List No.

05
Problems proposed in the course of differential equations
Chemical Engineering

Newton’s Law of Cooling - Warming. The equation

dT
= k(T − Tm ), T (0) = T0 (1)
dt
we saw that the mathematical formulation of Newton’s empirical law of cooling-warming of object is
given by the linear first-order differential equation, where k is a constant of proportionality, T (t) is
the temperature of the object for t > 0, and Tm is the ambient temperature, that is, the temperature
of the medium around the object.

1. Cooling of a cake. When a cake is removed from an oven, its temperature is measured at
300o F . Three minutes later its temperature is 200o F . How long will it take for the cake to cool
off to a room temperature of 70o F ?

2. Thermometer. A thermometer is removed from a room where the temperature is 70o F and
is taken outside, where the air temperature is 10o F . After one-half minute the thermometer
reads 50o F . What is the reading of the thermometer at t = 1 min?. How long will take for the
thermometer to reach 15o F ?

3. Thermometer. A thermometer is taken from an inside room to the outside, where the air
temperature is 5o F . After one minute the thermometer reads 55o F , and after 5 minutes it
reads 30o F . What is the initial temperature of the inside room?

4. A small metal bar. A small metal bar, whose initial temperature was 200 C, is dropped into
a large container of boiling water. How long will it take the bar to reach 90o C if it is known
that its temperature increases 2o C in one second?. How long will it take the bar to reach 98o C
?.

5. Thermometer. A thermometer reading 70o F is placed in an oven preheated to a constant tem-

perature. Through a glass window in the oven door, an observer records that the thermometer
reads 110o F after 1/2 minute and 145o F after 1 minute. How hot is the oven?

6. Body. The rate at which a body cools also depends on its exposed surface area S. If S is a
constant, then a modification of (1) is

dT
= kS(T − Tm ) (2)
dt
where k < 0 and Tm is a constant. Suppose that two cups A and B are filled with coffee at the
same time. Initially, the temperature of the coffee is 150o F . The exposed surface area of the
coffee in cup B is twice the surface area of the coffee in cup A. After 30 min the temperature
of the coffee in cup A is 1000 F . If Tm = 70o F , then what os the temperature of the coffee in
cup B after 30 min?.

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 Series Circuits.For a series circuit containing only a resistor and an inductor, Kirchhoff’s second
di
law states that the sum of the voltage drop across the inductor L dt and the voltage drop across the
resistor iR is the same as the impressed voltage E(t) on the circuir.
Thus we obtain the linear differential equation for the current i(t),

di
L Ri = E(t) (3)
dt
where L and R are constants known as the inductance and the resistance, respectively. The current
i(t) is also called the response of the system.
The voltaje drop across a capacitor with capacitance C is given by q(t)/C, where q is the charge
on the capacitor. Kirchhoff’s second law gives
1
Ri + q = E(t) (4)
C
But current i and charge q are related by i = dq/dt, so (4) becomes the linear differential equation

dq 1
R + q = E(t) (5)
dt C

1. Series Circuits. A 30-volt electromotive force is applied to an LR − series circuit in which

the inductance is 0.1 henrys and the resistance is 50 ohms. Find the current i(t) if i(0) = 0.
Determine the current as t → ∞. Use the differential equation
di
L + R i = E(t) (6)
dt

2. Series Circuits. Solve the equation (6) under the assumption that E(t) = 200 sin(4t), i(0) =
50.

3. Series Circuits. A 100-volt electromotive force is applied to an RC − series circuit in which

the resistance is 200 ohms and the capacitance is 10−4 farad. Find the charge q(t) on the
capacitor if q(0) = 0. Find the current i(t). Use the differential equation

dq 1
R + q = E(t) (7)
dt C
where i = dq/dt

4. Series Circuits. A 200-volt electromotive force is applied to an RC − series circuit in which

the resistance is 200 ohms and capacitance is 10−4 farad. Find the charge q(t) on the capacitor
if q(0) = 0. Find the current i(t) at t = 0.1 segundo.

5. Series Circuits. The path of a binary electrical signal between gates in an integrated circuit
can be modelad as a RC circuit. The voltage source models the transmission gate and the
capacitor models the receive gate. Generally, the resistance is 100 Ω and the capacitance is very
small, say 0.01 farads and voltage source 40 sin(4t) volts. Find the charge q(t) of the capacitor,
if it is initially unloaded.

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 6. Series Circuits. An electromotive force

 120 , 0 ≤ t ≤ 20
E(t) = (8)

0 , t>0

is applied to an LR series circuit in which the inductance is 20 henries and the resistance is 2
ohms. Find the current i(t) if i(0) = 0.

7. Series Circuits. A RL circuit with a resistance of 5 Ω and an 0.05 H inductor has a current
of 1 A in t = 0, when a voltage source is E(t) = 5 cos 120t V . Find the current and voltage in
the inductor.

Terminal Velocity. We saw that the differential equation

dv
m = mg − kv
dt
where k is a positive constant and g is the acceleration due to gravity, is a model for the velocity v
of a body of mass m that is falling under the influent of gravity. Because the term −kv represents
air resistance, the velocity of a body falling from a great height does not increase without bound as
time t increases. Figure (1).
Find the speed v(t), speed limit vlimite and speed v(t1 )

1. m = 100 kg, g = 9.8 m/seg 2 , b = 5 kg/seg, v(0) = 50 m/seg, find v(3)

2. m = 40 kg, g = 9.8 m/seg 2 , b = 10 kg/seg, v(0) = 60 m/seg, find v(2)

Terminal Velocity. Suppose the model in the previous problem is modified so that air resistance
is proportional to v 2 , that is,
dv
m = mg − kv 2
dt
Find the solution to v(t).

Figura 1: Terminal velocity

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