Math 1005 B Fall 2015

Tutorial 4
1. Find a particular solution to

x2 y 00 − 3xy 0 + 4y = x2 .

Solution: To use variation of parameters, we need two independent solutions to

the associated homogeneous equation

x2 y 00 − 3xy 0 + 4y = 0,

which is a Cauchy-Euler equation. The indicial equation is

r(r − 1) − 3r + 4 = r2 − 4r + 4
= (r − 2)2 ,

which has one (repeated) root r = 2. Thus two independent solutions are
y1 = x2 and y2 = x2 ln(x).
We now use variation of the parameters to find a particular solution. The
Wronskian is
 
y1 y2
W (x) = det
y0 y0
 12 2 2 
x x ln(x)
= det
2x 2x ln(x) + x
= x2 (2x ln(x) + x) − 2x(x2 ln(x))
= x3 .

We must put the equation in standard form:

3 4
y 00 − y 0 + 2 = 1.
x x
Thus f (x) = 1 (a very common mistake is to take f (x) = x2 , but f (x) is the
inhomogeneous term once the equation is put into standard form). We have

−y2 f (x)
Z
u1 = dx
W (x)
Z 2
x ln(x)
=− dx
x3
Z
ln(x)
=− dx
x
1
= − (ln(x))2
2
 (the last line can be found using substitution), and
Z
y1 f (x)
u2 = dx
W (x)
Z 2
x
= dx
x3
Z
1
= dx
x
= ln(x).

Then

yp = u1 y1 + u2 y2
1
= − (ln(x))2 x2 + ln(x)x2 ln(x)
2
1 2
= x (ln(x))2
2
is a particular solution.

2. Solve the system

x0 = 3x + 5y
 

y 0 = −x − 3y
 
3 5
Solution: We have A = . Eigenvalues satisfy
−1 −3
 
λ − 3 −5
det(λI − A) = det
1 λ+3
= (λ − 3)(λ + 3) + 5
= λ2 − 4
= (λ − 2)(λ + 2) = 0.

Thus λ1 = 2 and λ2 = −2 are eigenvalues.

  To find corresponding eigenvectors,
a
we use (λI − A)v = 0 with v = .
b
For λ1 = 2, we have
    
−1 −5 a 0
= .
1 5 b 0
 
−5
Thus −a − 5b = 0. Letting b = 1, we have a = −5. We have v1 = .
1
For λ2 = −2, we have
    
−5 −5 a 0
= .
1 −1 b 0
  
−1
Thus −5a − 5b = 0. Letting b = 1, we have a = −1. We have v2 = .
1
Two linearly independent solutions are
   
2t −5 −5e2t
x1 (t) = e =
1 e2t
and
−e−2t
   
−2t −1
x2 (t) = e = .
1 e−2t
A fundamental matrix is
−5e2t −e−2t
 
X(t) = .
e2t e−2t
The general solution is
x(t) = X(t)c
−5e2t −e−2t
  
c1
=
e2t e−2t c2
−2t
 2t

−5c1 e − c2 e
= .
c1 e2t + c2 e−2t
That is,
x(t) = −5c1 e2t − c2 e−2t
y(t) = c1 e2t + c2 e−2t .

3. Solve the initial value problem

 0 
x = −2x + 2y
, x(0) = 10, y(0) = 10.
y 0 = −13x
 
−2 2
Solution: We have A = . Eigenvalues satisfy
−13 0
 
λ + 2 −2
det(λI − A) = det
13 λ
= (λ + 2)(λ) + 26
= λ2 + 2λ + 26 = 0
Using the quadratic equation, we have
p √
−2 ± 4 − 4(26) −2 ± −100
λ= = = −1 ± 5i.
2 2
Thus λ = −1 + 5i and λ = −1 − 5i are eigenvalues.
  To find corresponding
a
eigenvectors, we use (λI − A)v = 0 with v = .
b
For λ = −1 + 5i, we have
    
1 + 5i −2 a 0
= .
13 −1 + 5i b 0
 Thus (1 + 5i)a − 2b = 0. Letting a = 2, we have b = 1 + 5i. We have
     
2 2 0
v= = +i
1 + 5i 1 5
   
2 0
We have α = −1, β = 5, a = and b = . Two linearly independent
1 5
solutions are
      
