Math 331.

5: Homework 1
Solutions
1. y

= 3 2y
(i)
-10 -7.5 -5 -2.5 0 2.5 5 7.5 10
-5
-2.5
2.5
5
Figure 1
(ii)
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
-3
-2
-1
1
2
3
Figure 2
(iii) For y < 3/2,
dy
dt
> 0, so solutions with initial value y(0) < 3/2 increase and converge to
the equilibrium y = 3/2 as t . For y > 3/2,
dy
dt
< 0, so solutions with initial value
y(0) > 3/2 decrease and converge to the equilibrium as t .
(iv)
y

= 0 3 2y = 0 y = 3/2
So, the only equilibrium solution is y(t) = 3/2. Since all solutions converge to y = 3/2, it
is a stable equilibrium.
2
2. y

= 2y 3
(i)
-10 -7.5 -5 -2.5 0 2.5 5 7.5 10
-5
-2.5
2.5
5
Figure 3
(ii)
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
-3
-2
-1
1
2
3
Figure 4
(iii) For y < 3/2,
dy
dt
< 0, so solutions with initial value y(0) < 3/2 decrease and diverge from
the equilibrium y = 3/2 as t . For y > 3/2,
dy
dt
> 0, so solutions with initial value
y(0) > 3/2 increase and diverge from the equilibrium as t .
(iv)
y

= 0 2y 3 = 0 y = 3/2
So, the only equilibrium solution is y(t) = 3/2. Since all solutions diverge y = 3/2, it is an
unstable equilibrium.
3
3. y

= (y 1)(y + 1)
(i)
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
-3
-2
-1
1
2
3
Figure 5
(ii)
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
-3
-2
-1
1
2
3
Figure 6
(iii) For y < 1 and y > 1,
dy
dt
> 0. For 1 < y < 1,
dy
dt
< 0. Thus, we see that solutions
with initial value y(0) < 1 increase toward the equilibrium y = 1 as t . Solutions
with initial values 1 < y(0) < 1 are decreasing, hence they diverge from the equilibrium
y = 1 and converge to the equilibrium y = 1. Solutions with initial value y(0) > 1 are
increasing and so they diverge from the equilibrium y = 1.
(iv)
y

= 0 (y 1)(y + 1) = 0 y = 1
So, there are two equilibrium solutions, y(t) = 1 and y(t) = 1. Since all nearby solutions
diverge from y = 1, it is an unstable equilibrium. All nearby solutions converge to y = 1,
so it is a stable equilibrium.
4
4. y

= y
2
(i)
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
-3
-2
-1
1
2
3
Figure 7
(ii)
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
-3
-2
-1
1
2
3
Figure 8
(iii) For y < 0 and y > 0,
dy
dt
> 0. Thus, all solutions other than the equiilbrium are increasing.
Then if the initial value y(0) < 0, the solution will converge to y = 0 and if y(0) > 0, the
solution will diverge from the equiiibrium.
(iv)
y

