UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

Faculty of Science and Technology

SMA 3208: Ordinary Differential Equations Tutorial #2 (of 07-03-2025)

ATTEMPT ALL PROBLEMS ....and enjoy as many problems as possible!

NOTE:This is NOT an assignment for submission, the problems are for practice!

1. Define a solution of a differential equation. Give an example of a differential equation and one of its
solutions.

2. State and explain the existence and uniqueness theorem for first-order differential equations. Pro-
vide an example where the theorem applies and one where it fails.

3. Explain the difference between linear and nonlinear differential equations. Give one example of
each.

4. Define homogeneous and nonhomogeneous differential equations. Illustrate with an example for
each case.

5. Consider the equation:

d2 y dy
2
+ p(x) + q(x)y = f (x)
dx dx
Identify the conditions under which the equation is homogeneous or nonhomogeneous, and give an
example of each.
x2 +y 2
6. Check whether the function f (x, y) = xy
is homogeneous. If homogeneous, state its degree and solve
dy x2 +y 2
the differential equation: dx
= xy
.

7. Check whether the following differential equation is homogeneous and solve it:

(x2 + y 2 )dx − 2xydy = 0

8. Solve the first-order differential equation:

dy
+ y tan x = sin x
dx

9. Solve the Bernoulli differential equation:

dy
+ y = y 3 ex
dx

10. A radioactive isotope has a half-life of 10 hours. If 100 mg is present initially, find the amount remaining
after 24 hours.

11. The decay rate of a radioactive element is proportional to the amount present. Given that it decreases
from 10g to 5g in 6 hours, find the decay constant.

12. Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5730 years. A fossilized bone is found to have 25% of its original carbon-14
content. Estimate its age.

13. A sample of uranium-238 originally weighed 500g. After 1 billion years, 350g remains. Find its decay
constant and determine the half-life.

14. If a substance loses 20% of its mass in 5 years due to radioactive decay, determine its half-life.

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15. Solve the separable differential equation:
dy x+1
=
dx y−2
16. Solve the following differential equation:

(y + 1)dx = (x − 2)dy

dy
17. Solve the differential equation: dx
+ 2y = e−x .
dy y
18. Solve the differential equation: dx
+ x
= x2 y 3 .
dy
19. Solve the differential equation: dx
= xy .
x3 +y 3
20. Check whether the function f (x, y) = x2 y
is homogeneous. If homogeneous, state its degree and solve
dy x3 +y 3
the differential equation: dx
= x2 y
.
dy
21. Solve the differential equation: dx
+ y = sin x.
dy
22. Solve the differential equation: dx
+ y = y 2 ex .
dy y2
23. Solve the differential equation: dx
= x2
.
x4 +y 4
24. Check whether the function f (x, y) = x3 y
is homogeneous. If homogeneous, state its degree and solve
dy x4 +y 4
the differential equation: dx
= x3 y
.
dy
25. Solve the differential equation: dx
+ 3y = x2 .
dy
26. Solve the differential equation: dx
+ y = y 3 sin x.
dy ex
27. Solve the differential equation: dx
= y2
.
dy y
28. Solve the differential equation: dx
+ x
= x2 .
dy
29. Solve the differential equation: dx
+ y tan x = sec x.
dy x2 +1
30. Solve the differential equation: dx
= y
.
dy
31. Solve the differential equation: dx
+ 2y = 3y 4 cos x.

32. Check whether the following differential equation is homogeneous and solve it:

(x2 + y 2 )dx − 3xydy = 0

33. Determine if the given differential equation is homogeneous, then solve:

(x − y)dx + (x + y)dy = 0

34. Solve the first-order differential equation:

dy
− y cot x = sin x
dx

35. Solve the following first-order linear differential equation:

dy
+ 2y = e−x
dx

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36. Solve the Bernoulli differential equation:
dy
+ 4y = y 2 ex
dx

37. A fish population in a lake follows a logistic growth model with a carrying capacity of 10,000 fish. If
initially, there are 500 fish and the population doubles in 2 years, determine when it will reach 5000
fish.

