Ordinary Differential Equations

Introduction

A differential equation is an equation relating an independent variable, e.g. t, a dependent variable, y,

and one or more derivatives of y with respect to t:
dx
= 3x
dt

y2

d2 y
dy
= 0.
+ 3x2 y 2
dx2
dx

dy
= et
dt

In this section we will look at some specific types of differential equation and how to solve them.

Classifying equations

We can classify our differential equation by four properties:

Is it an ordinary differential equation?
Is it linear?
Does it have constant coefficients?
What is the order?
Ordinary
An Ordinary Differential Equation or ODE has only one independent variable (for example, x, or t).
The alternative (with more than one) is called a partial differential equation and will not be covered in
this course.
Linearity
A differential equation is linear if every term in the equation contains none or exactly one of either the
dependent variable or its derivatives. There are no products of the dependent variable with itself or its
derivatives. Each term has at most one power of the equivalent of x or x or x
or . . . ; or f (x) and its
derivatives.
Examples:
f (x)

df
= 2 x is not linear
dx

df
= f 3 (x) is not linear
dx

d2 f
= x2 f (x) + ex is linear.
dx2

Constant coefficients
A differential equation has constant coefficients if the dependent variable and all the derivatives are only
multiplied by constants.
Examples: which have constant coefficients?
3

df
= 2 x: yes
dx

d2 f
= x2 f (x) + ex : no
dx2
1

d2 f
df
+3
+ 2f (x) = sin xex : no.
dx2
dx

Finally, a trick one:

3ex

df
+ ex f (x) = x3 does have constant coefficients: divide the whole equation by ex .
dx

Order
The order of a differential equation is the largest number of derivatives (of the dependent variable) ever
taken.
Examples:
f (x)

df
= 2 x is 1st order
dx

d2 f
= x2 f (x)+ex is 2nd order
dx2

d2 f
d2 f df
+3 2
= 0 is 2nd order.
2
dx
dx dx

First order linear equations

First the general theory. A first order linear differential equation for y(x) must be of the form
dy
+ p(x)y = q(x).
dx
If there is something multiplying the dy/dx term, then divide the whole equation by this first.
Now suppose we calculate an integrating factor
Z

I(x) = exp
p(x) dx .
Just this once, we wont bother about a constant of integration.
We multiply our equation by the integrating factor:
I(x)

dy
+ I(x)p(x)y = I(x)q(x).
dx

and then observe that

d
dy
dI
dy
(yI(x)) =
I(x) + y
=
I(x) + yp(x)I(x)
dx
dx
dx
dx
which is our left-hand-side. So we have the equation
d
(yI(x)) = I(x)q(x)
dx
which we can integrate (we hope):
Z
yI(x) =
y=

1
I(x)

I(x)q(x) dx + C

Z
I(x)q(x) dx +

C
.
I(x)

We sort out the constant C from the initial conditions at the end.
2

Example
dy
+ 2xy = 0
dx
Here the integrating factor will be

and
Z

I(x) = exp
and our equation is
ex

y = 3 when x = 0.

2x dx = exp x2

2
dy
+ 2xex y = 0.
dx

2
2
d h x2 i
ye
=0
=
yex = C
=
y = Cex .
dx
The last thing we do is use the initial conditions: at x = 0, y = 3 but our form gives at x = 0, y = C so
we need C = 3 and
2
y = 3ex .

Example
dy
+ 2y = sin x
with y(/2) = 0.
dx
First we need to get the equation into a form where the first term is just dy/dx: so divide by x:
x

dy
2
sin x
+ y=
.
dx x
x
Now we calculate the integrating factor:
Z

2
I(x) = exp
dx = exp (2 ln x) = exp ln (x2 ) = x2 .
x
We multiply the whole system by x2 :
x2

dy
+ 2xy = x sin x
dx

and now we can integrate:

d 2
(x y) = x sin x
dx

Z
x2 y =

=
3

x sin x dx + C

which we can integrate by parts:

Z
2

x y = x cos x +

cos x dx + C = x cos x + sin x + C

so the general solution is

cos x sin x
C
+ 2 + 2.
x
x
x
Finally, we use the initial condition y = 0 when x = /2 to get
y=

0=

cos (/2) sin (/2)

C
1
C
+
+
=0+
+
.
(/2)
(/2)2
(/2)2
(/2)2
(/2)2

which means C = 1 and our solution is

y=

cos x 1 sin x

.
x
x2

Example
This time we will solve two different differential equations in parallel.
dy
+ 3y = e2x
dx

and

df
+ 3f = e3x
dx

In this example, we dont actually have variable coefficients but that just makes it easier!
Z
In both cases, I(x) = exp 3 dx = e3x .
e3x

dy
+ 3e3x y = ex
dx
d 3x
e y = ex
dx
e3x y = ex + C0

y = e2x + C0 e3x

and
and
and
and

df
+ 3e3x f = 1.
dx
d 3x
e f = 1.
dx

e3x

e3x f = x + C1 .
f = xe3x + C1 e3x .

