Lecture 2.

1: Separation of Variables

Matthew Macauley

Department of Mathematical Sciences

Clemson University
http://www.math.clemson.edu/~macaule/

Math 2080, Differential Equations

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Introduction
Definition
The order of an ODE is the highest derivative that appears.

Example 1 (exponential growth)

Find all solutions to y 0 = ky .

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Exponential decay
Example 2
Find all solutions to y 0 = −ky .

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Exponential growth vs. decay

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Decay to a limiting value
Example 3
Find all solutions to y 0 = k(72 − y ).

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