−t 2 0 −t 2 cos(5t)
x1 (t) = e cos(5t) − sin(5t) =e
1 5 cos(5t) − 5 sin(5t)

and
      
−t 2 0 −t 2 sin(5t)
x2 (t) = e sin(5t) + cos(5t) =e .
1 5 sin(5t) + 5 cos(5t)

A fundamental matrix is
 
−t 2 cos(5t) 2 sin(5t)
X(t) = e .
cos(5t) − 5 sin(5t) sin(5t) + 5 cos(5t)
−1
The solution
  to the initial value problem is x(t) = X(t)X(0) x0 where
10
x0 = . We have
10
   
2 0 −1 1 5 0
X(0) = and so X(0) = .
1 5 10 −1 2

The solution is
    
−t 2 cos(5t) 2 sin(5t) 1 5 0 10
x(t) = e
cos(5t) − 5 sin(5t) sin(5t) + 5 cos(5t) 10 −1 2 10
  
2 cos(5t) 2 sin(5t) 5
= e−t
cos(5t) − 5 sin(5t) sin(5t) + 5 cos(5t) 1
 
10 cos(5t) + 2 sin(5t)
= e−t .
10 cos(5t) − 24 sin(5t)

That is,

x(t) = e−t (10 cos(5t) + 2 sin(5t))

y(t) = e−t (10 cos(5t) − 24 sin(5t)).

4. Find a fundamental matrix for the system

x0 = x + 2y
 

y 0 = −2x + 5y
  
1 2
Solution: We have A = . Eigenvalues satisfy
−2 5
 
λ − 1 −2
det(λI − A) = det
2 λ−5
= (λ − 1)(λ − 5) + 4
= λ2 − 6λ + 9
= (λ − 3)2 = 0.

Thus λ1 = 3 is the only eigenvalue.

  To find corresponding eigenvectors, we use
a
(λI − A)v = 0 with v = .
b
For λ1 = 3, we have     
2 −2 a 0
= .
2 −2 b 0
 
1
Thus 2a − 2b = 0. Letting b = 1, we have a = 1. We have v1 = .
1
One solution is    3t 
3t 1 e
x1 (t) = e = .
1 e3t
 
1
To find a second solution, consider (A − 3I)u1 = u0 . We use u0 = v1 = .
  1
a
Letting u1 = , we have
b
    
−2 2 a 1
= .
−2 2 b 1
 
1 0
Thus −2a + 2b = 1. Letting a = 0, we have b = 2 . We have u1 = 1 . A
2
second independent solution is

x2 (t) = eλ1 t (tu0 + u1 )

    
3t 1 0
=e t + 1
1 2
 
t
= e3t .
t + 12

A fundamental matrix is
 
3t 1 t
X(t) = e 1 .
1 t+ 2
 Additional example if there is extra time:

5. Solve the system

x0 = 2x
 

y 0 = 2y

Solution: Note that these two equations can be “decoupled” and solved one at
a time. Both are separable:
1 0 1 0
x = 2, y = 2.
x y
Integrating both sides (of both equations) yields

ln |x| = 2t + k1 , ln |y| = 2t + k2 .

Thus the solutions are

x(t) = c1 e2t , y(t) = c2 e2t .

This is the easiest way to solve this problem, but we could solve it using the
material we have
 recently
 learned. Let’s try doing it that way.
2 0
We have A = . Eigenvalues satisfy
0 2
 
λ−2 0
det(λI − A) = det
0 λ−2
= (λ − 2)2 = 0.

Thus λ1 = 2 is the only eigenvalue.

  To find corresponding eigenvectors, we use
a
(λI − A)v = 0 with v = .
b
For λ1 = 2, we have     
0 0 a 0
= .
0 0 b 0
Multiplying out, we get only 0 = 0. We have no conditions on a and b. This
means that both a and b are completely  free
 and can be any real numbers.
1
Letting a = 1 and b = 0 yields v1 = . Letting a = 0 and b = 1 yields
  0
0
v2 = . These two vectors are linearly independent, and so we have found
1
two linearly independent eigenvectors corresponding to the eigenvalue 2. Two
linearly independent solutions are
   2t 
2t 1 e
x1 (t) = e =
0 0

and    
2t 0 0
x2 (t) = e = .
1 e2t
A fundamental matrix is
 
e2t 0
X(t) = .
0 e2t

The general solution is

x(t) = X(t)c
 2t  
e 0 c1
=
0 e2t c2
 2t

c1 e
= .
c2 e2t

That is,

x(t) = c1 e2t
y(t) = c2 e2t ,

as expected.