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Differential Equations

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Applications of the First Order Differential Equation

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 LINEAR MODELS

GROWTH AND DECAY:

The initial-value problem , where is the constant of proportionality. Here

represents the population at any time .
Rate of change in population is denoted by Since change in the population
is directly proportional to present population.
Therefore

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Example: A culture initially has number of bacteria. At hour the number of bacteria
is measured to be . If the rate of growth is proportional to the number of bacteria P(t)
present at time t, determine the time necessary for the number of bacteria to triple.

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Solution: Let P(t) be the number of bacteria present at any time t.
Given rate of growth is proportional to the number of bacteria P(t) present at time
t.
Therefore

Separating the variables

Given
Therefore

Also given at hour

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So

To find when

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Question: A breeder reactor converts relatively stable uranium 238 into the
isotope plutonium 239. After 15 years it is determined that 0.043% of the initial
amount of plutonium has disintegrated. Find the half-life of this isotope if the
rate of disintegration is proportional to the amount remaining.

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Solution: Let A(t) denote the amount of plutonium remaining at time t.
Given

Given
Therefore

After 15 years it is determined that 0.043% of the initial amount of

plutonium has disintegrated.
When

Therefore

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To find When

years

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NEWTON’S LAW OF COOLING/WARMING:

The mathematical formulation of Newton’s empirical law of cooling/warming

of an object is given by the linear first-order differential equation

where k is a constant of proportionality, is the temperature of the object for ,

and is the ambient temperature, that is, the temperature of the medium around
the object.

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Example: When a cake is removed from an oven, its temperature is
measured at 300° F. Three minutes later its temperature is 200° F. How long
will it take for the cake to cool off to a room temperature of 70° F?

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SOLUTION: Let denote the temperature of the cake at time .
By Newton’s Law of Cooling
, where k is a constant of proportionality and is the temperature of the
surrounding
Here

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When

So

Therefore

After min,

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 Series Circuits
LR Series Circuit: A series circuit containing only a resistor and an inductor
is called LR series circuit , Kirchhoff’s second law states that the sum of the
voltage drop across the inductor () and the voltage drop across the resistor ()
is the same as the impressed voltage () on the circuit.
The linear differential equation for the current is,
,
where are constants known as the inductance and the resistance, respectively.

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RC Series Circuit: A series circuit containing only a resistor and a capacitor is
called RC series circuit , Kirchhoff’s second law states that the sum of the voltage
drop across across the resistor () and the voltage drop across a capacitor with
capacitance C is given by , where is the charge on the capacitor, is the same as
the impressed voltage () on the circuit.
Hence, the obtain equation is,

But ,

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Example: A 12-volt battery is connected to a series circuit in which the
inductance is henry and the resistance is 10 ohms. Determine the current
i if the initial current is zero.

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Solution: Given
We know that linear differential equation for LR series circuit

Therefore

Given
Therefore )

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Practice Questions

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Any Questions?

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