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Mathematics LibreTexts

17.7: Second Order Linear Equations II

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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 a0, 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.

Example 17.7.1

Consider the equation ¨y5˙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=e3tsintv=110(3sint+cost)e3t,

using integration by parts. Then from the first equation:

˙u=e2t˙ve3t=e2te3tsin(t)e3t=e2tsintu=15(2sint+cost)e2t.

Now the particular solution we seek is

ue2t+ve3t=15(2sint+cost)e2te2t110(3sint+cost)e3te3t=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.

Example 17.7.2:

The differential equation ¨y5˙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=e3tetsint=e2tsintv=15(2sint+cost)e2t.

Then substituting we get

˙u=e2t˙ve3t=e2te2tsin(t)e3t=etsintu=12(sint+cost)et.

The particular solution is

ue2t+ve3t=12(sint+cost)ete2t15(2sint+cost)e2te3t=12(sint+cost)et15(2sint+cost)et=110(sint+3cost)et,

and the solution to the differential equation is

Ae2t+Be3t+et(sint+3cost)/10.

Example 17.7.3:

The differential equation ¨y2˙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+Btetetlntet.

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This page titled 17.7: Second Order Linear Equations II is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by David Guichard via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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