Differential Equations Project 1

Vivek Kaushik
September 18, 2017

1 Problem
Just before midday the body of an apparent homicide victim is found in a room
that is kept at a constant temperature of 70 F. At 12 noon the temperature
of the body is 80 F and at 1 PM it is 75 F. Assume that the temperature of
the body at the time of death was 98.6 F and that it has cooled in accord with
Newtons law. What was the time of death ?

2 Solution
2.1 Definitions and Goal
We need to first define our main function B(t), which represents the the tem-
perature of the body since 12 noon. Here, B(t) is in degrees Fahrenheit, and
t is in hours. The ultimate goal is to find time t0 that makes B(t0 ) = 98.6.
This t0 represents the time the body died, and we know from the problem the
temperature at this unknown time was 98.6 F.

2.2 Problem Information

The temperature of the body at 12 noon is 80 F, which implies the initial
condition B(0) = 80. The temperature of the body at 1 PM is 75 F, which
implies the initial condition B(1) = 75.

2.3 Differential Equation

We first recall, Newtons Law of Cooling: the rate of change of the temperature
of an object is proportional to the difference between its own temperature and
the ambient temperature. Based on our definition, the rate of change of the
temperature of the body is modeled by B 0 (t). The ambient temperature is the
room temperature, which is 70 F. Thus, we have the differential equation

B 0 (t) = k(B(t) 70), B(0) = 80, (1)

for some constant k. There is a minus sign on the right hand side of this equation
because the temperature is cooling according to the problems premise.
Letting B stand for B(t), we recognize (1) is separable; the right hand side
of (1) can be written as a product of f (B) and g(t), where f (B) = B(t) 70,

1
and g(t) = k. Dividing both sides of (1) by B 70, we see

B0
= k. (2)
B 70

Writing B 0 = dB
dt and multiplying both sides of (2) by dt, we have
dB
= k dt. (3)
B 70
Then integrating both sides of (3), we have
Z Z
dB
= k dt. (4)
B 70
The indefinite integral on the right hand side of (4) is kt + C for some
C R. On the other hand, the indefinite integral on the left hand side of (4) is
ln(|B 70|). Thus, we have

ln(|B 70|) = kt + C. (5)

Exponentiating both sides of (5), and solving for B, we have

B(t) = 70 + ekt+C
= 70 + Dekt , (6)

for some constant D R. Using the initial condition, B(0) = 80 from (1), we
can solve for D. We have

B(0) = 70 + D = 80,
which implies D = 10. Thus, our specific solution is

B(t) = 70 + 10ekt . (7)

Now, using the initial condition B(1) = 75, we can solve for k. We see

B(1) = 70 + 10ek = 75.

Solving for k, we have

   
5 1
k = ln = ln = ln(2).
10 2

We now can tackle our ultimate goal: finding t0 such that B(t0 ) = 98.6. We
need to solve
B(t0 ) = 70 + 80e ln(2)t0 = 98.6.
Solving for t0 , we have
98.670


ln 10
t0 = 1.51602 hours.
ln(2)

2
2.4 Answer
The problem asks for the approximate time of death, so t0 corresponds to ap-
proximately 1 and a half hours before noon. Thus, we have that the time death
was approximately 10:30 AM.
This answer makes sense because t0 is negative, and if t0 were positive, the
body temperature would have increased over time since noon, contradicting
Newtons law.