38. A disease spreads in a town following a logistic model. If 100 people are infected initially and the total
population is 10,000, how long will it take for 5,000 people to be infected?

39. A rumor spreads among students in a school of 1000 people. Initially, 10 students know it, and after 3
days, 200 students have heard it. Predict when half the school will have heard the rumor.

40. A certain species of rabbits introduced to an island follows the logistic growth equation. If the island
can sustain 2000 rabbits and initially there are 50 rabbits, determine how long it will take for the
population to reach 1000.

41. A virus infects a closed population of 5000 people. If 10 people are infected initially and the number
of infections follows a logistic model, determine when 90% of the population will be infected.

42. Solve the Bernoulli equation:

dy
− 2y = 3y 3
dx
43. Solve the separable differential equation:
dy x−2
=
dx y+3
44. A radioactive substance has a half-life of 5 years. If the initial quantity is 200g, how much remains
after 12 years?

45. The population of a bacteria culture grows exponentially. If the initial population is 500 and doubles
in 3 hours, how many bacteria will be present after 6 hours?

46. A pharmaceutical drug in the bloodstream decays exponentially. If the initial concentration is 50 mg
and reduces to 20 mg in 4 hours, determine its half-life.

47. A city has a population of 50,000 people and grows at a rate proportional to its size. If it reaches 80,000
in 10 years, estimate the population in 15 years.

48. A bank account accrues interest continuously at a rate of 8% per year. If the initial deposit is $1000,
determine the balance after 5 years.

49. Solve the following separable equation:

(x + y)dx − (x − y)dy = 0

50. Solve the differential equation:

y+1
y′ =
x−2
51. Solve:
(2x + 3)dx = (y − 4)dy
dy sin x
52. Solve the differential equation: dx
= y
.
dy y
53. Solve the differential equation: dx
+ x
= xy 2 .

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54. A cup of coffee is initially at 90◦ C in a room at 25◦ C. After 5 minutes, the temperature of the coffee
is 70◦ C. Find the temperature after 10 minutes.

55. A body with an initial temperature of 80◦ C is placed in an environment of 20◦ C. If it cools to 50◦ C in
10 minutes, determine the temperature after 15 minutes.

56. A freshly baked pie at 180◦ C is left in a kitchen at 30◦ C. If the pie cools to 150◦ C in 10 minutes, how
long will it take for it to reach 50◦ C?

57. If a corpse is found at 27◦ C in a room at 20◦ C, and one hour later the corpse temperature is 25◦ C,
estimate the time of death assuming normal body temperature is 37◦ C.

58. A metal rod is heated to 200◦ C and left to cool in a 20◦ C room. If its temperature drops to 150◦ C in
10 minutes, find the time required for it to reach 100◦ C.

59. A cup of coffee cools according to Newton’s Law of Cooling. If the coffee is initially at 90◦ C and the
room temperature is 20◦ C, and after 5 minutes the coffee cools to 70◦ C, find the temperature of the
coffee after 15 minutes.

60. A radioactive substance decays at a rate proportional to its mass. If the half-life of the substance is 10
years, find the time it takes for 90% of the substance to decay.

61. A population grows according to the logistic equation dP P

dt
= 0.1P 1 − 1000
. If the initial population is
100, find the population after 10 years.

62. A tank initially contains 100 liters of pure water. A brine solution with a concentration of 2 kg/L of
salt flows into the tank at a rate of 3 L/min, and the well-stirred mixture flows out at the same rate.
Find the amount of salt in the tank after 20 minutes.

63. A body is discovered at 2 : 00 PM with a temperature of 30◦ C. The ambient temperature is 20◦ C. If
the body cools to 25◦ C by 3 : 00 PM, estimate the time of death using Newton’s Law of Cooling.

64. A bacteria culture grows at a rate proportional to its size. If the culture doubles in size every 2 hours,
how long will it take to triple in size?

65. A radioactive isotope has a half-life of 5 days. If 100 grams of the isotope are present initially, find the
amount remaining after 15 days.

66. A population of fish grows according to the logistic equation dP P

dt
= 0.2P 1 − 500 . If the initial popu-
lation is 50, find the population after 5 years.

