You are on page 1of 2

Math 33B - Midterm 2 Review Sheet

I. Second-order linear homogeneous dierential equations Given two linearly independent solutions y1 and y2 , the general solution is y = C1 y1 + C2 y2 . Given one solution y1 , you can nd another by reduction of order : Step 1: Let y2 = vy1 for some function v (t). Step 2: Take rst and second derivatives of y2 and plug in. The v terms cancel, leaving only v and v . Step 3: Letting u = v gives a separable rst-order equation, which you can solve to nd u. Step 4: Since u = v , you can integrate u to get v , then compute y2 = vy1 . See Section 4.1, problems 2630 Constant coecients: If the equation has the form Ay + By + Cy = 0, solve the characteristic polynomial A2 + B + C = 0. Two distinct real roots 1 , 2 : Let y1 = e1 t , y2 = e2 t . Two complex conjugate roots a bi: Let y1 = eat cos(bt), y2 = eat sin(bt). One repeated real root : Let y1 = et , y2 = tet . See Section 4.3, problems 136 II. Second-order linear inhomogeneous dierential equations To solve y + p(t)y + q (t)y = g (t): Find two linearly independent solutions y1 and y2 of the associated homogeneous equation y + p(t)y + q (t)y = 0. Then use undetermined coecients or variation of parameters (see below) to nd one solution yp of the inhomogeneous equation. The general solution is then y = C1 y1 + C2 y2 + yp . Method of Undetermined Coecients: Make an educated guess about the form of yp , with unknown constants a, b, c, . . . in front of each term. Plug in to the equation and solve for the unknown constants. Guidelines for the educated guess: Include terms from g (t) and all its derivatives. For any term in your guess that is a solution of the homogeneous equation, multiply the whole guess by t. If g (t) has several dierent terms added together, its often easier to do this procedure for each term separately, then add the results. This method only works for equations with constant coecients and for which the function g (t) is fairly simple. See Section 4.5, problems 1429 Method of Variation of Parameters: Let W be the Wronskian of y1 and y2 . Then yp = y1 y2 g + y2 W y1 g . W

This method always works. Note that the dierential equation must be in the form above. (In particular, the coecient of y must be 1!) See Section 4.6, problems 114 III. Harmonic Motion
2y = 0 Unforced: y + 2cy + 0 (See Section 4.4) 0 = natural frequency, c = damping constant (both positive) Case 1: c = 0 (undamped) Solution: y = C1 cos(0 t) + C2 sin(0 t) = A cos(0 t ) A = amplitude, = phase angle The solution oscillates forever (simple harmonic oscillator) To nd A and from C1 and C2 , think of (C1 , C2 ) as a point in Cartesian coordinates, and convert to polar coordinates (A, ). Case 2: 0 < c < 0 (underdamped) Solution: y = Aect cos(t ) 2 c2 < = 0 0 The solution oscillates, but the oscillations decrease to 0 because of the ect term. Case 3: c = 0 (critically damped) Solution: y = (C1 + C2 t)ect The solution curve may have a half oscillation at rst, but then goes to 0 quickly. Case 4: c > 0 (overdamped) Solution: y = C1 eat + C2 ebt The solution exponentially decays to 0. See Section 4.4, problems 116 2 y = A cos(t) Forced: y + 2cy + 0 (See Section 4.7) A = amplitude of forcing function = frequency of forcing function (driving frequency) Case 1: c = 0 (damped, the typical case) Solution: y = yh + B cos(t ) yh is called the transient response it goes to 0 quickly (see cases 2, 3, 4 above). The other part of the solution is called the steady-state response, since it keeps oscillating without decaying to 0. The ratio of B to A (the output amplitude to the input amplitude), as a function of , is called the gain of the system. Case 2: c = 0, = 0 (interference, i.e. beats) Solution: y = C cos(0 t ) + B cos(t) The two oscillators with dierent frequencies interfere with each other, causing a pattern of beats: a higher-frequency oscillation whose amplitude oscillates at a lower frequency. Case 3: c = 0, = 0 (resonance) Solution: y = C cos(0 t ) + Bt sin(0 t) The last term of the solution is an oscillator whose amplitude grows linearly! See Section 4.7, problems 26, 1619, 3134

You might also like