= 0 y
2
= 0 y = 0
Then the only equilibrium solution is y(t) = 0. Since solutions with initial conditions
greater than 0 diverge from y = 0, it is an unstable equilibrium.
5
5. Write down a dierential equation of the form
dy
dt
= ay + b whose solutions have the required
behavior as t .
(i) All solutions approach the equilibrium solution y = 3.
(ii)
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
-12
-8
-4
4
8
12
Figure 9.
dy
dt
= 3 y
(iii) All solutions other than the equilibrium solution y = 2 diverge from y = 2.
(iv)
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
-3
-2
-1
1
2
3
Figure 10.
dy
dt
= y 2
6
6. The population dynamics of rabbits in a certain habitat is described by the dierential equation
dP
dt
= P 500
where P(t) denotes the rabbit population at time t (measured in months), and 500 is the number
of rabbits killed by predators each month.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
250
500
Figure 11.
dP
dt
= P 500
(i) For which initial value of P does the rabbit population stay constant over time?
dP
dt
= 0 P 500 = 0 P = 500
The rabbit population stays constant if the initial population is 500.
(ii) For which initial populations do the rabbits die out?
The rabbits die out if P(0) < 500.
(iii) For which initial populations do the rabbits reproduce faster than their predators can eat
them? What does this model predict will happen to the rabbit population in this case?
The model predicts that the rabbit population grows exponentially if P(0) > 500.
7. A pond initially contains 1,000,000 gallons of water and an unknown amount of an undesirable
chemical. Water containing 0.01 grams/gallon of this chemical ows into the pond at a rate of 300
gallons/hour. The mixture ows out at the same rate, so the amount of water in the pond remains
constant. Assume that the chemical is always uniformly distributed throughout the pond.
(i) Write a dierential equation for the amount of chemical in the pond at any time.
Let t = time, measured in hours and x = x(t) be the amount of chemical (in grams) in
the pond at any time. Then
dx
dt
is the rate of change (in grams/hour) of the amount of
chemical in the pond.
The net ow into the pond is 0.01 grams/gallon 300 gallons/hour = 3 grams/hour.
7
The net ow out of the pond is x/1000000 grams/gallon 300 gallons/hour = 3x/10000 grams/hour.
All in all,
dx
dt
= 3
3x
10000
(ii) How much of the chemical will be in the pond after a very long time (as t )? Does
this limiting amount depend on the amount that was present initially?
As t , all solutions converge to the equilibrium x = 10000. Thus, after a long time,
there will be approximately 10000 grams of the chemical in the pond, independent of the
initial amount.
8. Newtons law of cooling states that the temperature of an object changes at a rate proportional to
the dierence between the temperature of the object itself and the temperature of its surroundings
(the ambient air in most cases). Suppose that the ambient temperature is 70

F and that the rate

constant is 0.05/min. Write a dierential equation for the temperature of the object at any time.
What happens to the temperature as time passes?
Let T be the temperature of the object in

F and t be time in minutes. Then
dT
dt
= 0.05(70 T)
As time passes, the temperature of the object approaches the ambient temperature, 70

F.
9. In class we derived the dierential equation
(1) m
dv
dt
= mg v
for the velocity of a falling object by assuming that the drag force is proportional to the velocity.
For small, slowing falling objects, this assumption is a good one. For larger, more rapidly falling
objects, it is more accurate to assume that the drag force is proportional to the square of the
velocity.
(i) Write a dierential equation for the velocity of a falling object of mass m if the drag force
is proportional to the square of the velocity.
We start with Newtons second law, Net Force = mass acceleration or F = m
dv
dt
. The
force due to gravity, F
g
, remains unchanged: F
g
= mg. Assuming the drag force, F
d
, is
proportional to the square of the velocity, we have F
d
= v
2
where is the drag coecient.
Since gravity acts on the object in the downwards, positive, direction and the drag force
acts in the upward, negative, direction, we have
m
dv
dt
= mg v
2
or
dv
dt
= g

m
v
2
8
(ii) Determine the limiting velocity as t .
We will look at the direction eld. First determine if there are any equilibrium solutions.
dv
dt
= 0 implies
g

m
v
2
= 0
v
2
=
gm

v =

gm

-75 -50 -25 0 25 50 75

-50
-25
25
50
Figure 12.
dv
dt
= 9.8
2
245
v
2
So, there are two equilibrium solutions, v =

gm

. For v <

gm

and v >

gm

,
dv
dt
< 0 and for

gm

< v <

gm

,
dv
dt
> 0. So, for solutions with initial conditions
v(0) 0, the limiting velocity is

gm

(see Figure 13 below).

(iii) If m = 10 kg, nd the drag coecient so that the limiting velocity is 49 m/s.
From part ii, the limiting velocity is v =

gm

. Setting g = 9.8, m = 10 and v = 49, we

have
49 =

9.8(10)

or
=
2
49
9
(iv) Using the data in part (iii), draw a direction eld for the dierential equation and compare
it to the direction eld we drew in class for the dierential equation (1).
0 25 50 75 100 125 150
25
50
75
100
Figure 13.
dv
dt
= 9.8
2
490
v
2
0 25 50 75 100 125 150
25
50
75
100
Figure 14.
dv
dt
= 9.8
1
5
v