

MATH24-1 (Differential Equations)

Ch 4.3 The Method of Undetermined

Coefficients; Higher Order (Page 236-241)
Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems, 10th edition, by
William E. Boyce and Richard C. DiPrima, ©2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• The method of undetermined coefficients can be used to
find a particular solution Y of an nth order linear, constant
coefficient, nonhomogeneous ODE

L y   a0 y ( n )  a1 y ( n 1)    an 1 y  an y  g (t ),

provided g is of an appropriate form.

• As with 2nd order equations, the method of undetermined
coefficients is typically used when g is a sum or product of
polynomial, exponential, and sine or cosine functions.
• Section 4.4 discusses the more general variation of
parameters method.
 Example 1

• Consider the differential equation

y  3 y  3 y  y  4et
• For the homogeneous case,
y (t )  e rt  r 3  3r 2  3r  1  0  r  13  0
• Thus the general solution of homogeneous equation is
yC (t )  c1e t  c2te t  c3t 2 e t
• For nonhomogeneous case, keep in mind the form of
homogeneous solution. Thus begin with
Y (t )  At 3e 2t
• As in Chapter 3, it can be shown that
2 2
Y (t )  t 3e 2t  y (t )  c1e t  c2te t  c3t 2 e t  t 3e 2t
3 3
 Example 2

• Consider the equation y ( 4)  2 y  y  3 sin t  5 cos t

• For the homogeneous case,
y(t )  e rt  r 4  2r 2  1  0  r 2  1r 2  1  0
• Thus the general solution of the homogeneous equation is
yc (t )  c1 cos t  c2 sin t  c3t cost   c4t sin t 
• For the nonhomogeneous case, because of the form of the solution
for the homogeneous equation, we need
Y (t )  t 2 ( A sin t  B cos t )
3 5
• As in Chapter 3, it can be shown that Y (t )   sin t  cos t
8 8
• Thus, the general solution for the nonhomogeneous equation is
y(t )  yc (t )  Y (t )
 Example 3

• Consider the equation

y  4 y  t  3 cos t  e 2t
• For the homogeneous case,
 
y(t )  e rt  r 3  4r  0  r r 2  4  r r  2r  2  0
• Thus the general solution of homogeneous equation is
yC (t )  c1  c2 e 2t  c3e  2t
• For nonhomogeneous case, keep in mind form of
homogeneous solution. Thus we have two subcases:
Y1 (t )   A  Bt t , Y2 (t )  C cos t  D sin t , Y3 (t )  Ete2t ,
• As in Chapter 3, can be shown that Y (t )   1 t 2  3 sin t  1 t e 2 t
8 5 8
• The general solution is y(t )  yc (t )  Y (t )
 Examples
In each of Problems 13 through 18, determine a suitable form
for Y(t) if the method of undetermined coefficients is to be
used. Do not evaluate the constants.
13/239) y‴ − 2y″ + y′ = t3 + 2et
14/239) y‴ − y′ = te−t + 2 cos t
15/239) y(4) − 2y″ + y = et + sin t
16/239) y(4) + 4y″ = sin 2t + tet + 4
17/239) y(4) − y‴ − y″ + y′ = t2 + 4 + t sin t
18/239) y(4) + 2y‴ + 2y″ = 3et + 2te−t + e−t sin t
 Examples
In each of Problems 1 through 8, determine the general
solution of the given differential equation.
13/239) y(4) − 4y″ = t2 + et

In each of Problems 9 through 12, find the solution of the

given initial value problem. Then plot a graph of the solution.
9/239) y‴ + 4y′ = t; y(0) = y′(0) = 0, y″(0) = 1