5 Week 5

5.1 Applications of Separable Dierential Equations

5.1.1 Radioactive Decay Problem
If m(t) is the mass of a radioactive substance remaining after time t, it has been found experimentally
dm
to satisfy = km, where k < 0. The rate of decay can be determined by the half-life of the
dt
substance, which is the amount of time it takes for any given amount to decay to half its size. As we
have already seen, the solution to this dierential equation is m(t) = m0 ekt , where m0 is the initial
amount.

Example
The half-life of 14 C is 5730 years. Carbon 14 is an unstable element in the atmosphere that is
ingested by plants and animals. When an organism dies, 14 C starts to decay to 12 C. Suppose a piece
of parchment is found and has 90% the 14 C content compared with paper today. What is the age of
the artifact?

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5.1.2 Newtons Law of Cooling/Warming
The rate of cooling of an object is proportional to the temperature dierence between the object
and its surroundings. If we let T (t) be the temperature of the object at time t and let Ts be the
temperature of the surroundings (a constant). Then we have

dT
= k(T Ts )
dt
Note that k > 0 if the object is warming up in its particular surroundings and if k < 0, the object is
cooling.

Example
A bottle of pop at room temperature of 72 F is placed in a fridge where the temperature is 44 F.
After half an hour, the pop has cooled to 61 F. What is the temperature of the pop after another
half hour and how long will it take for it to cool to 50 F?

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5.1.3 Mixing Problems
A tank of fixed capacity (or volume) contains a mixed solution of solute and solvent. The solute may
be salt and solvent water, for example. Solution of some concentration (kg/L) enters the tank at a
given rate (L/s) and exits at some concentration and rate. We would like to determine the amount
of solute in the tank at any given time. If we let s(t) be the amount of solvent in the tank at time t,
ds
then is the rate of change of solute in the tank (kg/s)
dt
ds
= Rate of solute in Rate of solute out
dt
We can calculate the rate of solute (kg/s) by multiplying the concentration (kg/L) and rate (L/s) of
solution.

Example
A tank contains 20 kg of salt dissolved in 5000 L of water. Brine that contains 0.03kg of salt per
litter of water enters the tank at a rate of 25L/min. The solution is mixed and drains from the tank
at the same rate. How much salt is in the tank after half an hour?

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5.2 Logistic Model
In section 9.4 of the textbook do exercises 3, 5, 7, 15, 16, 19, 21a

dP
The equation = kP is a simple model for population growth. In reality, due to limited
dt
resources and environmental conditions, the population levels o eventually rather than continu-
ing to increase exponentially forever. If we let M denote the carrying capacity of a population
(determined experimentally), then a more realistic model is the Logistic Model

dP P
= kP 1
dt M
Notes:
P dP
If P << M , ! 0, so = kP .
M dt
dP
As P ! M , ! 0.
dt
dP
If P > M , < 0 and P ! M + .
dt
We will now find the solution P (t) to the (separable) logistic equation by first rewriting it as:
Z Z
1
dP = kdt
P
P 1
M

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5.3 Linear Equations
In section 9.5 of the textbook do exercises 8, 9, 13, 15, 19, 31, 33, 38

Another dierential equation that we have a method for solving is of the form
dy
+ P (x)y = Q(x) (1)
dx
We can solve equations of this form by multiplying both sides by a function of x, called the Inte-
grating Factor, I(x).

I(x)y 0 + I(x)P (x)y = I(x)Q(x)

If we could choose this integrating factor I(x) so that I 0 (x) = I(x)P (x), then the left side of the
above equation is simply the result of the Product Rule applies to I(x)y. Then

[I(x)y]0 = I(x)Q(x)
Z Z
0
[I(x)y] dx = I(x)Q(x)dx
Z
I(x)y = I(x)Q(x)dx + C
Z
1
y= I(x)Q(x) + C
I(x)

So to make this work, we need to find I(x) so that I 0 (x) = I(x)P (x). But this is a separable d.e!

dI
= I(x)P (x)
dx
dI
= P (x)dx
Z I Z
dI
= P (x)dx
I
Z
ln |I(x)| = P (x)dx
R
|I(x)| = e P (x)dx
R
I(x) = e P (x)dx

It looks like there are many integrating factors that work that are all equivalent up to a constant
multiple. Since we end up multiplying both sides of Rthe linear equation by I(x), we can choose any
one we like. For simplicity, we often choose I(x) = e P (x)dx , with 0 as the constant of integration.

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Example
dy
Solve + 3x2 y = 6x2 .
dx

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