Applications of Ordinary Differential Equations

Orthogonal Trajectories
Definition:

The orthogonal trajectories are family of curves in the plane that intersect a
given family of curves at right angles.

Method of Finding Orthogonal Trajectories

Step 1. Write the equation as the family of curves in implicit form F(x, y, c) = 0 where c is the constant.
dy
Step 2. Implicitly differentiate F(x, y, c) = 0 with respect to x to find
.
dx
Step 3. Eliminate c by using the equations in steps 1 and 2 and write the equation as y = f(x, y).
dy
1
Step 4. The orthogonal trajectories are then given by

since each curve is perpendicular

dx
f ( x , y)
to the given family of curves.
Step 5. Solve the differential equation determined in step 4.
Examples: Find the orthogonal trajectories of the following family of curves.
1. y = cx2
Solution:
i. F(x,y,c) = y cx2 = 0
dy
ii.
2cx 0
or y = 2cx
dx
y
iii. From (i) c 2 . Substitute this to equation in (ii)
x
y
x ,
y 2
x2
2y
2y

Thus, f(x, y) =
x
x
iv. Therefore, the orthogonal trajectory is dy 1
dx

2y
x

dy
x

dx
2y

v. The equation in (iv) is separable, thus

2 ydy xdx

2 ydy xdx
y2 1 x 2 C
2

2
2

x
y
x 2 y2

C
or

1
2
1
2C C
This curve shows family of ellipses with center at (0, 0)

References: Schaums Outline Differential Equations

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2.
3.
4.
5.

x2 + y2 = c2
xy = C
y2 = 4cx
y = cex

POPULATION GROWTH AND DECAY PROBLEMS

Recall: Proportionality
Two quantities are said to be proportional if they vary in such a way that one of the quantities is a
constant multiple of the other, or equivalently if they have a constant ratio.
Direct proportionality: Given two variables x and y, y is (directly) proportional to x (x and y vary
directly, or x and y are in direct variation) if there is a non-zero constant k such
that
y = kx
The relation is often denoted as
Or alternatively

yx
y~x

and the constant ratio

y
x

is called the proportionality constant or constant of proportionality

Population Growth Problems
1.

A certain population of bacteria is known to grow at a rate proportional to the amount

present in the culture that provides plentiful food and space. Initially there are 250 bacteria,
and after seven hours 800 bacteria are observed in the culture.
a. Find an expression for the appropriate number of bacteria present in the culture at any
time t.
b. Determine the approximate number of bacteria that will be present in the culture after
24 hours.
c. Determine the amount of time it will take for the bacteria described in problem 1 to
increase to 2500.

References: Schaums Outline Differential Equations

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2. A bacteria culture in known to grow at a rate proportional to the amount present. After one
hour, 1000 bacteria are observed in the culture; and after four hours, 3000.
a. Find an expression for the number of bacteria present in the culture at any time t.
b. Determine the number of bacteria originally in the culture.
3. In a culture of yeast the amount of active ferment grows at a rate proportional to the amount
present. If the amount doubles in 1 hr, how many times the original amount may be
anticipated at the end of 2 hr?
Decay Problems
4. A certain radioactive material is known to decay at a rate proportional to the amount present.
If initially there is 100 mg of the material present and if after 2 years it is observed that 5
percent of the original mass has decayed,
a. find an expression for the mass at any time t.
b. determine the time necessary for 10 percent of the original mass to decay.
5. A certain radioactive material is known to decay at a rate proportional to the amount present.
If initially there is 50 mg of the material present and after 2 hours it is observed that the
material has lost 10 percent of its original mass,
a. find an expression for the mass of the material remaining at any time t.
b. determine the mass of material after 4 hours.
c. Determine the time at which the mass has decayed to one-half its initial mass.
6. A certain chemical dissolves in water at a rate proportional to the product of the amount
undissolved and the difference between the concentration in a saturated solution and the
concentration in the actual solution. In a 100 g of a saturated solution it is known that 50 g of
the substance is dissolved. If when 30 g of the chemical is agitated with 100 g of water, 10 g is
dissolved in 2 hours, how much will be dissolved in 5 hours?
COOLING AND HEATING PROBLEMS
Recall: Newton s Law of Cooling
Newton's Law of Cooling states that the rate of change of the temperature of an object is
proportional to the difference between its own temperature and the ambient temperature (i.e. the
temperature of its surroundings or environment).

dT
k T Te
dt
Where T = temperature of the body/object
Te = temperature of the environment
k = is the constant of proportionality, k > 0
The negative sign in the equation is chosen to make the rate of change negative for a cooling process.

