Philosophical Magazine Series 5, 49:300,487-490 1900

[ 487 ]
XLV. Petrovitclt' s AP,.paratus for inteyrating Лifferential
Equљtions of the Ftrst Or1ler. Ву W. А. PRICE *·

м•
MICHEIJ PETROVITCH, ћofes!:!or of Matbematics
at llelgrade, has descriЬed in а recent nпшЬеr of
the Aшeriean Ј oш"nal of Matheшatics (vol. xxii. N о. 1) an
interestillg instruшent for iпtegrating differential equationв
ofthe form Xdx+ Ydy=O.
Two curvcd tcmplates, Б, С (see fig. 1), шаdе f'rom thick
plaпk ю·е plппgcd iпto а rectangular taпk ot' \Vater. То n is
attached а poiпter Q, and to С а poiпter Н. А peпcil Р is
Fi~. 1.

ttttached Ьу а vertical roJ to an iшlex А, whicћ i::; placed at

t.be surface of tће watщ·. АР, БQ, CR can Ьс шove<l verti~
саНу but поt horizoпtally. Тће lengths АР, БQ, СН ш·е
drawп fot· coнvenience of' tће sаше lengtЬ, l, tlюпgh this is поt
essential. А Ьою·d is moved horizoutally Ьећiпd PQit, апd
the templater-; Б, С are шoved in and out of the water Ьу
keeping Q, R upon curves previously drawn on the board.
• Comm.unicвted Ьу the Author.
488 Mr. W. А. Price оп Petrovitch;.~ Apparatus for
The index А is continuously adjusted so as to Ье always at
the water surface. The pencil Р descriЬes а new curve on the
board. The ordinates of Р, Q, R шeasured fЈ·ош а horizontal
axis drawn on the board are х,у, z 1·espectively. The шean­
ings of the quantities р, q, r are sееп from the figure.
If the sectional area at the water level of thf' В template Ье
ф(q), and of the С template ,У(1·), and if' the sectional area ot'
the tank is М, we have for апу sшall displaceшents of the
teшplates
ф(q )dq +"fr(r) dr + Mdp =О.
Since p=l-x,
q=w-y,
r=m-z,
the differential equation Ьесошеs
ф (x-y)d(x-y) +,У (x-z) d(x-z)=Mdm.

If t Ье the h01·izontal distance of the bo1rd froш any fixed

point the equations of the curves Ь and с шау Ье written

у-/1 (t), z=/2 (t);

and we have
[ф{ x-ft(t)} +'о/{ x-j;(t)} ]dx
-[ф{ x-fa(t)} f{(t) +1fr{x-f2(t) }f/(t)] dt=Mdx.

а differential equation connecting the cordinates of Р ofwhich

the curve аа is а particular solutioп. А series of such particular
solutions is oЬtaioed Ьу changing the qпantity of' water in the
tank.
Iп the particular forш iп which the appю-atus has been
coпstructed Ьу Prof. Petrovitch, the template С is fixed, so
that / 2 (t) is coпstaнt, andj;1 (t) =0. The consti·uctioн is seen
iп the figпres 2 & 3. The paper is attached to а druш turнed
Ьу an endless sc1·ew. The tank is narro'>'· and the flat tem-
plates аге place<l оне behind the other. The level of the
water is obseпed Ьу шеапs of а vertical gauge-glass, оп the
opposite side of tће lю·ge wooden Ьlock оп the top of which
the dmm is шouпted. The ve1·tical rods аге the guides for tће
moviпg teшplates, апd for the rod 'vhich caпies the peпcil.
М. Petrovitch shows how Ње instl'umeпt may Ье пsed iп а
number of ways :
(1) As ан iпtegrator.
(2) As an integraph.
lntegrating Diferentlal Equdtionв o.f t'ће Firвt ()rde'f'. 489
(3) For the solution ofequations of the formXdx +Ydy=O,
or which mav Ье reduced to that form.
(4) TodescriЬecurvesoftheformф{/(x)} whereфandfю·e
knQWD functions.