Homogeneous linear equations.

A homogeneous linear equation is one in which all terms contain exactly one power of the dependent
variable and its derivatives:
dy
d2 y
+5
+ 6y = 0.
e.g.
dx2
dx
For these equations, we can add up solutions: so if f (x) is a solution and g(x) is a solution:
df
d2 f
+5
+ 6f = 0
dx2
dx

and
4

d2 g
dg
+5
+ 6g = 0
dx2
dx

then so is af (x) + bg(x) for any constants a and b:

d2
d
[af (x) + bg(x)] + 5 [af (x) + bg(x)] + 6[af (x) + bg(x)] = 0.
dx2
dx
An nth order homogeneous linear equation will always (i.e. if it is well-behaved: dont worry about
this detail) have exactly n independent solutions y1 , . . . , yn and the general solution to the equation is
y = c1 y1 + c2 y2 + + cn yn .

4.1

Special case: coefficients axr

Suppose we are given a differential equation in which the coefficient of the rth derivative is a constant
multiple of xr :
d2 y
dy
e.g. x2 2 + 2x
6y = 0.
dx
dx
m
Then if we try a solution of the form y = x we get
dy
d2 y
= mxm1
= m(m 1)xm2
dx
dx2
and if we put this back into the original equation we get
y = xm

x2 m(m 1)xm2 + 2mxxm1 6xm = 0

xm (m(m 1) + 2m 6) = 0

xm (m2 + m 6) = 0.

Now xm will take lots of values as x changes so we need

(m2 + m 6) = 0

(m 2)(m + 3) = 0.

In this case we get two roots: m1 = 2 and m2 = 3. This means we have found two functions that work
as solutions to our differential equation:
y1 = xm1 = x2

and

y2 = xm2 = x3 .

But we know that if we have two solutions we can use any combination of them so our general solution
is
y = c1 x2 + c2 x3 .
This works with an nth order ODE as long as the nth order polynomial for m has n different real roots.

Example
x2
Try y = xm :
y = xm
m(m 1)xm 6mxm + 10xm

d2 y
dy
6x
+ 10y = 0.
dx2
dx

dy
d2 y
= mxm1
= m(m 1)xm2 .
dx
dx2
= 0 = xm (m2 m 6m + 10) = 0 = xm (m 5)(m 2) = 0.

The general solution to this equation is

y = c1 x5 + c2 x2 .
5

4.2

Special case: constant coefficients.

Now suppose we have a homogeneous equation with constant coefficients, like this one:
d2 y
dy
+5
+ 6y = 0.
dx2
dx
We try a solution y = ex . This gives dy/dx = ex and d2 y/dx2 = 2 ex so
2 ex + 5ex + 6ex = 0.
(2 + 5 + 6)ex = 0

for all x.

Just like the polynomial case, the function of x will not be zero everywhere so we need
2 + 5 + 6 = 0

( + 2)( + 3) = 0.

In this case we get two roots: 1 = 2 and 2 = 3. This means we have found two independent
solutions:
y1 = e1 x = e2x
and
y2 = e2 x = e3x ,
and the general solution is

y = c1 e2x + c2 e3x .

Example
A third-order equation this time:

d2 y
dy
d3 y

2
= 0.
3
3
dx
dx
dx

Trying y = ex gives
3 2 2 = 0

(2 2) = 0

( 2)( + 1) = 0

which has three roots,

1 = 0
The general solution is

2 = 2

3 = 1.

y = c1 e0x + c2 e2x + c3 ex = c1 + c2 e2x + c3 ex .

Notice that we have three constants here: in general we will always have N constants in the solution to
an N th order equation.

Example
Another second-order equation:

Trying y = ex gives

d2 y
dy
+2
+ 5y = 0.
dx2
dx
2 + 2 + 5 = 0
6

which has two roots,

=

4 20

16

= 1 2i.

The general solution is then

y = Ae(1+2i)x + Be(12i)x = ex [Ae2ix + Be2ix ]
where A and B will be complex constants: but if y is real (which it usually is) then we can write the
solution as
y = ex [c1 sin 2x + c2 cos 2x].

