Math 302 - Dierential Equations (Metcalfe)

Summer 2002
June 17, 2002
Exam 2 - Practice Exercises
1. Find a solution to the initial value problem
y

2xy

+ 8y = 0; y(0) = 3, y

(0) = 0
The only technique that we have that applies in this situation is power series. Since
x = 0 is an ordinary point, we may center our series there. Let
y =

n=0
a
n
x
n
Thus,
y

n=1
na
n
x
n1
y

n=2
n(n 1)a
n
x
n2
Plugging in yields:

n=2
n(n 1)a
n
x
n2
+

n=1
(2na
n
)x
n
+

n=0
8a
n
x
n
= 0
(2a
2
+ 8a
0
) +

k=1
[(k + 2)(k + 1)a
k+2
2ka
k
+ 8a
k
]x
k
= 0
Thus, our recurrence relations are:
a
2
= 4a
0
and
a
k+2
=
2k 8
(k + 2)(k + 1)
a
k
Using the initial conditions, we see that a
0
= 3 and a
1
= 0. Then, a
2
= 12, a
4
=
4
12
a
2
= 4, a
6
= 0, a
8
= 0, ... and a
3
= 0, a
5
= 0, ... Thus, the solution is:
y(x) = 3 12x
2
+ 4x
4
2. Find a general solution to
(x
2
1)y

+ 4xy

+ 2y = 0
and give a lower bound on its radius of convergence.
1
Since x = 0 is an ordinary point, we may center our series there. Let
y =

n=0
a
n
x
n
Thus,
y

n=1
na
n
x
n1
y

n=2
n(n 1)a
n
x
n2
Plugging in yields:

n=2
n(n 1)a
n
x
n
+

n=2
[n(n 1)a
n
]x
n2
+

n=1
4na
n
x
n
+

n=0
2a
n
x
n
= 0
(2a
2
+2a
0
) +(6a
3
+6a
1
)x+

n=2
[n(n1)a
n
(n+2)(n+1)a
n+2
+4na
n
+2a
n
]x
n
= 0
Thus,
a
2
= a
0
a
3
= a
1
a
n+2
=
n(n 1) + 4n + 2
(n + 2)(n + 1)
a
n
= a
n
So, the general solution is:
y(x) = a
0
(1 +x
2
+x
4
+x
6
+...) +a
1
(x +x
3
+x
5
+x
7
+...) = a
0

n=0
x
2n
+a
1

n=0
x
2n+1
3. Find the general solution to:
xy

+ y

= 0
for x = 0.
This is an Euler equation (even though it doesnt currently look like it). Multiply
through by x to get:
x
2
y

+ xy

= 0
Here, the indicial equation is given by:
r(r 1) + r = r(r 1) + r = r
2
Since this has a repeated root of 0, the general solution is given by:
y(x) = c
1
+ c
2
ln|x|
2
4. Find the general solution to:
x
2
y

7xy

+ 41y = 0
for x > 0.
This is an Euler equation. The indicial equation is given by:
r(r 1) + r + = r(r 1) 7r + 41 = r
2
8r + 41
The roots of this equation are
8

64 4 41
2
= 4 5i
So, the general solution is given by:
y(x) = c
1
x
4
cos(5 lnx) + c
2
x
4
sin(5 lnx)
5. Find the general solution to:
x
2
y

+ 5xy

+ 3y = 0
for x > 0.
This is an Euler equation whose indicial equation is:
r(r 1) + 5r + 3 = r
2
+ 4r + 3 = (r + 3)(r + 1)
The roots of this equation are 3 and 1. Thus, the general solution is given by:
y = c
1
x
3
+ c
2
x
1
6. Solve the initial value problem:
y
(4)
y = 0; y(0) = 1, y

(0) = 0, y

(0) = 1, y

(0) = 0
Apply the Laplace transform:
L{y
(4)
} L{y} = L{0} = 0
(s
4
1)L{y} s
3
+ s = 0
L{y} =
s
3
s
s
4
1
=
s
s
2
+ 1
Thus,
y = cos t
7. Prove the commutative property for convolutions:
f g = g f
3
f g =

t
0
f(t )g() d
Now, lets do the change of variable T = t and dT = d. So, this becomes:

