MATH 2341 (Carroll) Score

Fall 2024
Mock Midterm 2

Name:
Date: 10/21

Problem 1. (Section 1.5) Find the general solution to each of the following first order equations

(a) (3x2 − 6xy) dx − (3x2 − 2y) dy = 0.

Let M (x, y) = 3x2 − 6xy and N (x, y) = −3x2 + 2y then we have

∂M ∂N
= −6x =
∂y ∂x

so the equation is exact and we can solve. Since we know the potential function satisfies
∂Φ
∂x = M, we can set up an integral to solve for Φ(x, y):
Z
∂Φ
= M =⇒ Φ(x, y) = (3x2 − 6xy) dx = x3 − 3x2 y + g(y),
∂x
∂Φ
for some function g(y) that is yet to be determined. Now since ∂y = N we can differentiate
with respect to y and compare to N :
∂Φ
−3x2 + 2y = N = = −3x2 + g ′ (y)
∂y

hence g ′ (y) = 2y and it follows that g(y) = y 2 . So we get

Φ(x, y) = x3 − 3x2 y + y 2 ,

and the general solution to the differential equation is

x3 − 3x2 y + y 2 = c,

for some arbitrary constant c.

(b) y ′ − 3y = 6y 2 .
We can see that this a Bernoulli equation with α = 2, so we need to make the substitution

v = y 1−α = y −1 =⇒ y = v −1 , y ′ = −v −2 · v ′

Now substitute for y and y ′ in the equation

−v −2 · v ′ − 3v −1 = 6v −2

Divide by −v −2 (or multiply by −v 2 ) to get into standard form

v ′ + 3v = −6

This is a linear equation so we use an integrating factor to solve:

R
3 dx
I(x) = e = e3x

Multiplying the equation by the integrating factor:

e3x v ′ + 3e3x v = −6e3x

To solve we integrate both sides. For the left-hand side we use the product rule:
Z
(e3x v)′ = e3x v ′ + 3e3x v =⇒ (e3x v ′ + 3e3x v) dx = e3x v.

For the right-hand side we can integrate directly

Z
−6 e3x dx = −2e3x + C

Combining the left-hand and right-hand sides:

e3x v = −2e3x + C =⇒ v = Ce−3x − 2.

Now back substitute v = y −1

1
y −1 = Ce−3x − 2 =⇒ y = .
Ce−3x −2
Problem 2. (Section 1.4) At a Vodka distillery a 900-gallon tank is initially two-thirds full of a
water/ethanol mixture that is 95 percent ethanol. Pure water is pumped into the tank at the rate of
13 gallons per minute and the well-stirred mixture is pumped out at a rate of 8 gallons per minute.
If A = A(t), the amount of ethanol in the tank at time t, write the initial value problem which
models this situation. DO NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

We have V (0) = 32 · 900 = 600, cin = 0 (since pure water is pumped in), rin = 13, rout = 8,
and the initial amount is A(0) = 0.95 · V (0) = 0.95 · 600 = 570 gallons of ethanol.
Firstly, we will find the equation for the volume V (t):

dV
= rin − rout = 13 − 8 = 5 =⇒ V = 5t + C
dt
Plugging in the initial condition V (0) = 600 gives that V (t) = 5t + 600. Similarly, the equation for
the change in the amount is given by
dA dA
= cin rin − cout rout ⇐⇒ + cout rout = cin rin .
dt dt
Now the concentration of the outflow depends on time, and is given by the equation:

A(t) A(t)
cout (t) = = .
V (t) 5t + 600

Hence we have
dA dA rout
+ cout rout = cin rin ⇐⇒ + A(t) = cin rin
dt dt V (t)
Finally, plugging in all of the values gives the initial value problem
dA 8
+ · A = 0, A(0) = 570.
dt 5t + 600
Problem 3. (Section 2.4 & 2.6) Consider a mass-spring system with m = 3, k = 40/3, c = 12 and
no external force.