Repeated roots
If our polynomial for has two roots the same, then we will end up one short in our solution. This
is similar to the case with a repeated eigenvalue in the previous section: there, we used a generalised
eigenvector and a function xex . Here we only need the xex part.

Example
Another third-order equation:

d3 y
d2 y
dy
2 3 +
= 0.
3
dx
dx
dx

Trying y = ex gives
3 22 + = 0

(2 2 + 1) = 0

( 1)2 = 0

which has only two distinct roots,

1 = 0
The general solution is

2 = 3 = 1.

y = c1 e0x + c2 ex + c3 xex = c1 + c2 ex + c3 xex .

Inhomogeneous linear equations.

What happens if there is a term with none of the dependent variable? That is, loosely, a term on the
right hand side, or a function of x.
f2 (x)

d2 y
dy
+ f1 (x)
+ f0 (x)y = g(x).
dx2
dx

In the most general case we cant do anything: but in one or two special cases we can.
If we already know the general solution to the homogeneous equation:
f2 (x)

d2 y
dy
+ f1 (x)
+ f0 (x)y = 0
2
dx
dx
7

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

then all we need is a particular solution to the whole equation: one function u(x) that obeys
f2 (x)

d2 u
du
+ f1 (x)
+ f0 (x)u = g(x).
dx2
dx

Then the general solution to the whole equation is

y = c1 y1 (x) + c2 y2 (x) + u(x).
The solution to the homogeneous equation is called the complementary function or CF; the particular
solution u(x) is called the particular integral or PI. Finding it involves a certain amount of trial and
error!

Special case: Coefficients xr

In this case, we can only cope with one specific kind of RHS: a polynomial. We will see this by example:
x2

d2 y
dy
6x
+ 10y = 6x3 .
dx2
dx

The homogeneous equation in this case is one weve seen before:

x2

d2 y
dy
6x
+ 10y = 0
dx2
dx

y = c1 x5 + c2 x2 .

Now as long as the power on the right is not part of the CF we can find the PI by trying a multiple
of the right hand side:
dy
d2 y
y = Ax3 =
= 3Ax2 and
= 6Ax.
dx
dx2
d2 y
dy
6x
+ 10y = x2 6Ax 6x3Ax2 + 10Ax3 = x3 [6A 18A + 10A] = 2Ax3
dx2
dx
so for this to be a solution we need 2A = 6 so A = 3. Then the general solution to the full equation
is
y = c1 x5 + c2 x2 3x3 .
x2

A couple of words of warning about this kind of equation:

If the polynomial for the power m has a repeated root then we fail
If the polynomial for the power m has complex roots then we fail
If a power on the RHS matches a power in the CF then we fail.

Special case: constant coefficients

Given a linear ODE with constant coefficients, we saw in the previous section that we can always find
the general solution to the homogeneous equation (using ex , xex and so on), so we know how to find
the CF. There are a set of standard functions to try for the PI, but that part is not guaranteed.
8

Example

First we need the CF. Try y = ex

d2 y
dy
3
+ 2y = ex .
2
dx
dx
on the homogeneous equation:

2 3 + 2 = 0

( 1)( 2) = 0.

So there are two roots, 1 = 1 and 2 = 2. The CF is then

yCF = c1 ex + x2 e2x .
Next we need the PI. Since the RHS is ex , we try the form
y = Aex

dy
= Aex
dx

d2 y
= Aex .
dx2

d2 y
dy
3
+ 2y = Aex + 3Aex + 2Aex = 6Aex
dx2
dx
so we need A = 1/6 for this to work. Our PI is
yPI =
and the general solution is

1 x
e
6

1
y = c1 ex + x2 e2x + ex .
6

Example
dy
+ 3y = e3x .
dx
This is only first-order: in fact we solved it in section 3 and the solution was
y = xe3x + C1 e3x .
Let us solve it the way we have just learned. First the CF: try y = ex then
+3=0
so = 3 and the CF is

yCF = C1 e3x .