0
t
f(T)g(t T) dT =

t
0
g(t T)f(T) dT = g f
8. Solve the initial value problem:
2y

+ 3y

3y

2y = e
t
; y(0) = 0, y

(0) = 0, y

(0) = 1
Apply the Laplace transform:
2L{y

} + 3L{y

} 3L{y

} 2L{y} = L{e
t
}
(2s
3
+ 3s
2
3s 2)L{y} 1 =
1
s + 1
L{y} =
s + 2
(s + 1)(s 1)(s + 2)(2s + 1)
=
1
(s + 1)(s 1)(2s + 1)
=
1
2
1
s + 1
+
1
6
1
s 1

2
3
1
s + 1/2
Thus,
y =
1
2
e
t
+
1
6
e
t

2
3
e
t/2
9. Solve the initial value problem:
y

5y = f(t) =

t
2
if 0 t < 1,
0 if t 1
with y(0) = 1.
Here
f(t) = t
2
u
1
(t)t
2
= t
2
u
1
(t)(t1)
2
2u
1
(t)t+u
1
(t) = t
2
u
1
(t)(t1)
2
2u
1
(t)(t1)u
1
(t)
So, applying the Laplace transform, we get:
L{y

} 5L{y} =
2
s
3
e
s
2
s
3
e
s
2
s
2
e
s
1
s
(s 5)L{y} 1 =
2
s
3
e
s

2
s
3
+
2
s
2
+
1
s

L{y} =
s
3
+ 2
s
3
(s 5)
e
s

2 + 2s + s
2
(s
3
)(s 5)

L{y} =
2
125
1
s
+
2
25
1
s
2

1
5
2
s
3
+
127
125
1
s 5
e
s

37
125
1
s

12
25
1
s
2

1
5
2
s
3
+
37
125
1
s 5

Thus,
y =
2
125
+
2
25
t
1
5
t
2
+
127
125
e
5t

37
125

12
25
(t 1)
1
5
(t 1)
2
+
37
125
e
5(t1)

u
1
(t)
4
10. Solve the initial value problem:
y

+ 4y

+ 13y = (t ) + (t 3); y(0) = 1; y

(0) = 0
Lets start by applying the Laplace transform:
L{y

} + 4L{y

} + 13L{y} = L{(t )} +L{(t 3)}

(t)e
2(t)
sin3(t ) +
1
3
u
3
(t)e
2(t3)
sin3(t 3)
11. A force of 2 lb stretches a spring 1 ft. With one end held xed, an 8-lb weight is attached to
the other end and the system lies on a table that imparts a frictional force numerically equal to 3/2
times the instantaneous velocity. Initially the weight is displaced 4 in. above the equilibrium point
and is released from rest. Find the equation of motion if the motion takes place along a horizontal
straight line that is taken as the x-axis.
Going through the derivation from section 3.8 again, we can see that the equation
for the motion becomes:
mu

+ u

+ k(L + u) = 0
where L is the length that the spring is stretched at equilbrium position. However, since
there is no horizontal force at equilibrium, L = 0. Thus, we get the same equation:
mu

+ u

+ ku = 0
Here, using the rst piece of info, we see that k = 2 since mg kL = 0. We, also, know
that = 3/2 from the statement of the problem. Thus, the problem that we are solving
is:
1
4
u

+
3
2
u

+ 2u = 0; u(0) = 4; u

(0) = 0
Multiplying through by 4 we get:
u

+ 6u

+ 8u = 0
whose characteristic equation is:
x
2
+ 6x + 8 = (x + 4)(x + 2) = 0
Thus,
u(t) = c
1
e
4t
+ c
2
e
2t
Using the intial data, we see that:
u(t) =
1
3
e
4y

2
3
e
2t
5
12. Find a general solution of
2x
2
y

x(x 1)y

y = 0
on x > 0 about the regular singular point x
0
= 0.
Rewriting the equation a bit gives
x
2
y

1
2
(x 1)(xy

)
1
2
y = 0
The associated Euler equation we get by ignoring all be the constant terms of xp(x)
and x
2
q(x) is
x
2
y

