Engineering Mathematics : Exercise Sheet 5

J. J. Bissell, Semester I, 2023-2024

Comments

This exercise sheet focuses on solutions to ordinary differential equations.

Exercise 5.1 Find the general solution to the differential equation defined by

dy
= 3x2 + cos x + 4e2x .
dx
What is the particular solution that satisfies the boundary condition y(0) = 7.

Exercise 5.2 (optional, but recommended) The displacement x(t) of a

damped mass-spring system is given by the second-order differential equation

ẍ(t) + 8ẋ(t) + 25x(t) = 0, (∗)

where ẋ = dx/dt and ẍ = d2 x/dt2 is Newton’s notation for time derivatives.

(a) Demonstrate by direct substitution that the governing differential equa-

tion (∗) is satisfied by the general solution

x(t) = e−4t [A cos(3t) + B sin(3t)] .

where A and B are arbitrary constants.

(b) Determine the particular solution x(t) that satisfies the boundary condi-
√ √
tions x(0) = 3 and ẋ(0) = −(3 + 4 3).
(c) Show that the particular solution can be written as

x(t) = 2e−4t cos(3t + π/6).

[Note: Finding the particular solution means ‘find the values that the constants
A and B must take for the solution x(t) to satisfy the boundary conditions’.]

Exercise 5.3 Find the general solution to the separable first-order differential
equation
dy x cos(x2 )
= .
dx y(1 + y)
[Leave your answer as an implicit relationship between x and y.]

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Exercise 5.4 The charge Q(t) at time t on a capacitor in an RC-circuit can
be modelled by    
dQ 1 1
+ Q= Q∞ ,
dt τ τ
where τ and Q∞ are constants. Determine the general solution this equation.
Sketch the particular solution that satisfies the initial condition Q(t) = 0.

Exercise 5.5 (a) Find the general solutions to the following separable eqns:

x2 − 1
 
dy
(i) =
dx xy + 1 + x + y
(ii) ẋ = 1 + x + t + xt
2
(iii) (loge y x − loge y)y 0 (x) = 2x(1 − x)e−x [Hint: loge y x = x loge y]

(b) What is the solution to part (ii) that satisfies the initial condition x(0) = 2?

Exercise 5.6 The rate-of-change in the number of radioactive isotopes N

present in a sample at a given time t obeys the equation

dN (t)
= −λN (t), where λ is a constant.
dt
(a) Determine the general solution to this equation. What is the particular
solution given the initial condition N (0) = N0 , where N0 is a constant?
(b) The half-life τh is defined as the time t taken for N to reduce by a factor
of 2. Demonstrate that τh = λ1 loge 2.

Exercise 5.7 (a) Use the method of undetermined coefficients to solve the
following inhomogeneous linear equations with constant coefficients:

dy
(i) 2 + 4y = 8x
dx
   
dQ 1 1
(ii) + Q= Q∞ (where τ and Q∞ are constants)
dt τ τ
dx
(iii) − 3x = 13
3
cos (2t)
dt
dy
(iv) 2 + 4y = e−2x
dx
(b) Determine the particular solution to the equation in part (ii) subject to the
initial condition Q(0) = 0. Sketch this solution.

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Exercise 5.8 (a) Use integration by parts to show that
Z
x sin xdx = sin x − x cos x + c, where c is an arbitrary constant.

(b) Determine the general solution to the first-order linear differential equation
 
dy 1
+ y = sin x.
dx x

What is the particular solution that satisfies the boundary condition y( π2 ) = π4 ?

Exercise 5.9 (a) Find the general solutions to the following first-order linear
differential equations

dy
(i) x + 4y = 12x2
dx
dy 2
(ii) − 2xy = 5ex
dx
 
dy 2
(iii) + y = 6 cos (x3 )
dx x

(b) Determine the particular solutions to the equations in part (a) given respec-
tive boundary conditions: (i) y(1) = 4; (ii) y(0) = 3; and (iii) y(1) = 2 sin 1.

Exercise 5.10 Use the substitution y = vx to find the general solution to

dy x
x =y− .
dx sin(y/x)

What is the particular solution that satisfies the boundary condition y(2) = π.

Exercise 5.11 (a) Show that the following equations may be written in the
form y 0 (x) = h(y/x), where h is a function of (y/x):

dy x2 dy
(i) xy − y2 = , and (ii) x = y + x tan(y/x).
dx loge y − loge x dx

(b) Determine the general solutions to the equations in part (a).

Exercise 5.12 Determine the general solution to y 0 (x) = y/(x − y). What is
the particular solution that satisfies the boundary condition y(0) = 3?

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Exercise 5.13 Determine the general solution to the first-order Bernoulli equa-
tion define by  
dy 1
− y = 3xy 2 .
dx x
What is the particular solution that satisfies the boundary condition y(2) = 1?

Exercise 5.14 Find the general solutions to the following Bernoulli equations

dy dy
= y(1 − xy 2 sin x), = 2y 1 − 3xy exp(x3 ) .