References: Schaums Outline Differential Equations

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Newton's Law makes a statement about an instantaneous rate of change of the temperature.
When Newtons Law is translated into a mathematical statement, one will arrive at a
differential equation.
The solution to this equation will then be a function that tracks the complete record of the
temperature over time.
Newton's Law would enable us to solve the following problem.

Problems:

7.

A metal bar at a temperature of 100 0F is placed in a room at a constant temperature of 00F. If

after 20 min the temperature of the bar is 500F,
a. find the expression for the temperature of the bar at any time.
b. Find the time it will take for the bar to reach a temperature of 250F
c. Determine the temperature of the bar aft5er 10 min.

8. As part of his summer job at a restaurant, Jim learned to cook up a big pot of soup late at
night, just before closing time, so that there would be plenty of soup to feed customers the
next day. He also found out that, while refrigeration was essential to preserve the soup
overnight, the soup was too hot to be put directly into the fridge when it was ready. (The soup
had just boiled at 100 degrees C, and the fridge was not powerful enough to accommodate a
big pot of soup if it was any warmer than 20 degrees C). Jim discovered that by cooling the pot
in a sink full of cold water, (kept running, so that its temperature was roughly constant at 5
degrees C) and stirring occasionally, he could bring the temperature of the soup to 60 degrees
C in ten minutes. How long before closing time should the soup be ready so that Jim could put
it in the fridge and leave on time?
9. The body at an unknown temperature is placed in a room which is held at a constant
temperature of 300F. If after 10 min the temperature of the body is 00Fand after 20 min the
temperature of the body is 150F,
a. find an expression for the temperature of the body at time t.
b. find the initial temperature of the body just as it is placed into the room.
FLOW PROBLEMS
10. A tank initially Vo gal of brine that contains a lb of salt. Another brine solution, containing b lb
of salt per gallon, is poured into the tank at the rate of e gal/min while, simultaneously, a wellstirred solution leaves the tank at the rate of f gal/min. Find a differential equation for the
amount of salt in the tank at any time t.
11. A tank initially 80 gal of brine that contains

1
8

lb of salt per gallon. At t = 0, another brine

solution, containing 1 lb of salt per gallon, is poured into the tank at the rate of 4 gal/min
while, simultaneously, a well-stirred solution leaves the tank at the rate of 8 gal/min.
a. Find a differential equation for the amount of salt in the tank at any time t.
b. Determine when the tank will be empty.
c. Determine when the tank will hold 40 gal of solution.
d. Find the amount of salt in the tank when it contains exactly 40 gal of brine.
e. Determine when the tank will contain the most salt.
References: Schaums Outline Differential Equations
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12. A 50-gal tank initially contains 10 gal of fresh water. At t = 0, a brine solution containing 1 lb of
salt/gal is poured into the tank at the rate of 4 gal/min, while the well stirred mixture leaves
the tank at the rate of 2 gal/min.
a. Find the amount of time required for overflow to occur.
b. Find the amount of salt in the tank at the moment of overflow.

FALLING OBJECT
An object is dropped from a height at time t = 0. If h(t) is the height of the object at time t, a(t) the
acceleration and v(t) the velocity. The relationships between a, v and h are as follows:
a(t) = dv / dt , v(t) = dh / dt.
For a falling object, a(t) is constant and is equal to g = -9.8 m/s.
Combining the above differential equations, we can easily deduce the following equation
d 2h / dt 2 = g
Integrate both sides of the above equation to obtain
dh / dt = g t + v0
Integrate one more time to obtain
h(t) = (1/2) g t + v0 t + h0
The above equation describes the height of a falling object, from an initial height h0 at an initial
velocity v0, as a function of time.

References: Schaums Outline Differential Equations

Wikepedia

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