Math 2206 Homework #10 Solutions

1. Find two solutions of the differential equation

2x2 y 00 (3x + 2x2 )y 0 + (7x 18)y = 0
of the form
y=

an xn+r .

n=0

Can you identify either of the solutions in terms of known functions?

Solution: We have
y=
y0 =

an x

n+r

= a0 x +

n=0

an xn+r

n=1

(n + r)an xn+r1

n=0

X
00
y =
(n + r)(n + r 1)an xn+r2

xy =

n=0

X
n=0

xy 0 =

an x

n+r+1

an1 xn+r

n=1

(n + r)an xn+r = ra0 xr +

x2 y 0 =
2 00

xy =

n=0

(n + r)an xn+r

n=1

n=0

(n + r)an xn+r+1 =

(n + r 1)an1 xn+r

n=1

(n + r)(n + r 1)an x

n+r

= r(r 1)a0 x +

(n + r)(n + r 1)an xn+r ,

n=1

n=0

where we systematically wrote every term that appears in the differential equation as
a sum starting from n = 1 and with generic term xn+r (plus sometimes an extra term
corresponding to n = 0). Plugging all these into the differential equation, we get


0 = 2r(r 1) 3r 18 a0 xr
h
i
X
+
2(n + r)(n + r 1)an 3(n + r)an 2(n + r 1)an1 + 7an1 18an xn+r .
n=1

The first term corresponding to a0 gives the characteristic equation 2r2 5r 18 = 0

which factors as (2r 9)(r + 2) = 0, which gives r = 2 and r = 29 .
Then the recurrence relation comes from




2(n + r)(n + r 1) 3(n + r) 18 an + 2(n + r 1) + 7 an1 = 0.
1

When r = 2 this equation becomes





2(n 2)(n 3) 3(n 2) 18 an + 2(n 3) + 7 an1 = 0
which reduces to (2n2 13n)an + (2n + 13)an1 = 0 or an = an1 /n. The solution of
this is an = an!0 , so we get the solution

a0 e x
a0 X x n
= 2 .
y= 2
x n=0 n!
x

When r = 9/2 we get





2(n + 9/2)(n + 7/2) 3(n + 9/2) 18 an + 2(n + 7/2) + 7 an1 = 0,
which reduces to (2n2 +13n)an 2nan1 = 0, so an =
so that the solution is
y = a0 x

9/2

X
n=0

2an1
.
2n+13

We get an =

2n a0
,
151719(2n+13)

2n xn
.
15 17 19 (2n + 13)

There isnt anything much simpler than this.

2. For the differential equation
3(x 1)2 y 00 + 4(x 1)y 0 + (3x 5)y = 0,
determine the behavior of solutions near x = 1. That is, for what r are there solutions
that look like y (x1)r ? You do not need to determine the full power series solution.
Solution: The first two coefficients look like the coefficient in an Euler differential
equation, but the last one does not. So we write it in terms of (x 1): we get
3x 5 = 3(x 1) + 3 5 = 3(x 1) 2.
For x close to 1 this looks like 2, and so the behavior of the differential equation is
well-approximated by the behavior of the differential equation
3(x 1)2 y 00 + 4(x 1)y 0 2y = 0,
which is an Euler differential equation in the variable (x 1).
Then we try y = (x 1)r and get y 0 = r(x 1)r1 and y 00 = r(r 1)(x 1)r2 , and
plugging in gives
h
i
3r(r 1) + 4r 2 (x 1)r = 0,
which gives 3r2 + r 2 = 0, which factors as (3r 2)(r + 1) = 0. So there are solutions
that look like
y (x 1)2/3
or
y (x 1)1 .
2

3. Compute the Laplace transform of the function teat cos bt. (Hint: its much easier if
you find the real part of the Laplace transform of te(a+ib)t , similar to the technique
from class.)
Solution: As suggested we consider the Laplace transform of te(a+ib)t . Its
Z
Z
st (a+ib)t
te(s+a+ib)t dt.
te e
dt =
F (s) =
0

1
Let u = t and dv = e
dt so that du = dt and v = s+a+ib
e(s+a+ib)t . Then the
integration by parts formula gives
Z
t=
1
t
(s+a+ib)t 

e
e(s+a+ib)t dt
F (s) =

s + a + ib
s + a + ib 0
t=0
t=
1
1
(s+a+ib)t 
=
=
e
.

