DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

CONTENTS
• Variable separable form
• The integrating factor form
• Homogeneous form

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this lesson, students will be able to:
• Distinguish between linear, nonlinear, partial and ordinary differential equations.
• State the basic existence theorem for 1st order ODE’s and use the theorem to determine a
solution interval.
• Recognize and solve a variable separable differential equation.
• Recognize and solve a homogeneous differential equation.
• Recognize and solve an exact differential equation.
• Recognize and solve a linear differential equation by use of an integrating factor.
• Make a change of variables to reduce a differential equation to a known form.
• Find particular solutions to initial value problems.
• Solve basic application problems described by first order differential equations.

SKILL CHECK
INTRODUCTION TO DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
A differential equation is an equation, where the unknown is a function and both the function, and its
derivatives may appear in the equation.

An example of a differential equation of order 4, 2, and 1 is given respectively by

CLASSIFICATIONS OF DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS

In General, there are two major classes of Differential Equation (DE):

1. Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE)

• Linear
• Non-linear
2. Partial Differential Equations (PDE) – Not in Syllabus

ORDINARY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION (ODE)

The equations that relate a function of one variable with: its derivatives; an independent variable; and constants
are called Ordinary Differential Equations.

The main classification of ordinary differential equations (ODE) depends on the order of the derivatives that
appear in the equation: the highest derivative order that appears in a differential equation is called the order of
the equation.

For example:
EXAMPLES OF LINEAR AND NON-LINEAR ODE

EXAMPLE OF PDE (Not in Syllabus)

TYPES OF SOLUTION
• General Solution
• Particular Solution

EXAMPLE
TYPES/FORMS OF DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
1. First Order DE with Separated Variable
2. First Order DE with Variable Separable Form
3. First Order Exact DE (Using Integrating Factor)
4. Homogeneous Differential Equations

DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS WITH SEPARATED VARIABLES

A simple class of differential equations are called first order differential equations with separated
variables. They are of the form y’ = f(x) and usually arise from problems about rates of change,
where the rate of change y’ only depends on the independent variable x. In most cases, these
equations can be solved easily using the integration techniques studied in the core of Mathematics
Higher Level.

EXAMPLE

Often, we need to apply integration techniques like substitution or integration by parts to find a
solution of a first order differential equation with separated variables.

EXAMPLE
EXAMPLE
FIRST ORDER DE WITH SEPARABLE VARIABLE
In this section we will explore a variety of problems that arise when studying rates of change. Many
of these problems can be modelled by first order DE with separable variables.
These equations can be written in the form:

STEPS TO SOLVE ODE WITH SEPARABLE VARIABLE

1. Get all the y's on the left-hand side of the equation and all of the x's on the right-hand side. It
is very important that one sided of the equation is multiplied by dx and the other by dy. In the
end dx and dy should never be in the denominator.
2. Integrate both sides. Once we integrate we only need to add "+C" add to the left side of the
equation
3. If possible, get our answer into y=f(x) form.
4. Finally, if you are given an initial condition, solve for "+C" by plug in the given x and y value.

EXAMPLE

SLOPE FIELDS/DIRECTION FIELDS

One of the easiest (and least accurate) ways to find approximate solutions to differential equations is to
graph the slope field of the equation. This simply involves calculating the slope of the curve that will
end up solving the equation and drawing little arrows to represent the value of the slope at various
points in the area of interest. This is usually fairly easy, because any differential equation that’s written
y’(x) = f (x, y) has already given you an explicit formula for the slope at any given point (x, y)! Slope
fields are inherently a sketch of all possible general solutions because the slope of the curve at a point
is independent of its vertical or horizontal displacement compared to the origin.
EXAMPLE
ISOCLINE
The term isocline derives from the Greek for “same slope.” For a first-order differential equation
!"
!#
= % (', )), the curve with equation % (', )) = + for some constant + is known as an isocline. This
!"
means that all the solutions ()(' )) of the ordinary differential equation !# = %(', )) that intersect the
curve %(', )) = + have the same slope, m.
Isoclines can be used as a graphical method of solving differential equations.

!" #
Let’s solve the differential equation !# = ", and then draw in the isoclines to illustrate how we can
use isoclines to graphically solve differential equations.

The solutions are curves called equilateral hyperbolas with centre at the origin. The isoclines are the
-
lines ) = . ' Note that for each value of m the isocline intersects the curves (graphs of the solutions)
at points where the tangents to their graphs are parallel.
EXAMPLE
MODELING OF GROWTH AND DECAY PHENOMENA
!"
An important class of separable differential equation has the form = ±0) where 0 > 0 and t is
!#
the independent variable time. These equations can be solve using separable of variable:

Where A is a positive constant to be determined using the initial or boundary conditions.

The general solution ) = 34 5# is called the exponential growth curve which provides a model for
many real-life growth and decay problems.
!"
The general solution !# = −0) 78 ) = 34 95: . Its graph is called the exponential decay curve which
is a useful model to represent phenomena like radiocarbon dating.
EULER METHOD TO SOVLE FIRST ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION
Euler’s Method is a numerical technique to solve ODE.

EXAMPLE
EXAMPLE
FIRST ORDER EXACT DE (USING INTEGRATING FACTOR)
EXAMPLE

EXAMPLE
Remember..
HOMOGENEOUS DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE
STEPS TO SOLVE HOMOGENEOUS EQUATIONS

EXAMPLE
MISCELLENEOUS PROBLEMS

^END OF CALCULUS PART C^