+
1
2
xy

1
2
y = 0
The indicial equation for this is given by
r(r 1) +
1
2
r
1
2
= 0
or
2r
2
r 1 = (2r + 1)(r 1) = 0
Thus, we have r
1
= 1/2 and r
2
= 1 (which dont dier by an integer).
We now begin by assuming that we have a solution of the form
y = x
r

n=0
a
n
x
n
=

n=0
a
n
x
n+r
Thus,
y

n=0
a
n
(n + r)x
n+r1
y

n=0
a
n
(n + r)(n + r 1)x
n+r2
Plugging into the original equation then yields:

n=0
2a
n
(n+r)(n+r1)x
n+r

n=0
a
n
(n+r)x
n+r+1
+

n=0
a
n
(n+r)x
n+r

n=0
a
n
x
n+r
= 0
or after shifting indices

k=0
2a
k
(k+r)(k+r1)x
k+r

k=1
a
k1
(k+r1)x
k+r
+

k=0
a
k
(k+r)x
k+r

k=0
a
k
x
k+r
= 0
Combining these into one sum yields
a
0
x
r
[2r(r1)+r1]+

k=1
[2a
k
(k+r)(k+r1)a
k1
(k+r1)+a
k
(k+r)a
k
]x
k+r
= 0
From the second part, we get the recurrence relation
a
k
=
a
k1
2k + 2r + 1
6
For r
1
= 1/2, that is
a
k
=
a
k1
2k
So, we have a
1
=
a
0
2
, a
2
=
a
1
4
=
a
0
8
, a
3
=
a
2
6
=
a
0
48
, ...
For r
2
= 1, the recurrence relation becomes
a
k
=
a
k1
2k + 3
Thus, a
1
=
a
0
5
, a
2
=
a
1
7
=
a
0
35
, a
3
=
a
2
9
=
a
0
315
, ...
Combining these, we have the general solution
y = c
1
x
1/2

1 +
x
2
+
x
2
8
+
x
3
48
+ ...

+ c
2
x

1 +
x
5
+
x
2
35
+
x
3
315
+ ...

13. Find a general solution of

+ xy

+ (x
2
4/9)y = 0
on x > 0 about the regular singular point x
0
= 0. (Find the rst 3 nonzero terms in each
independent piece.)
The associated Euler equation we get by ignoring all be the constant terms of xp(x)
and x
2
q(x) is
x
2
y

+ xy

4
9
y = 0
The indicial equation for this is given by
r(r 1) + r
4
9
= 0
or
r
2

4
9
= 0
Thus, we have r
1
= 2/3 and r
2
= 2/3 (which dont dier by an integer).
We now begin by assuming that we have a solution of the form
y = x
r

n=0
a
n
x
n
=

n=0
a
n
x
n+r
Thus,
y

n=0
a
n
(n + r)x
n+r1
y

n=0
a
n
(n + r)(n + r 1)x
n+r2
Plugging into the original equation then yields:

n=0
(n + r)(n + r 1)a
n
x
n+r
+

n=0
(n + r)a
n
x
n+r

n=0
4
9
a
n
x
n+r
+

n=0
a
n
x
n+r+2
7
So, after shifting indices, we have

k=0
(k + r)(k + r 1)a
k
x
k+r
+

k=0
(k + r)a
k
x
k+r

4
9

k=0
a
k
x
k+r
+

k=2
a
k2
x
k+r
= 0
or
[r(r 1) + r 4/9]a
0
x
r
+ [(r + 1)r + (r + 1) 4/9]a
1
x
r+1
+

k=2
[(k + r)(k + r 1)a
k
+ (k + r)a
k
(4/9)a
k
+ a
k2
]x
k+r
= 0
So, we see that a
1
= 0 and
a
k
=
a
k2
(k + r)
2
(4/9)
For r = 2/3, this is
a
k
=
a
k2
k(k + 4/3)
=
3a
k2
k(3k + 4)
So, a
1
= 0, a
2
=
3a
0
20
, a
3
=
3a
1
39
= 0, a
4
=
3a
2
64
=
9a
0
1380
, ...
For r
2
= 2/3, we similarly get
a
k
=
a
k2
k(k 4/3)
=
3a
k2
k(3k 4)
So, a
1
= 0, a
2
=
3a
0
4
, a
3
= 0, a
4
=
3a
2
32
=
9a
0
128
, ...
Thus, our general solution is:
y = c
1
x
2/3

1
3
20
x
2
+
9
1380
x
4
+ ...

+ c
2
x
2/3

1
3
4
x
2
+
9
128
x
4
+ ...