2/5/25, 7:30 AM Differential Equations - Separable Equations

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Section 2.2 : Separable Equations

A separable differential equation is any differential equation that we can write in the
following form.

dy
N (y) = M (x) (1)
dx

Note that in order for a differential equation to be separable all the y's in the differential
equation must be multiplied by the derivative and all the x's in the differential equation must
be on the other side of the equal sign.

To solve this differential equation we first integrate both sides with respect to x to get,

dy
∫ N (y) dx = ∫ M (x) dx
dx

Now, remember that y is really y (x) and so we can use the following substitution,

dy
′
u = y (x) du = y (x) dx = dx
dx

Applying this substitution to the integral we get,

∫ N (u) du = ∫ M (x) dx (2)

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2/5/25, 7:30 AM Differential Equations - Separable Equations

At this point we can (hopefully) integrate both sides and then back substitute for the u on
the left side. Note, that as implied in the previous sentence, it might not actually be possible
to evaluate one or both of the integrals at this point. If that is the case, then there won’t be
a lot we can do to proceed using this method to solve the differential equation.

Now, the process above is the mathematically correct way of solving this differential
equation. Note however, that if we “separate” the derivative as well we can write the
differential equation as,

N (y) dy = M (x) dx

We obviously can’t separate the derivative like that, but let’s pretend we can for a bit and
we’ll see that we arrive at the answer with less work.

Now we integrate both sides of this to get,

∫ N (y) dy = ∫ M (x) dx (3)

So, if we compare (2) and (3) we can see that the only difference is on the left side and
even then the only real difference is (2) has the integral in terms of u and (3) has the
integral in terms of y. Outside of that there is no real difference. The integral on the left is
exactly the same integral in each equation. The only difference is the letter used in the
integral. If we integrate (2) and then back substitute in for u we would arrive at the same
thing as if we’d just integrated (3) from the start.

Therefore, to make the work go a little easier, we’ll just use (3) to find the solution to the
differential equation. Also, after doing the integrations, we will have an implicit solution that
we can hopefully solve for the explicit solution, y(x). Note that it won't always be possible
to solve for an explicit solution.

Recall from the Definitions section that an implicit solution is a solution that is not in the
form y = y (x) while an explicit solution has been written in that form.

We will also have to worry about the interval of validity for many of these solutions. Recall
that the interval of validity was the range of the independent variable, x in this case, on
which the solution is valid. In other words, we need to avoid division by zero, complex
numbers, logarithms of negative numbers or zero, etc. Most of the solutions that we will get
from separable differential equations will not be valid for all values of x.

Let’s start things off with a fairly simple example so we can see the process without getting
lost in details of the other issues that often arise with these problems.

Example 1 Solve the following differential equation and determine the interval of validity for
the solution.
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2/5/25, 7:30 AM Differential Equations - Separable Equations

dy 1
2
= 6y x y (1) =
dx 25

Show Solution 

Example 2 Solve the following IVP and find the interval of validity for the solution.

2
3x + 4x − 4
′
y = y (1) = 3
2y − 4

Show Solution 

Example 3 Solve the following IVP and find the interval of validity of the solution.

3
xy
′
y = y (0) = −1
2
√1 + x

Show Solution 

Example 4 Solve the following IVP and find the interval of validity of the solution.

′ −y
y = e (2x − 4) y (5) = 0

Show Solution 

Example 5 Solve the following IVP and find the interval of validity for the solution.

2
dr r
= r (1) = 2
dθ θ

Show Solution 

Example 6 Solve the following IVP.

dy
y − t 2
= e sec(y) (1 + t ) y (0) = 0
dt

Show Solution 

As this last example showed it is not always possible to find explicit solutions so be on the
lookout for those cases.

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2/5/25, 7:30 AM Differential Equations - Separable Equations

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