Math-502: Practice for Test # 1 on February 28 The real test will have fewer problems, some problems may

be shorter, and some topics may be covered on the test that dont appear on this practice test. 1. The drag force F acting on a surface ship that moves with high speed is due - to rst approximation - to surface waves generated by the ships motion. We assume that F depends on a characteristic length l of the ship, the gravitational acceleration g, the density of the medium in which the ship moves, and the velocity U of the ship. Find a non-dimensionalized form of the force, nd another dimensionless group, and nd the general form of the relation between F and the other parameters. The dimensionless group in this case is known as Froude number. 2. A simple model for the spread of an epidemic through a population is given by the system of dierential equations d S(t) = S(t)I(t) dt d I(t) = S(t)I(t) I(t) dt Here t is time, S(t) is the quantity of susceptible individuals in the population (those that can be infected), and I(t) is the quantity of infected individuals in the population. The rst equation says that susceptible individuals are removed (by becoming infected) at a rate that is proportional to the number of susceptibles and the number of infected. The second equation says that newly infected individuals appear at a rate that is proportional to the overall number of susceptible and the number of infected, and that infected individuals are removed (by recovering and becoming immune, or perhaps by dying) at a rate that is proportional to the total number of infected. Assume that S(t) and I(t) are measured in the same units. Determine the units of all constants, and show by nondimensionalizing, it is possible to remove all parameters from the system. The characteristic units for S and for I should be the same. 3. The spread of a gas in a one-dimensional porous medium (for example, a tube lled by lter material) is governed by the partial dierential equation u(x, t) = D t x u(x, t) u(x, t) x

or in shorthand notation ut = D(uux )x . Here u is the density of the spreading gas, x > 0 is position along the tube, t > 0 is time. The initial and boundary conditions are u(x, t) = u0 > 0 for x = 0, t > 0 and u(x, t) = 0 for t = 0, x > 0. a) Find the correct dimension of D. x b) Show that the similarity variable = is dimensionless. Dtu0 c) Assuming that u(x, t) = u0 F (), derive an ordinary dierential equation for F . 4. For small > 0, there are two small solutions of the equation x2 + x = . One is positive, and the other one is negative. They can both be expressed in the form x = x0 + x1 + . . . where the two lowest exponents are < . Find , , x0 , x1 for the positive solution.
1

5. Consider the ordinary dierential equation u (t) + u(t) + u2 (t) = 0 with initial conditions u(0) = 1, u (0) = 1. Then there is an expansion of the solution in powers of , u(t) = u0 (t) + u1 (t) + 2 u2 (t) + . . . . You dont have to show this. a) Find u0 (t). b) Find the dierential equation for u1 (t) and give its initial conditions. Do not solve this equation.