Math 334

Assignment 4 Solutions
1. The Wronskian of three functions is dened in terms of a determinant as follows: 1 ( x ) W [1 , 2 , 3 ](x) := 1 ( x) 1 ( x) (a) Find the Wronskian of the functions 1 (x) = 1, 2 (x) = x, 3 (x) = x2 . (b) Find the Wronskian of the functions 1 (x) = ex , 2 (x) = ex , 3 (x) = cosh x. Solution (a) For the functions 1 (x) = 1, 2 (x) = x, 3 (x) = x2 we have 1 x x2 1 ( x ) 2 ( x ) 3 ( x ) W [1 , 2 , 3 ](x) = 1 (x) 2 (x) 3 (x) = 0 1 2x = 2. 0 0 2 1 ( x ) 2 ( x ) 3 ( x ) (b) For the functions 1 (x) = ex , 2 (x) = ex , 3 (x) = cosh x we have 1 ( x ) 2 ( x ) 3 ( x ) ex W [1 , 2 , 3 ](x) = 1 (x) 2 (x) 3 (x) = ex ex 1 ( x ) 2 ( x ) 3 ( x ) e x ex e x cosh x sinh x = 0. cosh x 2 ( x ) 3 ( x ) 2 ( x) 3 ( x) . 2 (x) 3 ( x)

2. Use variation of parameters to nd the general solution of (a) y + 16y = sec 4x; (b) x2 y + xy + 9y = tan(3 ln x). Solution (a) Linearly independent solutions to the homogeneous equation y + 16y = 0 are 1 (x) = cos 4x and 2 (x) = sin 4x. Using variation of parameters to look for a particular solution of the form p ( x ) = v 1 ( x ) 1 ( x ) + v 2 ( x ) 2 ( x ) leads to
v1 ( x) =

1 2 (x) sec 4x = tan 4x, W [1 , 2 ](x) 4

v2 ( x) =

1 1 (x) sec 4x = . W [1 , 2 ](x) 4

Integrating these we get v1 ( x ) = Therefore the general solution is: y (x) = c1 cos 4x + c2 sin 4x + 1 1 cos 4x ln| cos 4x| + x sin 4x . 16 4 1 ln| cos 4x|, 16 v2 ( x ) = 1 x. 4

Math 334

Assignment 4 Solutions

(b) The homogeneous equation x2 y +xy +9y = 0 is a CauchyEuler equation. One looks for solutions of the form y = xr to get a characteristic equation r (r 1) + r + 9 = 0. This equation has solution r = 3i which leads to two linearly independent solutions 1 (x) = cos(3 ln x) and 2 (x) = sin(3 ln x). Using variation of parameters to look for a particular solution of the nonhomogeneous equation of the form p ( x ) = v 1 ( x ) 1 ( x ) + v 2 ( x ) 2 ( x ) leads to
v1 ( x) =

sin(3 ln x) tan(3 ln x) 2 (x) tan(3 ln x)/x2 = , W [1 , 2 ](x) 3x

v2 ( x) =

sin(3 ln x) 1 (x) tan(3 ln x)/x2 = . W [1 , 2 ](x) 3x

Integrating these we get v1 ( x ) = sin(3 ln x) tan(3 ln x) 3 dx ( = 3 ln x, d = dx) 3x x 1 1 = sin tan d = (sec cos ) d 9 9 1 1 = (ln| sec + tan | sin ) = (ln| sec(3 ln x) + tan(3 ln x)| sin(3 ln x)) 9 9 d = 3 dx) x

v2 ( x ) =

sin(3 ln x) dx ( = 3 ln x, 3x 1 1 1 = sin d = cos = cos(3 ln x). 9 9 9

Therefore the general solution is: y (x) = c1 cos(3 ln x) + c2 sin(3 ln x) + 1 cos(3 ln x) ln| sec(3 ln x) + tan(3 ln x)| . 9

3. Use variation of parameters to show that

x

y (x) = c1 cos x + c2 sin x +

0

f (s) sin(x s) ds

is the general solution to the dierential equation y + y = f (x). Solution Linearly independent solutions to the homogeneous equation y + y = 0 are 1 (x) = cos x and 2 (x) = sin x. Using variation of parameters to look for a particular solution of the form p ( x ) = v 1 ( x ) 1 ( x ) + v 2 ( x ) 2 ( x ) leads to
v1 ( x) =

2 (x)f (x) = f (x) sin x, W [1 , 2 ](x)

x

v2 ( x) =

1 ( x ) f ( x ) = f (x) cos x. W [1 , 2 ](x)

x

Integrating these we get v1 ( x ) =

0

f (s) sin s ds,

v2 ( x ) =
0

f (s) cos s ds.

Math 334

Assignment 4 Solutions

A particular solution is
x x

p (x) = v1 (x)1(x) + v2 (x)2 (x) = cos x

0 x

f (s) sin s ds + sin x

0 x

f (s) cos s ds

=
0

f (s)(sin x cos s cos x sin s) ds =

0

f (s) sin(x s) ds.

