Differential Equations

A Differential Equation is an equation with a function and one or more of its

derivatives:

Solving
We solve it when we discover the function y (or set of functions y).
There are many "tricks" to solving Differential Equations (if they can be solved!).

Classify the Differential Equation:

Ordinary or Partial
The first major grouping is
1. "Ordinary Differential Equations" (ODEs) have a single independent variable (like
y)
2. "Partial Differential Equations" (PDEs) have two or more independent variables.

Order and Degree:

Next, we work out the Order and the Degree

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Order: The Order is the highest derivative (is it a first derivative? a second derivative?
etc)
Degree: The degree is the exponent of the highest derivative.
Linear: It is Linear when the variable (and its derivatives) has no exponent or other
function put on it.

Example (1):

Example (2):

Solution:
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 First Order Differential Equations

Example (3):

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4
Example (4):

Example (5):

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Solution:

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Example (6):

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Example (7):

Solution:

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Example (8):

Task (1):

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10
Example (9):

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