First Order Differential Equations Applications

I have provided here a short list of applications of first order ordinary differential equations. This is in no way an exhaustive list. However, you may be
surprised to find something from your area of study here.

Bacterial Growth: If P is the population of the bacteria at time t, and k

is their growth rate, then
dP
kP = 0
dt

Radioactive Decay: If N is the number of radioactive atoms in a sample

at time t and is the decay rate ( is negative), then
dN
= N
dt

Newtons Law of Cooling: If an object is placed in an environment of

tempertature T0 , and T is the temperature of the object at time t, there is a
constant k (depending on the object) for which
dT
= k(T T0 )
dt

Simple Chemical Reactions: In a simple chemical reaction given by

A + B C, if k is a constant related to the reactiveness of the reactants,
a is the initial amount of chemical A, b is the inital amount of chemical B,
and x is the amount of C at time t, then
dx
= k(a x)(b x)
dt

Disease Spread in Isolated Community: If N is the fixed number of

people in an isolated community and x is the number of people with the
1

disease in the community, then there is a constant k, depending on how

contageous the disease is, for which
dx
= kx(N x)
dt

Falling Body With Wind Resistance: If v is the velocity of a free falling

object under the force of gravity, g is the earths gravitational constant, m
is the mass of the object, k is a constant proportional to cross sectional area
of the falling object, then
m

dv
= mg kv
dt

R-L Circuits: If an EMF of V is applied to a circuit of resistance R and

inductance L, then the current I satisfies
V =L

dI
+ RI
dt