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Homogeneous

1 -order ODEs
st
HOMOGENEOUS EQUATIONS If a function f possesses the property for
some real number , then f is said to be a homogeneous function of degree .

For example, is a homogeneous function of degree 3, as

A first-order ODE in the form

is said to be homogeneous if both coefficient functions M & N are homogeneous functions of


the same degree.

Either of the substitutions y = ux or x = vy, where u and v are new dependent variables, will
reduce a homogeneous ODE to a separable ODE.

For example the following ODE is homogeneous


Example Solve the given ODE

If we let y = ux, then

On integration this gives


(1) Although either of the two substitutions can be used for every homogeneous DE, in
practice we try x =vy whenever the function M(x, y) is simpler than N(x, y).

(2) Also it could happen that after using one the two substitutions, we may encounter
integrals that are difficult or impossible to evaluate in closed form; switching substitutions
may result in an easier problem.

H.W: Check if the given ODEs are homogeneous, then solve them

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