MATH142

Essentials of Engineering Mathematics

First-Order ODEs

I. Separable
II. Homogeneous
III. Linear
IV. Exact
V. Bernoulli

III. Linear Equations

𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
Definition: A first-order DE of the form 𝑎𝑎1 (𝑥𝑥) + 𝑎𝑎0 (𝑥𝑥)𝑦𝑦 = 𝑔𝑔(𝑥𝑥) , 𝑎𝑎1 (𝑥𝑥) ≠ 0 is said to
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
be a linear equation in the variable 𝑦𝑦.

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
The standard form of a linear first-order ODE is + 𝑷𝑷(𝒙𝒙)𝒚𝒚 = 𝑸𝑸(𝒙𝒙)
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅

Steps for Solving a Linear Equation

1. Write the DE in standard form

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
+ 𝑷𝑷(𝒙𝒙)𝒚𝒚 = 𝑸𝑸(𝒙𝒙) (𝐼𝐼)
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅

2. Find the integrating factor 𝜇𝜇(𝑥𝑥) = 𝑒𝑒 ∫ 𝑃𝑃(𝑥𝑥)𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

3. Multiply equation (𝐼𝐼) by 𝜇𝜇(𝑥𝑥)

𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝜇𝜇(𝑥𝑥) 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 + 𝜇𝜇(𝑥𝑥)𝑃𝑃(𝑥𝑥)𝑦𝑦 = 𝜇𝜇(𝑥𝑥)𝑄𝑄(𝑥𝑥) (𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼)

𝑑𝑑
4. Equation (𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼) can be expressed as [𝜇𝜇(𝑥𝑥)𝑦𝑦] = 𝜇𝜇(𝑥𝑥)𝑄𝑄(𝑥𝑥) or
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

𝑑𝑑[𝜇𝜇(𝑥𝑥)𝑦𝑦] = 𝜇𝜇(𝑥𝑥)𝑄𝑄(𝑥𝑥)𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼)

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5. Integrate both sides of (𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼) to get 𝑦𝑦 = [ ∫ 𝜇𝜇(𝑥𝑥)𝑄𝑄(𝑥𝑥)𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 + 𝐶𝐶 ]
𝜇𝜇(𝑥𝑥)

1
 1 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
Example 1: Solve − 4𝑦𝑦 = 1
𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

2
 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
Example 2: Solve 𝑥𝑥 − 4𝑦𝑦 = 𝑥𝑥 6 𝑒𝑒 𝑥𝑥
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

3
Example 3: Solve the IVP 𝑦𝑦 ′ + 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑥𝑥 𝑦𝑦(0) = 4