17.7: Second Order Linear Equations II
( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)
The method of the last section works only when the function f(t) in a¨y+b˙y+cy=f(t) has a particularly nice form, namely, when the derivatives of f look much like f itself. In other cases we can try variation of parameters as we did in the first order case.
Since as before a≠0, we can always divide by a to make the coefficient of ¨y equal to 1. Thus, to simplify the discussion, we assume a=1. We know that the differential equation ¨y+b˙y+cy=0 has a general solution Ay1+By2. As before, we guess a particular solution to ¨y+b˙y+cy=f(t); this time we use the guess y=u(t)y1+v(t)y2. Compute the derivatives:
˙y=˙uy1+u˙y1+˙vy2+v˙y2¨y=¨uy1+˙u˙y1+˙u˙y1+u¨y1+¨vy2+˙v˙y2+˙v˙y2+v¨y2.
Now substituting:
¨y+b˙y+cy=¨uy1+˙u˙y1+˙u˙y1+u¨y1+¨vy2+˙v˙y2+˙v˙y2+v¨y2+b˙uy1+bu˙y1+b˙vy2+bv˙y2+cuy1+cvy2=(u¨y1+bu˙y1+cuy1)+(v¨y2+bv˙y2+cvy2)+b(˙uy1+˙vy2)+(¨uy1+˙u˙y1+¨vy2+˙v˙y2)+(˙u˙y1+˙v˙y2)=0+0+b(˙uy1+˙vy2)+(¨uy1+˙u˙y1+¨vy2+˙v˙y2)+(˙u˙y1+˙v˙y2).
The first two terms in parentheses are zero because y1 and y2 are solutions to the associated homogeneous equation. Now we engage in some wishful thinking. If ˙uy1+˙vy2=0 then also
¨uy1+˙u˙y1+¨vy2+˙v˙y2=0,
by taking derivatives of both sides. This reduces the entire expression to ˙u˙y1+˙v˙y2. We want this to be f(t), that is, we need ˙u˙y1+˙v˙y2=f(t). So we would very much like these equations to be true:
˙uy1+˙vy2=0˙u˙y1+˙v˙y2=f(t).
This is a system of two equations in the two unknowns ˙u and ˙v, so we can solve as usual to get ˙u=g(t) and ˙v=h(t).
Then we can find u and v by computing antiderivatives. This is of course the sticking point in the whole plan, since the antiderivatives may be impossible to find. Nevertheless, this sometimes works out and is worth a try.
Consider the equation ¨y−5˙y+6y=sint.
Solution
We can solve this by the method of undetermined coefficients, but we will use variation of parameters. The solution to the homogeneous equation is Ae2t+Be3t, so the simultaneous equations to be solved are
˙ue2t+˙ve3t=02˙ue2t+3˙ve3t=sint.
If we multiply the first equation by 2 and subtract it from the second equation we get
˙ve3t=sint˙v=e−3tsintv=−110(3sint+cost)e−3t,
using integration by parts. Then from the first equation:
˙u=−e−2t˙ve3t=−e−2te−3tsin(t)e3t=−e−2tsintu=15(2sint+cost)e−2t.
Now the particular solution we seek is
ue2t+ve3t=15(2sint+cost)e−2te2t−110(3sint+cost)e−3te3t=15(2sint+cost)−110(3sint+cost)=110(sint+cost),
and the solution to the differential equation is
Ae2t+Be3t+(sint+cost)/10.
For comparison (and practice) you might want to solve this using the method of undetermined coefficients.
The differential equation ¨y−5˙y+6y=etsint can be solved using the method of undetermined coefficients, though we have not seen any examples of such a solution.
Solution
Again, we will solve it by variation of parameters. The equations to be solved are
˙ue2t+˙ve3t=02˙ue2t+3˙ve3t=etsint.
If we multiply the first equation by 2 and subtract it from the second equation we get
˙ve3t=etsint˙v=e−3tetsint=e−2tsintv=−15(2sint+cost)e−2t.
Then substituting we get
˙u=−e−2t˙ve3t=−e−2te−2tsin(t)e3t=−e−tsintu=12(sint+cost)e−t.
The particular solution is
ue2t+ve3t=12(sint+cost)e−te2t−15(2sint+cost)e−2te3t=12(sint+cost)et−15(2sint+cost)et=110(sint+3cost)et,
and the solution to the differential equation is
Ae2t+Be3t+et(sint+3cost)/10.
The differential equation ¨y−2˙y+y=et/t2 is not of the form amenable to the method of undetermined coefficients. The solution to the homogeneous equation is Aet+Btet and so the simultaneous equations are
˙uet+˙vtet=0˙uet+˙vtet+˙vet=ett2.
Subtracting the equations gives
˙vet=ett2˙v=1t2v=−1t.
Then substituting we get
˙uet=−˙vtet=−1t2tet˙u=−1tu=−lnt.
The solution is Aet+Btet−etlnt−et.
Contributors
Integrated by Justin Marshall.