Fig. 3.

As examples of the possiЬle nses of the instrument the

ЉHowing may Ье given : -
(1) The teшplates В, С (fig. 1) are trian~ular, having
angles at В, С respectively, so that ф(q) ==mq, "t(r) =nr. The
cut·ves ЬЬ, се are straight lines, во tha.t f1 (t) = bt, / 2( t) = ct.
The differential equation becomes
(т +n) .-~Jdx- (тЬ +nc)(xdt +tdx) + (mb2 +nc~)tdt= М:.dх.
Р descriЬes а series of similar a.nd coaxial ellipses.
In the particular саве wben the triangular templates are
49(} Оп an Appamtus .for integrating Diffвrentbl Eqшdion$.
sirnilar, and thA Iines ЬЬ, се make angles of 45° with the ve•·-
t.ical, Р uescriЬes а series of' conceнtric circles.
(2) Similю· to (l) except that the teшplate С is inverted,
анu tЪе lines М, ('(' slope iп Op[JOSite dii·ections.
2'\ow ф(q)=m'f, y(r)=k-m·, j 1(t)=l1t. ,t;(t)=-cl.
'ЈЪе Jiffet·eпt.iaJ C<jU:ttiOII be<'UIIIt'S

(т -п) J'llX- (111lJ +нс) (.nlt + fll.x) + (111~-щ: 2 )tdt + (k- M)rl.x=O.
Р desCJ·ihes а serit'~ ot' similю· ашl eoaxialltyperlюlяs.
(3) An lшrmoнic syпtllesi7.er ot· ti<le pre<licteJ' шау lю con-
:;tructed of' а nuшbet· of' t·ect:шgular ot· cylilнlrical plunger~
ot' sect.ional ю·еаs coпuspoшliнg to the amplitudes of t!Je seveJ-al
componeпts, Iif'ted апd lo\\'eJ'e(J iп the taпk Ьу eccentrics ot'
tlle prope1· pe1·iods. The level ot' Ље water will give the
synthesis requi1·ed.
(4) Suppose that iп Petroviteh's instruшent Ље curve
descriЬed Ьу the pointer attached to the moviпg template is
а straight line y=t, and tbat the curve drawп Ьу the peпcil
\\'hich follows the wate•·-level is the curve .х=ф (t), so that
х=ф(у). Now cause the pointer to follow the <.:urve
у=! sin -•t, so tbat tlю new cпrve drawn Ьу the pencil is
n

х=ф ( -l SID
,n
. -1)
t о

The area ot' the last curve is

ј Ф(~ sin-•t)dt=sф(О) cos пО dO,

wbere t=sin n8. Tbus the Fourier compoпents ot' the
curve .v=ф(t) can Ье obtained it' tЬе form of' the teшplates
сап Ье <liscovered which will Jevelop tlю cнrve itself f'roш а
straigbt-liпe сош·sе f'or the poiпter.
А g1·eat пшnЬеr ot' forш~ in whicЬ instJ·uшeнts сав Ье шаdе
оп the same geпe1-al principle will readily :юggest theшseiYes.
One consists of' seYeral vessels of' differeвt slшpes coпtaiнing
\vateJ· wћich nшу Ье transferred betweeп the vessels Ьу шeans
of taps, ог Ьу а ladle. Н tlre ћeights of Ње '\\Ћter-levcl::; i11
tbe ~e,·eral- vessels are .r, у, z, ... апd the areas of the watю·­
sшfaces Х, У, Z, ... ; tЬеп Хdш +Уdy + 'L.1l:: + ... =О апd
cuпes о1· sнrfaces drawп lJy l'lottiнg tlie values ot' ;с, .IJ, z, tн·
Ьу а m~Jchanism attached to fioats giYe solutions of the
equation.