Contents

1 Introduction 2

2 Key Points 2

3 Method of Variation of Parameters 3

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 VARIATION OF PARAMETERS

1 Introduction
• This method is used to find Yp (Particular Integral)
• This method is applicable to any order of Linear Differential Equation with
constant coefficient.
• In this section, we will find Yp (Particular Integral) of second order Ordinary
Differential Equation.

2 Key Points
• Write the given differential equation in standard form.

• First, find the complementary function (C.F.) Yc .

• We assume the particular integral, Yp , of a special form.

• Then, find u1 , u2 , and put in Yp

• To find C.F.:

(Dn + a1 Dn−1 + Dn−2 + . . . an )y = Q

(mn + a1 mm−1 + a2 mn−2 + . . . an ) = 0 (1)

Solve the eqn (1) For m, let ‘n’ roots of eqn (1)
Case I: When roots are real and distinct

C.F. = c1 em1 x + c2 e(m2 x) + . . . + cn e(mn x)

Case II: When roots are real and equal i.e, m1 = m2

C.F. = (c1 + c2 )emx + c3 em3 x + . . . cn emn x

Case III: When roots are imaginary

m1 = α + iβ, m2 = α − iβ

C.F. = eαx (c1 cosβx + c2 sinβx)

3 METHOD OF VARIATION OF PARAMETERS

3 Method of Variation of Parameters

Consider the second order non homogeneous linear differential equation

d2 y dy
a0 (x) 2
+ a1 (x) + a2 (x)y = F (x) (1)
dx dx
Suppose that y1 and y2 are linearly independent solution of the corresponding
homogeneous solution

d2 y dy
a0 (x) 2
+ a1 (x) + a2 (x)y = 0 (2)
dx dx
then the complementary function of equation (1) is

Cf = c1 y1 (x) + c2 y2 (x)

where y1 and y2 are linearly independent solution of (2) and c1 andc2 are
arbitrary constants.
Replacing c1 and c2 by v1 and v2 so the resulting functions, which is denoted
by
v1 (x) y1 (x) + v2 (x) y2 (x) (3)

will be particular integral of equation (1) we assume a solution of the form

(3) ,we write
yp (x) = v1 (x) y1 (x) + v2 (x) y2 (x) (4)

From Differential equation (4) we get

′ ′ ′ ′
yp (x) == v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y ′ 2 (x) + v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y2 (x) (5)

Put
′ ′
v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y2 (x) = 0 (6)

therefore,
′ ′
yp (x) = v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y ′ 2 (x) (7)

Again,differentiating both sides, we get

′′ ′′ ′′ ′ ′ ′ ′
yp (x) = v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y2 (x) + v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y2 (x) (8)

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 3 METHOD OF VARIATION OF PARAMETERS

′ ′′
Substituting the value of yp , yp and yp in (1) ,we get
′′ ′′ ′ ′ ′ ′
a0 (x)[v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y2 (x) + v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y2 (x)]
′ ′ ′ ′
+a1 (x)[v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y2 (x) + v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y2 (x)]
′′ ′
+a2 (x)[v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y2 ]v1 (x)[a0 (x)y1 (x) + a1 (x)y1 (x) + a2 (x)y1 (x)]
′′ ′ ′ ′ ′
+v2 (x)[a0 (x)y2 (x) + y2 (x) + a2 (x)y2 (x)] + a0 (x)[v1 (x)y′ 1(x) + v2 (x)y2 (x)] = F (x)

Since y1 and y2 are the solutions of the corresponding homogeneous differen-

tial equation (2) , the expression is the first two brackets in (9) are identically
zero.
′ ′ ′
∴ a0 (x)[v1 (x)y′ 1(x) + v2 (x)y2 (x)] = F (x)
′ ′ ′ ′ F (x)
v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y2 (x) = (9)
a0 (x)
′ ′
∴ y1 (x)v1 (x) + y2 (x)v2 (x) = 0
′ ′ ′ ′ F (x)
⇒ y1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y2 (x) = (10)
a0 (x)
y1 (x) y2 (x)
W [y1 (x), y2 (x)] = ′ ′ ̸= 0
y1 (x) y2 (x)
Since y1 and y2 are linearly independent solution of the corresponding homo-
geneous differential equation (2) we know that W [y1 (x), y2 (x)] ̸= 0
Hence the system (11) has unique solutions solving this system (11), we get

0 y2 (x)
F (x) ′
′ a0 (x)
y2 (x) F (x)y2 (x)
v1 (x) = =−
y1 (x) y2 (x) a0 W (y1 (x), y2 (x)
′ ′
y1 (x) y2 (x)

y1 (x) 0
′ F (x)
′
y1 (x) a0 (x) F (x)y1 (x)
v2 (x) = =
y1 (x) y2 (x) a0 W (y1 (x), y2 (x)
′ ′
y1 (x) y2 (x)
Thus we obtain the function v1 and v2 defined by

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3 METHOD OF VARIATION OF PARAMETERS

Z x Z x
F (t)y1 (t) F (t)y1 (t)
v1 (x) = − and v2 (x) = − (11)
0 a0 W (y1 (t), y2 (t) 0 a0 W (y1 (t), y2 (t)

Therefore a particular integral yp of equation (1) is defined by

yp (x) = v1 (x)y1 (x) + v2 (x)y2 (x)

where v1 and v2 are defined by (12)