Now look for the PI. The RHS is e3x so our first thought might be to try Ae3x . But this is the CF:
so we know when we try it we will get zero! So instead (motivated by knowing the answer in this case)
we multiply by x and try
dy
y = Axe3x
= Ae3x 3Axe3x
dx
dy
+ 3y = Ae3x 3Axe3x + 3Axe3x = Ae3x .
dx
so we need A = 1 and we end up with the same solution we got last time.
In general, if the RHS matches the CF (or part of the CF) then we will multiply by x to get our trial
function for the PI.
9

Example
This time we have initial conditions as well: remember we always use these as the very last thing we
do.
d3 y
d2 y
dy
dy
d2 y
+2 2 +
= 2x
with y = 3,
= 4 and
= 4 at x = 0.
3
dx
dx
dx
dx
dx2
First we find the CF. Try y = ex :
3 + 22 + = 0 = (2 + 2 + 1) = 0 = ( + 1)2 = 0.
This has only two distinct roots: 1 = 0, 2 = 3 = 1. Therefore the CF is:
yCF = c1 + c2 ex + c3 xex .
Now we look for the PI. The RHS is x so we try a function
y = Ax + B =

dy
d2 y
d3 y
= A =
=
= 0.
2
dx
dx
dx3

This makes

d3 y
d2 y
dy
+2 2 +
=0+0+A
3
dx
dx
dx
and no value of A can make this equal to x. What do we do when it fails?
If the trial function fails, try multiplying by x.
[Note: in this case we could have predicted this because the B of our trial function is part of the CF.]
We want one more power of x so we try
y = Cx2 + Ax =

dy
d2 y
d3 y
= 2Cx + A =
=
2C
and
= 0.
dx
dx2
dx3

d3 y
d2 y
dy
+
2
+
= 0 + 4C + 2Cx + A
dx3
dx2
dx
so we need
2Cx + 4C + A = 2x
Our general solution is

which means C = 1, A = 4.

y = c1 + c2 ex + c3 xex + x2 4x.

Now we apply the initial conditions:

y = c1 + c2 ex + c3 xex + x2 4x
dy
= c2 ex + c3 ex c3 xex + 2x 4
dx
d2 y
= c2 ex 2c3 ex + c3 xex + 2
dx2

=
=
=

y(0) = c1 + c2 = 3
dy
(0) = c2 + c3 4 = 4
dx
d2 y
(0) = c2 2c3 + 2 = 4
dx2

The solution to this linear system is c2 = 2, c3 = 2, c1 = 5 so our final answer is

y = 5 2ex 2xex + x2 4x.
10

Table of functions to try for PI

f (x)
ekx
ekx
ekx
sin kx
cos kx
sin kx
sin kx
xn
xn
xn

Conditions on CF
= k not a root
= k a root
= k a double root
= ik not a root
= ik not a root
= ik a root
= ik a double root
= 0 not a root
= 0 a root
= 0 a double root

11

First guess at PI
Aex
Axex
Ax2 ex
A cos kx + B sin kx
A cos kx + B sin kx
Ax cos kx + Bx sin kx
Ax2 cos kx + Bx2 sin kx
Axn + Bxn1 + + C
Axn+1 + Bxn + + Cx
Axn+2 + Bxn+1 + + Cx2

Summary of differential equations

Yes

No
Is it an ODE?

Yes
?

No
Is it linear?

'
?

Does it have
No Is it first order?
constant

coefficients?
&
Yes
Yes
?
?
Integrating
CF & PI
factor
using
method
ex

@
R Beyond
@
this
- course
6
No
$
'
Are the coefficients
No
- powers of x matching
the derivatives?
%
&
Yes
?
CF & PI
using
xm

First-order linear ODEs

R
dy
+ p(x)y = q(x), we calculate an integrating factor I(x) = e p(x) dx
dx
R
R
d R p dx
dy R p dx
e
+p(x)ye p dx =
ye
= q(x)e p dx .
dx
dx
Z
Z

To solve an equation of the form

and multiply by it:

We integrate both sides:

ye

p dx

q(x)e

p dx

dx+C = y = e

p dx

q(x)e

p dx

dx+Ce

p dx

Linear ODEs with constant coefficients

d2 y
dy
+b +cy = f (x) we calculate the CF, by trying solutions of the
dx2 dx
for the homogeneous equation (RHS=0). If there is a repeated root we use ex and xex :

To solve an equation of the form a

form y = ex

yCF = c1 e1 x + c2 e2 x

or

yCF = c1 ex + c2 xex .

We calculate the PI, which is any solution to the original equation, by a system of trial and error. In
general we try something of the same form as f (x); if this overlaps with the CF at all then we multiply
by x. The general solution is y = yCF + yPI .

Linear ODEs with xn -type coefficients

d2 y
dy
+ bx
+ cy = xn we calculate the CF, by trying solutions of
dx2
dx
the form y = xm for the homogeneous equation. As long as the roots m are real, different and not equal
to n this is OK. Then we use y = Axn as the PI.
To solve an equation of the form ax2

12