Applications and Examples

of First Order Ordinary

Differential Equations

Prepared by:
Engr. REGGIE A. DUEÑAS
1.Exponential Growth and Decay
dx/dt = kx
general solution is x  Ae
kt

 Radium gradually changes into uranium. If

x(t) represents the amount of radium
present at time t, then dx/dt = kx. In this
case, k < 0.
 Bank interest. The amount of interest you
receive on your bank account is
proportional to your balance. In this case,
k > 0.
 n
 k 
x  x0 1  t 
 n 
 Population growth of rabbits. The number of
rabbits born at any time is roughly
proportional to the number of rabbits
present. If x(t) is the number of rabbits at
time t, then dx/dt = kx with k > 0.
Example 3. The half-life of radium is 1600 years, i.e., it
takes 1600 years for half of any quantity to decay. If
a sample initially contains 50 g, how long will it be
until it contains 45 g?
1. Suppose a population of insects increases a
ccording to the law of exponential growth.
There were 130 insects after the third d
ay of the experiment and 380 insects afte
r the seventh day. Approximately how ma
ny insects were in the original population?
2.A zircon sample contains 4000 atoms of th
e radioactive element 235U. Given that 235U
has a half‐ life of 700 million years, how lo
ng would it take to decay to 125 atoms?
3. Bismuth-210 has a half-life of 5.0 days. a.
Suppose a sample originally has a mass of
800 mg. Find
a. formula for the mass remaining after t
days.
b. Find the mass remaining after 30 days.
c. When is the mass reduced to 1 mg.
d. Sketch the graph of the mass function.
1. Solve a certain organism develops with a constant
relative growth of 0.2554 per member per day.
Suppose the organism starts on day zero with 10
members. Find the population size after 7 days.
2. A population of a small city had 3000 people in the
year 2000 and has grown at a rate proportional to
its size. In the year 2005 the population was 3700.
a. Find an expression for the number of people in
the city t years after the year 2000.
b. Estimate the population of the city in 2006. In
2010.
c. Find the rate of growth of the population in 2006.
d. Assuming the growth continues at the same rate,
when will the town have 25000 people?
2. Newton’s Law of Cooling
Let T and Ts be the temperature of an object and
its surroundings, respectively. Let T0 and Ts0 be
initial temperatures. Newton’s Law of Cooling
states as T changes, the object gives or takes
heat from its surroundings.

dT
 k (Ts  T ), k  0
dt
CASE 1: Ts is constant. This occurs either because
the heat given off is transported elsewhere or
because the surroundings are so large that the
contribution is negligible.

dT
Linear:
 kT  kTs
dt

 kt  kt
Solution: T  T0 e  Ts (1  e )
 CASE II: The system is closed. All heat lost by the
object is gained by its surroundings. We need to
find Ts as a function of T. w=weight, c = sp. heat

T  T0 Ts  Ts 0

wc ws cs

Ts  Ts 0 
wc
T0  T 
ws cs
dT  wc   wc 
 k 1  T  k  Ts 0  T0 
dt  ws cs   ws cs 
The equation is linear.
 The solution is:

  wc  
 Ts 0   T 
   0
 
 k  1
wc  
 t
T  T0    ws s 
c  1 e  ws c s  
wc  
 1  
 ws cs 
 
Example: The air temperature is 25C.
Water cools from 100C to 75C in
5mins. How long will it take for the water
to cool to 30C?
Solution: dT
 kT  kTs
dt
i. f .  e  kdt
 e kt
[e kt dT  e kt kTdt]  kTs e kt dt
d [Te kt ]  kTs e kt dt
Te kt  Ts e kt  C
T  Ts  Ce  kt
T (0)  100 C0
T  Ts  Ce  kt

 kt
T  Ts  Ce k  0.081093022
 ( 0.081093022) t
100  25  Ce k (0)
30  25  75e
C  75 5  75e  ( 0.081093022) t

T (5)  750 C  5 
ln    0.08109022t
75  25  75e  k (5)  75 
k  0.081093022 t  33.40 min
Try this:
Suppose that an object initially having a
temperature of 20C is placed in a large
temperature controlled room of 80C
and one hour later the object has a
temperature of 35C . What will its
temperature be after three hours?
Try this:
Suppose that an object initially having a
temperature of 20C is placed in a large
temperature controlled room of 80C
and one hour later the object has a
temperature of 35C . What will its
temperature be after three hours?