Therefore the general solution is:

x

y (x) = c1 cos x + c2 sin x +

0

f (s) sin(x s) ds .

4. Determine the motion for an undamped system at resonance governed by d2 x + 9x = 2 cos 3t, dt2 x(0) = 1, dx (0) = 0, dt

Solution Linearly independent solutions to the homogeneous equation are 1 (t) = cos 3t and 2 (t) = sin 3t. Since the nonhomogeneous term is also a solution to the homogeneous equation, we look for a particular solution of the form p (t) = a1 t cos 3t + a2 t sin 3t. Plugging into the equation yields: 6(a2 cos 3t a1 sin 3t) = 2 cos 3t, The general solution to the equation is: 1 x(t) = c1 cos 3t + c2 sin 3t + t sin 3t. 3 Apply the initial conditions: x(0) = 1, x (0) = 0, = c1 = 1 , c2 = 0 . from which we get a1 = 0, a2 = 1 . 3

1 The nal solution is: x(t) = cos 3t + t sin 3t . 3

x
7.5 5 2.5 5 -2.5 -5 -7.5 10 15 20 25

x(t) = cos 3t +

1 3

t sin 3t

5. Consider the following homogeneous boundary value problem on the interval (0, 1) with homogeneous boundary conditions: y + 2 y = 0, y (0) = 0, y (1) = 0.

Math 334

Assignment 4 Solutions

The dierence between initial value problems (IVPs) and boundary value problems (BVPs) is that the auxiliary conditions for IVPs are applied at one point only, whereas the auxiliary conditions for BVPs are applied at more than one point. While we have a theorem that guarantees that there is one and only one solution for an IVP, the situation for BVPs is quite dierent. The trivial solution y 0 is always a solution to a homogeneous BVP, but there may be other solutions. In fact, there may be innitely many solutions. Determine all the values of for which the above BVP has at least one nontrivial solution. Solution Linearly independent solutions to the homogeneous equation are 1 (x) = cos x and 2 (x) = sin x. The general solution to the equation is: y (x) = c1 cos x + c2 sin x. Next we apply the boundary conditions: y (0) = 0 y (1) = 0 The solution is y ( x) = 0 c2 sin nx if = n, if = n, n = 1, 2, 3, . . . , n = 1, 2, 3, . . . . = c1 cos 0 + c2 sin 0 = 0 c1 cos + c2 sin = 0 = c1 = 0 c2 = 0 or sin = 0 .

Hence, if is an integer multiple of , the BVP has innitely many solutions. 6. Suppose 1 (x) and 2 (x) are linearly independent solutions of y + P (x)y + Q(x)y = 0. Suppose further that 1 (x) has at least two zeros. Show that 2 (x) has one and only one zero between consecutive zeros of 1 (x). Solution Let 1 (x) and 2 (x) be linearly independent solutions of y + P (x)y + Q(x)y = 0 on some interval (a, b) on which P (x) and Q(x) are continuous. Assume that 1 has consecutive zeros at , (a, b), where < , i.e. 1 () = 1 ( ) = 0 and 1 (x) = 0 for all x (, ) (a, b). (1)

We wish to show that 2 has one and only one zero in the interval (, ). To do this we rst show that there is at least one zero in this interval, then show that there is at most one zero in the interval. (At least one zero) Since 1 (x) and 2 (x) are linearly independent solutions, it follows from theorems given in class that W [1 , 2 ](x) = 0 for any x (a, b). (2) This means that the Wronskian is either strictly positive or strictly negative in the interval (a, b). Evaluating the Wronskian at the zeros of 1 yields
W [1 , 2 ]() = 1 () 2 () 1 ()2 () = 1 ()2 (), W [1 , 2 ]( ) = 1 ( ) 2 ( ) 1 ( )2 ( ) = 1 ( )2 ( ). Equation (2) implies that 1 () = 0 and 1 ( ) = 0. On the other hand, Equation (1) implies that 1 (x) is either strictly positive or strictly negative in the interval (, ). Therefore 1 () and ( ) must be of opposite sign. Combine this fact with the fact that W [ , ]( ) and 1 2 1 W [1 , 2 ]( ) are of the same sign and we conclude that 2 () and 2 ( ) must be of opposite sign. Since 2 is positive at one end of the interval (, ) and negative at the other end, the Intermediate Value Theorem from elementary calculus implies that 2 is zero somewhere between and . Hence, 2 has at least one zero in (, ).

Math 334

Assignment 4 Solutions

(At most one zero) Suppose 2 has two zeros in (, ). Then, employing an argument similar to the one used above, 1 would have at least one zero in (, ) between the zeros of 2 . But this contradicts the above stipulation that and are consecutive zeros of 1 . Hence, 2 cannot have two zeros but can only have at most one zero in (, ).