(a) 2x (b) x
dx dx
Exercise 5.15 (optional) In a simple model for traffic-flow,1 phantom con-
gestion is described in terms of the amplitude A(t) of a discontinuity in the
gradient of the traffic density at some time t, and evolves according to

dA
+ αA + βA2 = 0.
dt
(a) Given that α > 0 and β 6= 0 are constants, show that if A(0) = A0 , then
the amplitude of the wave evolves according to

A0
A(t) = .
eαt + A0 β(eαt − 1)/α

(b) Hence show that if A0 β > 0, then A(t) decays (approximately) exponen-
tially when αt  1.

Exercise 5.16 Determine the general solutions to the following homogeneous

second-order linear differential equations:

d2 y dy
(a) + 6 + 9y = 0
dx2 dx
d2 y
(b) + 9y = 0
dx2
d2 y dy
(c) 2
+3 + 2y = 0
dx dx
d2 y dy
(d) 2
− − 2y = 0
dx dx

[Note: These are the complementary equations to those in Exercise 5.24.]

1
J. J. Bissell and B. Straughan, Discrete Cont. Dyn. Series B, 19(7):1911–1934 (2014).

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Exercise 5.17 Find the general solution to the second-order equation

d2 y dy
2
−2 − 15y = 0.
dx dx
Which solution satisfies the boundary conditions y(0) = 3 and y 0 (0) = −1?

Exercise 5.18 Determine the general solution to the homogeneous second-

order equation
ẍ(t) − 4ẋ(t) + 4x(t) = 0.

Hence determine the particular solution that satisfies the initial conditions
x(0) = 0 and ẋ(0) = 2.

Exercise 5.19 Determine the general solution to the homogeneous second-

order differential equation y 00 (x) + 9y(x) = 0. What is the particular solution
that satisfies the boundary conditions y(0) = 2 and y( π2 ) = 1?

Exercise 5.20 The small angle displacement θ(t) with time t of a trapezoidal
pendulum is described by

θ̈(t) + ω 2 θ(t) = 0, (∗)

where ω is a constant frequency defined by the system geometry.

[See the YouTube video available at https://youtu.be/GZAkr-OyTbM.]2

(a) Demonstrate that the general solution to equation (∗) is

θ(t) = B cos(ωt) + C sin(ωt),

where B are C constants.

(b) Show that the general solution in part (a) may be expressed as

θ(t) = A cos(ωt − φ),

√
where A = B 2 + C 2 and φ is a phase factor satisfying

C
tan φ = .
B

[Hint: You may wish to use the fact that cos(α−β) = cos α cos β+sin α sin β.]
2
J. J. Bissell and S. K. Bhamidimarri, Physics Education, 55 : 065008 (2020). Full article
available open access at https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6552/aba2a8.

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Exercise 5.21 The following equation describes under-damped harmonic os-
cillations:
ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = 0, (∗)

where γ and ω0 are real positive constants with ω0 > γ.

(a) Write down the auxiliary polynomial for equation (∗), and show that its
roots λ are a complex conjugate pair

λ± = −γ ± jω, with ω 2 = ω02 − γ 2 > 0.

(b) The general solution to equation (∗) is

x(t) = C+ eλ+ t + C− eλ− t ,

with C+ , C− constant. Use Euler’s identity

ejθ = cos θ + j sin θ

to show that this solution is equivalent to

x(t) = e−γt (A cos ωt + B sin ωt),

where A = (C+ + C− ) and B = (C+ − C− )j.

(c) Show that if x(t) is real for all t, then C+ and C− are complex conjugates.

(d) Sketch the general solution in the case that B = 0 and ω = 4γ.

Exercise 5.22 Determine the general solution to the second-order equation

d2 y dy
2
−2 − 15y = 30x2 − 7x.
dx dx
[Hint: You may wish to refer to Example 5.17.]

Exercise 5.23 Determine the general solution to the inhomogeneous second-

order differential equation

y 00 (x) + 9y(x) = 16 cos x − 8 sin x.

What is the particular solution that satisfies y(0) = 2 and y( π2 ) = 1?

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Exercise 5.24 Determine the general solutions to the following inhomoge-
neous second-order ordinary differential equations:
d2 y dy
(a) 2
+6 + 9y = 9x + 24
dx dx
d2 y
(b) + 9y = 6 cos(3x)
dx2
d2 y dy
(c) 2
+3 + 2y = 2x2 − 4x + 3
dx dx
d2 y dy
(d) 2
− − 2y = 4x
dx dx
[Hint: You may wish to refer to your answers to Exercise 5.16.]

Exercise 5.25 This problem concerns the second-order differential equation

d2 y dy
+ = 0.
dx2 dx
(a) Determine the general solution to this equation.

(b) By making the substitution v(x) = dy/dx, show that the equation may
be transformed into a first-order differential equation of the form

dv
+ v = 0.
dx
Write down the general solution for v(x) in terms of x.

(c) Do your solutions to part (a) and part (b) agree?

Exercise 5.26 Find the general solution to the second order equation

d2 x dx
2
−4 + 4x = 6e2t .
dt dt
Hence determine the particular solution that satisfies the boundary conditions
x(0) = −4 and x(1) = e2 . [You may wish to refer to Example 5.18.]

Exercise 5.27 Find the general solution to the inhomogeneous differential

equation
d2 x dx
2 2 +9 − 5x = −22e−5t .
dt dt
Hence determine the particular solution that satisfies the initial conditions
x(0) = 0, and ẋ(0) = 13.