CHAPTER 2: SECOND ORDER LINEAR DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

LEARNING OUTCOME (LO)

Upon completion of this week lesson, students should be able to:

 describe the basic concept of homogeneous equation.

 describe the three possible solutions of homogeneous equation.

 find the solution for homogeneous equations.

2.1 SOLVING HOMOGENEOUS EQUATIONS WITH CONSTANT COEFFICIENTS

 The general form of second-order linear differential equation is written as:

d2 y dy
a 2 +b +cy=f ( x )
dx dx
 If the term f ( x )=0 , the second-order linear differential equation is said to be homogeneous.
 Thus, the general form of the homogeneous differential equation is
2
d y dy
a +b +cy=0
dx 2 dx
 The characteristic equation of the homogeneous equation is
am 2 +bm +c=0
 Since the characteristic equation is a quadratic equation, there exist two roots ( m values) which may be
in type of real and distinct; real but repeated; and complex conjugates.
 The following table gives the general solution of homogenous equation:

Roots of the characteristic equation General solution

m1 x
1 Real and Distinct y= Ae + Be
m2x

m1 x
2 Real but Repeated y= Ae +Bxe
m1 x

3 Complex conjugate, a±bi y=eax ( A cos bx+B sin bx )

 Example 2.1: Find the general solution of:
d2 y dy
+6 + 9 y=0
a) dx
2 dx
b) 2 y - 5y' - 3y=0} {¿
c) y - 4y'+13y=0} {¿
 Homogeneous Differential Equations: Initial Value Problems
 From previous examples, the solution of differential equations consists unknown constant A
and/or B .
 If the differential equation comes along with the initial conditions, the unknown constant(s) can
be found.
 Example 2.2:
1) Solve the following initial value problem

y+4y=0;y left (0 right )=0,y' left ( { {π} over {2} } right )=3} {¿
2) Solve the following initial value problem

d2 y dy 7
4 −4 + y =0 ; y ( 0 )=1 , y ' ( 0 )=
dt 2 dt 2
3) Solve the following initial value problem

y+3y' - 4y=0;y left (0 right )=1,y' left (0 right )=0} { ¿