2
(s + a + ib)
(s a ib)2
t=0
(s+a+ib)t

To get the real part, we multiply top and bottom by the complex conjugate, which is
F (s) =

(s a + ib)2
(s a)2 b2 + 2ib(s a)
1
=
.

2
(s a ib)2 (s a + ib)2
(s a)2 + b2

Thus the real part is

(s a)2 b2
L{teat cos bt} = 
2 .
(s a)2 + b2
4. Compute the inverse Laplace transform f (t) if F (s) = L{f } is given by
F (s) =

3s2 7s + 5
.
s3 4s2 s + 4

Solution: The denominator factors as s2 (s 4) 1(s 4) = (s + 1)(s 1)(s 4). So

we can write
A
B
C
3s2 7s + 5
=
+
+
F (s) =
(s + 1)(s 1)(s 4)
s+1 s1 s4
A(s 1)(s 4) + B(s + 1)(s 4) + C(s + 1)(s 1)
=
.
(s + 1)(s 1)(s 4)
We therefore have
3s2 7s + 5 = A(s 1)(s 4) + B(s + 1)(s 4) + C(s + 1)(s 1).
Plugging in consecutively s = 1, s = 1, and s = 4 gives us the equations 1 = 6B,
15 = 10A, and 25 = 15C. So we have
F (s) =

3 1
1 1
5 1

+
.
2 s+1 6 s1 3 s4

Now finally we can take the inverse transform to get

3
1
5
f (t) = et et + e4t .
2
6
3
3

5. Solve the initial value problem using the Laplace transform.

y 00 6y 0 + 13y = 0,

y 0 (0) = 3.

y(0) = 2,

Solution: We have
L{y} = F (s)
L{y 0 } = sL{y} y(0) = sF (s) 2
L{y 00 } = s2 L{y} y 0 (0) sy(0) = s2 F (s) + 3 2s.
Taking the Laplace transform of the differential equation thus gives
s2 F (s) + 3 2s 6sF (s) + 12 + 13F (s) = 0,
which becomes
(s2 6s + 13)F (s) = 2s 15.
Solving for F (s) and factoring, we get
F (s) =

s2

2s 15
2s 15
2(s 3) 9
s3
9
2
=
=
=2

.
2
2
2
2
6s + 13
(s 3) + 4
(s 3) + 4
(s 3) + 2 2 (s 3)2 + 22

Comparing a table of Laplace transforms, we see that these give the transforms of
eat cos bt and eat sin bt respectively, where a = 3 and b = 2. So the solution is
9
y(t) = 2e3t cos 2t e3t sin 2t.
2
6. Solve the initial value problem using the Laplace transform.
y 000 + 4y 0 = 2t,

y(0) = 0,

y 0 (0) = 1,

y 00 (0) = 0.

Solution: Write
L{y} = F (s)
L{y 0 } = sF (s) y(0) = sF (s)
L{y 00 } = s2 F (s) sy(0) y 0 (0) = s2 F (s) 1
L{y 000 } = s3 F (s) s2 y(0) sy 0 (0) y 00 (0) = s3 F (s) s
L{2t} = 2/s2 .
Then the transformed equation is
s3 F (s) s + 4sF (s) =

2
,
s2

and we get
s(s2 + 4)F (s) = s +
4

2
,
s2

or

1
2
A B
s3 + 2
C
Ds + E
F (s) = 2
+
= + 2+ 3+ 2
= 3 2
.
s + 4 s3 (s2 + 4)
s
s
s
s +4
s (s + 4)

Matching coefficients we get (As2 + Bs + C)(s2 + 4) + (Ds + E)s3 = s3 + 2, which gives

the equations
A + D = 0,

B + E = 1,

4A + C = 0,

4B = 0,

The solution is B = 0, E = 1, C = 21 , A = 81 , and D = 18 , so we get

F (s) =

11 1 1
1 2
1 s
+
+
.
+
3
2
8s 2s
8 s + 4 2 s2 + 4

The inverse transform is

1 1
1
1
y(t) = + t2 + cos 2t + sin 2t.
8 4
8
2

4C = 2.