MATH 4512: Midterm 2Sample

1. Solve the following second order differential equations with constant coefficients:
a) y 00 4y 0 5y = 0;
b) 4y 00 12y 0 + 25 = 0;
c) 9y 00 + 6y 0 + y = 0.
Solution. In all these problems we need to solve the associated characteristic
equation.
a) The characteristic equation is k 2 4k 5 = 0 has solutions k1 = 1 and
k2 = 5. The general solution is y(t) = c1 et + c2 e5t .
b) The characteristic equation is 4k 2 12k + 25 = 0 has solutions k1 = 23 + 2i
3
and k2 = 32 2i. The general solution is y(t) = e 2 t [c1 cos (2t) + c2 sin (2t)].
c) The characteristic equation is 9k 2 + 6k + 1 = 0 has the solution k = 13 . The
1
general solution is y(t) = (c1 + c2 t)e 3 t .
2

2. Show that y0 (t) = et 1 cannot be a solution on an interval containing t = 0

of an equation y 00 + p(t)y 0 + q(t)y = 0, with continuous p and q. Explain your
answer.
Solution. First, we note that y0 (0) = y00 (0) = 0. Assume that y0 is a solution on
an interval containing t = 0 of the equation y 00 + p(t)y 0 + q(t)y = 0. Thus, y0 is
a solution of the initial value problem
00
y + p(t)y 0 + q(t)y = 0
y(0) = 0
(1)
0
y (0) = 0.
However, one can check that y = 0 is also a solution of the initial value problem
(1). Thus, (1) has two different solutions, which is a contradiction.
3. Use the method of undetermined coefficients to find a solution of the equation
y 00 + 4y = t sin (2t).
Solution. First, we solve the associated homogeneous equation y 00 + 4y = 0. The
characteristic equation is k 2 + 4 = 0, which has solutions k1 = 2i and k2 = 2i.
Thus the solution of the homogeneous equation is
y(t) = c1 cos (2t) + c2 sin (2t).

(2)

Next, we look for solutions of the nonhomogeneous equation of the form

Y (t) = t(At + B) sin (2t) + t(Ct + D) cos (2t).
The second derivative of Y is




Y 00 (t) = A 2 sin (2t) + 8t cos (2t) 4t2 sin (2t) + B 4 cos (2t) 4t sin (2t)




+ C 2 cos (2t) 8t sin (2t) 4t2 cos (2t) D 4 sin (2t) + 4t cos (2t) .
Plugging in the nonhomogeneous equation we obtain that
(2A 4D) sin (2t) + (4B + 2C) cos (2t) 8Ct sin (2t) + 8A cos (2t) = t sin (2t).
Thus,

2A 4D = 0

4B + 2C = 0
8C = 1

8A = 0.

The solution of this linear system is A = 0, B =

general solution of the nonhomogeneous equation is
y(t) = c1 cos (2t) + c2 sin (2t) +

1
,
16

C = 18 , D = 0. The

1
1
t sin (2t) t2 cos (2t).
16
8

4. Consider the equations

x2 y 00 3xy 0 + 4y = x2 ln x;

(3)

x2 y 00 3xy 0 + 4y = 0.

(4)

a) Given that y1 (x) = x2 is a solution use the reduction of order method to solve
equation (4).
b) Using a), use the method of variation of parameters to solve equation (3).
Solution.
a) We make the substitution y = x2 v. Equation (4) becomes


x2 2v + 4xv 0 + x2 v 00 3x(2xv + x2 v 0 ) + 4x2 v = 0.

After we simplify this equation we obtain the equation in v

1
v 00 = v 0 .
x
Thus, v 0 = c1 x1 , which implies that v = c1 ln x + c2 . The general form of equation
(4) is
y = c1 x2 ln x + c2 x2 .
b) Let y2 (x) = x2 ln x. The Wronskian of y1 and y2 , denoted W (x) is
W (x) = y1 (x)y20 (x) y10 (x)y2 (x) = x.
Equation (3) is equivalent to
y 00 3x1 y 0 + 4x2 y = ln x.
We look for solutions of equation (3) of the form Y (x) = u1 (x)x2 + u2 (x)x2 ln x,
where u1 and u2 satisfy the equations
u01 (x) =

y2 (x)g(x)
W (x)

u02 (x) =

y1 (x)g(x)
.
W (x)

Here g(x) = ln x. Thus,

Z
u1 (x) =

x ln2 xdx =

x2
(2 ln2 x 2 ln x + 1);
4

Z
u2 (x) =

x ln xdx =

x2
(2 ln x 1).
4

It follows that
Y (x) =

x2
x2
x4
(2 ln2 x 2 ln x + 1)x2 + (2 ln x 1)x2 ln x = (ln x 1).
4
4
4

The general form of solutions of equation (3) is

y(x) = c1 x2 ln x + c2 x2 +

x4
(ln x 1).
4

5. Solve the differential equation

y (4) 5y 000 + 7y 00 3y 0 = 0.

Solution. The characteristic equation is k 4 5k 3 + 7k 2 3k = 0, which is

equivalent to
k(k 1)2 (k 3) = 0.
The general form of solution of the differential equation is
y(t) = c1 + (c2 + c3 t)et + c4 e3t .