Ans: 54.6875C
Try this
When a chicken is removed from an oven,
its temperature is measured at 3000F.
Three minutes later its temperature is
200o F. How long will it take for the
chicken to cool off to 90oF if the room
temperature is 70oF.
3. Mixing Tanks
Let Q be the amount of salt in the tank at any time t. If we
can create an equation relating dQ/dt to Q and t, then
we will have a differential equation which we can, ideally,
solve to determine the relationship between Q and t.

dQ
 ratein  rateout
dt
dQ/dt = (salt concentration in) x (flow rate in) - (tank salt
concentration) x (flow rate out)
Sample Problem:

A tank originally contains 100 gal of fresh

water. Then water containing 0.5 lb of salt
per 2 gallon is poured into the tank at a
rate of 2 gal/min, and the mixture is
allowed to leave at the same rate. What is
the amount of salt at any instant?
Case I. Same flow rate
Given: Q(t) = amount of salt at time t
Q0 = amount of salt at time 0
Q(0) = 0
Salt conc. In = 0.5 lb/gal
Tank salt conc. = Q lb/100 gal
flow rate in = flow rate out = 2gal/min

dQ  lb  gal   Qlb  gal 

  0.5  2     2 
dt  gal  min   100 gal  min 
dQ lb lb
1 Q   t t
dt min 50 min d Qe   e dt
50 50

dQ Q  
 1 t t
dt 50
dt t Qe 50
 50e  C
50


i. f .  e 50
e 50

t

t Q  50  Ce 50

 dQ  Qe
t 50 t
e 
50
 e 50

 dt  50
 t

Q  50  Ce 50

Q ( 0)  0
 50  C
t

Q  50  50e 50

10

Q(10)  50  50e 50

Q(10)  9.063lb
Case II. Flow rate in > out.
Problem: A tank with a capacity of 500 gal
originally contains 200 gal of water with 100lb
of salt in solution. Water containing 1lb of salt
per gallon is entering at a rate of 3 gal/min, and
the mixture is allowed to flow out at a rate of 1
gal/min.
Given: flow rate in = 3 gal/min
flow rate out = 2 gal/min
amount of water sol’n = 200 + (3-2)t

dQ  lb  gal   lb  gal 
 1  3    Q  2 
dt  gal  min   (200  t ) gal  min 
dQ lb lb
3  2Q
dt min (200  t ) min
dQ 2Q
 3
dt 200  t
2 dt
 2 ln(200 t )
i. f .  e 200 t
e  (200  t ) 2

 dQ  2Q(200  t )
2
(200  t )  
2
 3(200  t ) 2

 dt  (200  t )
d [Q(200  t ) ]  3(200  t ) dt
2 2

Q(200  t )  (200  t )  C
2 3
Q(200  t )  (200  t )  C
2 3

2
Q  (200  t )  C (200  t )
Q(0)  100
C  100(200) 2

2
100(200)
Q  (200  t )  , t  300
(200  t ) 2

We have to consider when the tank will begin to overflow

which is after 300 min since we initially have 200 gal in
our 500 gal tank which leads to, t < 300.
Case III. Tank with salt coming in from two pipes.
Problem: A tank with a capacity of 1500 gals
originally contains 1000 gals of fresh water. The
first pipe containing 1/2 lb of salt per gallon is
entering at a rate of 4 gal/min. The second pipe
containing 1/3 lb of salt per gallon is entering at
a rate of 6 gal/min. The mixture is allowed to
flow out of the tank at a rate of 5 gal/min. Find
the amount of salt in the tank at any time prior
to the instant when the solution begins to
overflow.
Given: Pipe 1= (0.5 lb/gal)(4 gal/min)
Pipe 2 = (0.33 lb/gal)(6 gal/min)
Total rate in = 4 lb/min
Amount of water sol’n: 1000+(10-5)t
Rate out = (Q/1000+5t)(5gal/min)

dQ  lb   lb 
 4    5Q 
dt  min   (1000  5t ) min 
dQ  lb   lb 
 4    5Q 
dt  min   (1000  5t ) min 
dQ 5Q
 4
dt 1000  5t
5 dt

i. f .  e 1000 5t
 e ln(10005t )  1000  5t
(1000  5t )dQ  5Qdt  4(1000  5t )dt
d [Q(1000  5t )]  4(1000  5t )dt
Q(1000  5t )  4000t  10t 2  C
10t (400  t )  C 2
Q
1000  5t
Q(0) = 0
C=0
10t (400  t 2 )
Q , t  100
1000  5t
10t (400  100 ) 2
Q(100) 
1000  5(100)
Q(100)  333.333
 2. Predator-Prey Model
Example 4 (Predator-Prey). Let x(t) and y(t) be the number of
rabbits and foxes, respectively, at time t. In the absence of
predators, at any time, the number of rabbits would grow at
a rate proportional to the number of rabbits at that time.
However, the presence of predators also causes the number
of rabbits to decline in proportion to the number of
encounters between a fox and a rabbit, which is
proportional to the product x(t)y(t). Therefore, dx/dt = ax
− bxy for some positive constants a and b. For the foxes,
the presence of other foxes represents competition for
food, so the number declines proportionally to the number
of foxes but grows proportionally to the number of
encounters. Therefore dy/dt = −cx + dxy for some
positive constants c and d.
 dx
Mathematical model: dt
 ax  bxy

dy
 cy  dxy
a,b,c,d,x(t),y(t) are all positive dt

dy  cy  dxy
This equation can be solve using 
dx ax  bxy
separation of variable.

Integration:
a  by dy   c  dx dx
y x

a ln( y )  by  c ln( x)  dx  C
Solution:
where k = e^c y a e by  kxc e dx
Other Applications
 Motion of Objects Falling Under Gravity
with Air Resistance
 Escape Velocity
 Planetary Motion
 Particle Moving on a Curve
 Electric Circuits
LINEAR DE OF ORDER n