University of the Philippines

Department of Chemical Engineering

ChE 106
Application: First Order Differential Equation
I. Growth/Decay Problems
1. (Logistic Equation) Find the population P (t) if the birth rate is proportional to
P (t) and the death rate is proportional to the square of P (t).
2. (Radioactive Decay) A radioactive substance A decays into B, which then further
decays to C.
a. If the decay constants of A and B are respectively k1 and k2 , and the initial
amounts are respectively A0 and B0 , set up an ODE for determining B(t), the
amount of B at time t and solve it. (Assume k1 6= k2 ).
b. Assume k1 = 1 and k2 = 2. Tell when B(t) reaches a maximum.
3. (Van de Vusse Reaction) Species A undergoes a Van de Vusse reaction in an
isothermal, constant volume CSTR.
k

1
2
B
C
A

k3

D
2A

The entering stream has a volumetric flow rate of Fi and concentration CAf . The
exit stream has a volumetric flow rate of F and concentration CA .
Given: k1 = 5/6 min1 , k2 = 5/3 min1 , k3 = 1/6 L mol1 min1 , F/V =
4/7 min1
Initially the reactor contains 3 mol/L of A and 1.117 mol/L of B.
a. Derive the dynamic model for CA and CB .
b. What are the new steady-state values of CA and CB if CAf = 5 mol/L?
II. Newtons Law of Cooling/Heating
1. (Heat Transfer) At time t = 0, a pot of boiling water is removed from the stove.
After five minutes, the water temperature is 80 C. If the room temperature is 20 C,
when will the water have cooled to 60 C?
2. (Time of Death) A dead body was found within a closed room of a house where
the temperature was a constant 70 F . At the time of discovery the core temperature
of the body was determined to be 85 F . One hour later a second measurement
showed that the core temperature of the body was 80 F . Assume that the time of
death corresponds to t = 0 and that the core temperature at that time was 98.6 F .
Determine how may hours elapsed before the body was found.
III. Mixing Problems (Transient Material Balance)
1. (Mixing) A container holds V liters of salt solution. At time t = 0, the salt concentration is c0 g/liter. Salt solution having concentration c1 is added at the rate of
k liters/min, with instantaneous mixing, and the resulting mixture flows out of the
container at the same rate. How does the salt concentration in the tank vary with
time?
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a. Solve the problem assuming that it is pure water that is being added. (Lump
the constants by setting a = k/V ).
b. Solve the problem assuming that c1 is decreasing exponentially with time:
c1 = c0 et ,

>0

Assume a 6= and determine c(t) by solving the IVP.

2. (Leaking Tank) A tall, cylindrical tank is being filled, from an initially empty
state, by a constant inflow of q liters/sec of liquid. The flat bottom has corroded
and sustains a leak through a small hole of area A0 . If the cross-sectional area of the
tank is denoted by A, and time-varying height of liquid is h(t), then:
a. Find the dynamic relationship p
describing tank height, if the volumetric leak rate
obeys Torricellis law, q0 = A0 2gh(t) (g is gravitational acceleration).

b. Define x = h, separate variables and deduce the implicit solution for h:

 

 s

q
A
qA
h

ln
2
t=
2
A
2g
A0 g
q A0 2gh
0
3. (Leaking Tank II) Determine the time it takes to completely drain a spherical tank
of radius 18 feet if it is initially full of water and the water drains through a circular
hole of radius 3 inches located at the bottomp
of the tank. Assume that the volumetric
drain rate obeys Torricellis law, q0 = 0.8A0 2gh(t) (g is gravitational acceleration,
A0 is the area of the drain hole, and h is the time varying water depth).
IV. Mechanics
1. A mass m falls through air under gravity. Find its velocity v(t) and its terminal
velocity (that is, lim v(t)) assuming that
t

a. air resistance is kv (k constant)

b. air resistance is kv 2
Call the gravitational
constant g. In part (b), lump the constants by introducing a
p
parameter a = gm/k.
2. A box of mass m slides down an inclined plane that makes an angle with the
horizontal as shown in Fig. 1.
a. Find a differential equation for the velocity v(t) of the box at time t. Use the
fact that the force of friction opposing the motion of the box is N , where is
the coefficient of sliding friction and N is the normal component of the weight
of the box.
b. The box will slide downward on the plane when tan < if it is given an initial
velocity v(0) = v0 > 0. Suppose that = 43 and = 23 . Verify that tan < .
How far will the box slide down the plane if v0 = 1 f t/s?
c. Use the same values of and from (b.) to approximate the smallest initial
velocity v0 that can be given to the box so that, starting at the highest point
50 ft above ground, it will slide completely down the inclined plane. Find corresponding time it takes to slide down the plane.

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Figure 1: Box sliding down inclined plane

V. Geometric Problems
1. Find all curves y = y(x) whose graphs have the indicated geometric property. (Use
the geometric property to find an ODE satisfied by y(x), and then solve it.)
a. For each tangent line to the curve, the segment of the tangent line lying in the
first quadrant is bisected by the point of tangency.
b. For each normal to the curve, the segment lying between the curve and the x-axis
has constant length 1.
c. For each normal to the curve, the segment lying between the curve and the x-axis
is bisected by the y-axis.
d. For a fixed a, the area under the curve between a and x is proportional to
y(x) y(a).
VI. Special Higher Order ODEs
1. Heat transfer through a plane wall having a location dependent thermal conductivity,
k = k(x), can be described by the following equation,


dT
d
k
=0
(1)
dx
dx
where k is given as,
k = k0 1 + ax2

note that k0 and a are constants. Solve equation (1) for the temperature profile, T (x),
of the wall given the following boundary conditions: T (0) = T1 and T (L) = T2 .
2. Fluid flow in a slit with uniform cross flow can be modeled by the following differential
equation,
(P0 PL )
d2 vx
dvx
=
+ 2 , vx (0) = vx (B) = 0
v0
dy
L
dy
Show that the velocity profile for the system is given by


(P0 PL )B 2 1 y
eAy/B 1
Bv0
vx =

, A=
A
L
A B
e 1

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