67. A tank contains 200 liters of water with 10 kg of salt dissolved in it. Fresh water flows into the tank at
a rate of 5 L/min, and the well-stirred mixture flows out at the same rate. Find the amount of salt in
the tank after 30 minutes.

68. A hot metal rod is placed in a room with a constant temperature of 25◦ C. The rod cools from 100◦ C
to 50◦ C in 10 minutes. How long will it take to cool to 30◦ C?

69. A radioactive substance decays at a rate proportional to its mass. If 80% of the substance decays in 20
years, find the half-life of the substance.

70. A population of rabbits grows according to the logistic equation dP P

dt
= 0.3P 1 − 200 . If the initial
population is 20, find the population after 10 years.

71. A tank initially contains 50 liters of water with 5 kg of salt dissolved in it. A brine solution with a
concentration of 1 kg/L of salt flows into the tank at a rate of 2 L/min, and the well-stirred mixture
flows out at the same rate. Find the amount of salt in the tank after 15 minutes.

72. A body is found at 10 : 00 AM with a temperature of 28◦ C. The ambient temperature is 22◦ C. If the
body cools to 24◦ C by 11 : 00 AM, estimate the time of death using Newton’s Law of Cooling.

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73. A bacteria culture grows at a rate proportional to its size. If the culture triples in size every 4 hours,
how long will it take to quadruple in size?
74. A radioactive isotope has a half-life of 8 days. If 200 grams of the isotope are present initially, find the
amount remaining after 24 days.
75. A population of deer grows according to the logistic equation dP P


dt
= 0.4P 1 − 1000 . If the initial
population is 100, find the population after 10 years.
76. A tank contains 150 liters of water with 15 kg of salt dissolved in it. Fresh water flows into the tank at
a rate of 4 L/min, and the well-stirred mixture flows out at the same rate. Find the amount of salt in
the tank after 25 minutes.
77. A hot object is placed in a room with a constant temperature of 20◦ C. The object cools from 80◦ C to
40◦ C in 15 minutes. How long will it take to cool to 25◦ C?
78. A radioactive substance decays at a rate proportional to its mass. If 70% of the substance decays in 15
years, find the half-life of the substance.
79. Define an exact differential equation. State the necessary and sufficient condition for a differential
equation of the form M (x, y)dx + N (x, y)dy = 0 to be exact.
80. Verify whether the differential equation (2xy + y 2 )dx + (x2 + 2xy)dy = 0 is exact. If it is exact, solve it.
81. Verify whether the differential equation (3x2 y + y 3 )dx + (x3 + 3xy 2 )dy = 0 is exact. If it is exact, solve
it.
82. Verify whether the differential equation (ex sin y + 2x)dx + (ex cos y + 2y)dy = 0 is exact. If it is exact,
solve it.
83. Verify whether the differential equation (2x + y)dx + (x + 2y)dy = 0 is exact. If it is exact, solve it.
84. Verify whether the differential equation (4x3 y 3 + 3x2 )dx + (3x4 y 2 + 6y 2 )dy = 0 is exact. If it is exact,
solve it.
85. Verify whether the differential equation (y cos x + 2x)dx + (sin x + 2y)dy = 0 is exact. If it is exact,
solve it.
86. Verify whether the differential equation (x2 + y 2 )dx + 2xy dy = 0 is exact. If it is exact, solve it.
87. Verify whether the differential equation (2xy + 3y 2 )dx + (x2 + 6xy)dy = 0 is exact. If it is exact, solve
it.
88. Verify whether the differential equation (ex cos y + 2x)dx + (−ex sin y + 3y 2 )dy = 0 is exact. If it is
exact, solve it.
89. Solve the exact differential equation:
(3x2 + 2y)dx + (2x + 5y 4 )dy = 0.

90. Find the solution to:

(2x + y)dx + (x + 4y)dy = 0.
91. Solve the equation:
(4xy + 2)dx + (2x2 + 3)dy = 0.
92. Find the general solution of the exact equation:
(y cos x + x)dx + (x cos y + y)dy = 0.

93. Given the equation

(x2 + y)dx + (y 2 + x)dy = 0,
check for exactness and solve it.

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