Test #2: Retake Method of Undetermined Coefficients — Solutions

Math 313 – Differential Equations & Linear Algebra

Dr. Peratt
December 6, 2019

Directions: Carefully complete the problems. Remember to show your work so that I can give
partial credit where justified. Remember that your goal is always to convince me that you
know what is going on.

1. Find the final solution to the following initial value problem (using the Method of Undeter-
mined Coefficients to find the particular solution):

x′′ + 7x′ + 10x = 3t2 , x(0) = 1, x′ (0) = 4.

Answer:
Step 1: xc : We solve x′′ + 7x′ + 10x = 0 by guessing x = ert and determining that
r = −2, −5. Hence, the complementary solution is xc = Ae−2t + Be−5t .
Step 2: xp : To accommodate the ongoing energy input, we guess a solution of the
form xp = at2 + bt + c. Substituting this into the left side of the differential
equation yields 10a·t2 +(14a+10b)·t+(2a+7b+10c). Since this must be equal
to 3t2 + 0t + 0, we see that 10a = 0, 14a + 10b = 0, and 2a + 7b + 10c = 0.
3
Hence, a = 10 , b = − 21
50
, and c = 117
500
. The particular solution is therefore
3 2 21 117
xp = 10 t − 50 t + 500 .
3 2
Step 3: xg : We see that xg = xc + xp = Ae−2t + Be−5t + 10 t − 21 50
t + 117
500
.
Step 4: xf : To obtain the final solution to the initial value problem, we invoke
the initial conditions on xg to obtain 1 = a + b + 117
500
and 4 = −2a − 5b − 50 21
.
11 248
Solving this system of equations yields A = 4 and B = − 125 . Hence, the final
solution is:

11 −2t 248 −5t 3 21 117

x(t) = e − e + t2 − t +
4 125 10 50 500
2. For each of the following cases, the roots of the characteristic equation for a higher order,
linear DE with constant coefficients and forcing function f (t) are given. Determine the form
of the general solution to the DE.
(a) f (t) = e−2t ; r = ±3i, −2
Answer: We see that xc = A sin 3t + B cos 3t + Ce−2t . Our initial guess for
xp = ae−2t . However, since this is already part of xc , we must refine our guess
to xp = ate−2t . The general solution is therefore of the form

xg = A sin 3t + B cos 3t + Ce−2t + ate−2t .

(b) f (t) = 5 sin(7t); r = −2 ± 7i

Answer: We see that xc = Ae−2t cos(7t) + Be−2t sin(7t). Our initial guess for
xp = a sin(7t)+b cos(7t). Since this is not a repeat of any part of the complemen-
tary solutions, xc , we leave it as it. The general solution is therefore of the form
xg = Ae−2t cos(7t) + Be−2t sin(7t) + a sin(7t) + b cos(7t) .