(a) If the system is set into motion subject to the initial conditions x(0) = 2 and x′ (0) = −6, the
equation of motion is     
2 2
x(t) = e−2t 2 cos t − 3 sin t .
3 3
Express this solution in amplitude-phase form.
To put into amplitude-phase form x(t) = Ae−2t cos 32 t − ϕ , where A cos(ϕ) = 2 and A sin(ϕ) =

−3, hence q √ √
A = c21 + c22 = 9 + 4 = 13.
√2 −3
Then the phase ϕ satisfies cos(ϕ) = 13
and sin(ϕ) = √
13
so we calculate
 
−3
ϕ = arctan ∼ −0.983
2
−3


We add π to make ϕ positive: ϕ = arctan 2 + π ∼ 2.159. This value satisfies

−3 2
cos(ϕ) = √ , sin(ϕ) = √ ,
13 13

so we need to add another π and we can take ϕ = arctan −3

2 + 2π ∼ 5.300 and the equation
of motion will be
√
 
2
x(t) = 13e−2t cos t − 5.300 .
3

(b) If the damping is removed (i.e. c = 0) and the system were subject to an external force
f (t) = 9 cos(ω0 t), what value of the forcing frequency ω0 would case resonance?
To get resonance we would need ω0 = ω the natural frequency. This is given by
r r √
k 40 2 10
ω= = = .
m 9 3

(c) What value of c would result in critical damping?

The system is critically damped if c2 = 4mk
40 √ √
=⇒ c2 = 4 · 3 · = 160 =⇒ c = 160 = 4 10.
3
Problem 4. (Section 1.3) Solve the initial value problem
dy
= 12xy 2 , y(0) = 1.
dx
The equation is separable, so we separate variables and integrate both sides
Z Z
−2 1
y dy = 12x dx =⇒ − = 6x2 + c.
y

To find c we plug in the initial conditions x = 0, y = 1:

−1 = c =⇒ c = −1

which gives the implicit solution

1
− = 6x2 − 1.
y
To get the explicit solution we cross multiply and multiply by −1
1
y= .
1 − 6x2
Problem 5. (Section 2.5) Find the general solution to
ex
y ′′ − 2y ′ + y =
x
using variation of parameters.
Hint: the formula for variation of parameters with forcing function f (x) is

−y2 (x) · f (x) y1 (x) · f (x)

Z Z
yp (x) = y1 (x) dx + y2 (x) dx.
W (y1 , y2 ) W (y1 , y2 )

The associated homogeneous equation is

y ′′ − 2y ′ + y = 0

The characteristic equation is r2 − 2r + 1 = 0 which factors as (r − 1)2 = 0 so there is a repeated

root r = 1 and the complementary solution is given by

yc (x) = c1 ex + c2 xex .
ex
Now we apply the formula for variaition of parameters with y1 = ex , y2 = xex , and f = x. Firstly,
the Wronskian is

W (y1 , y2 ) = y1 y2′ − y1′ y2 = ex (ex + xex ) − ex · xex = e2x .

We have
ex
−y2 · f −xex ·
u′1 = = x
= −1
W (y1 , y2 ) e2x
then integrating with respect to x we find
Z Z
′
u1 = u1 dx = −1 dx = −x.

For u2 have x
y1 · f ex · ex 1
u′2 = = 2x
=
W (y1 , y2 ) e x
then integrating with respect to x we find
Z Z
′ 1
u2 = u2 dx = dx = ln |x|.
x

The particular solution is then

yp (x) = y1 u1 + y2 u2 = −xex + xex ln |x|

and the general solution is

y(x) = −xex + xex ln |x| + c1 ex + c2 xex .

Problem 6. (Section 2.5) Find the general solution of

y ′′ + 6y ′ + 9 = 86e3x .

The associated homogeneous equation is

y ′′ + 6y ′ + 9y = 0.

The characteristic polynomial is r2 + 6r + 9 = (r + 3)2 , where r = −3 is a double root and the

complementary solution is
yc (x) = c1 e−3x + c2 xe−3x .
The forcing function is f (x) = 86e3x , so the first guess for a particular solutions is yp (x) = Ae3x . To
find the constant A we plug into the original equation. First we calculate the derivatives

yp (x)′ = 3Ae3x , yp (x)′′ = 9Ae3x

Then we have
86e3x = 9Ae3x + 18Ae3x + 9Ae3x ⇐⇒ 86e3x = 36Ae3x
86 43 43 3x
so that A = 26 = 18 and the particular solution is yp (x) = 18 e . The general solution is

43 3x
y(x) = e + c1 e−3x + c2 xe−3x .
18