Application based Problems

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publications. They may be distributed outside this class only with the permission of the
Instructor.

Population Growth

Example 1: If the population of a country doubles in 50 years, in how many years will it treble under the
assumption that the rate of increase is proportional to the number of inhabitants?

Solution: Let the population be 𝑥 at time 𝑡 (in years) and 𝑥0 be the population when 𝑡 = 0. Then, given

𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
∝ 𝑥 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 = 𝑘𝑥 ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ (1)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

where 𝑘 is the constant of proportionality.

𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
(1) ⟹ = 𝑘𝑑𝑡 ⟹ ∫ = ∫ 𝑘𝑑𝑡 ⟹ ln 𝑥 − ln 𝑐 = 𝑘𝑡
𝑥 𝑥

∴ ln(𝑥 ⁄𝑐) = 𝑘𝑡 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑥 = 𝑐𝑒 𝑘𝑡 ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ (2)

By our assumption, when 𝑡 = 0, 𝑥 = 𝑥0 so that

(2) ⟹ 𝑥0 = 𝑐 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜 (2) ⟹ 𝑥 = 𝑥0 𝑒 𝑘𝑡 ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ (3)

Given 𝑥 = 2𝑥0 when 𝑡 = 50 so (3) yields

2𝑥0 = 𝑥0 𝑒 50𝑘 ⟹ 50𝑘 = ln 2 ⟹ 𝑘 = (ln 2)/50 ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ (4)

Next, let the population treble in 𝑡 ′ years.

′ ln 3
∴From (3),3𝑥0 = 𝑥0 𝑒 𝑘𝑡 ⟹ 𝑘𝑡 ′ = ln 3 ⟹ 𝑡 ′ = (ln 3)/𝑘 = 50
ln 2

or, 𝑡 ′ ≈ 79.25 years.

 The population of a community is known to increase at a rate proportional to the number of
people present at time t. If an initial population P0 has doubled in 5 years, how long will it take to
triple? To quadruple?
Hints:

 Suppose it is known that the population of the community in Problem 1 is 10,000 after 3 years.
What was the initial population P0? What will be the population in 10 years? How fast is the
population growing at 𝑡 = 10?
Hints:

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  The population of bacteria in a culture grows at a rate proportional to the number of bacteria
present at time t. After 3 hours it is observed that 400 bacteria are present. After 10 hours 2000
bacteria are present. What was the initial number of bacteria?
Hints:

Exercise Problems:

1. The number of bacteria in a yeast culture grows at a rate which is proportional to the number
present. If the population of a colony of yeast bacteria triples in 1 hour, find the number of bacteria
which will be present at the end of 5 hours.

Answer: The bacteria are expected to grow 35 times at the end of 5 hours.

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 The radioactive isotope of lead, Pb-209, decays at a rate proportional to the amount present at
time t and has a half life of 3.3 hours. If 1 gram of this isotope is present initially, how long will it
take for 90% of the lead to decay?
Hints:

 Initially 100 milligrams of a radioactive substance was present. After 6 hours the mass had
decreased by 3%. If the rate of decay is proportional to the amount of the substance present at
time t, find the amount remaining after 24 hours.
Hints:

 Determine the half-life of the radioactive substance described in the above Problem 6.
Hints:

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Carbon dating:
When the nitrogen in the Earth’s upper atmosphere is bombarded by cosmic radiation, the
radioactive element carbon-14 is produced. This carbon-14 combines with oxygen to form
carbon dioxide, which is ingested by plants, which in turn are eaten by animals. In this way all
living plants and animals absorb quantities of radioactive carbon-14. In 1947 the American
nuclear scientist W. F. Libby∗ proposed the theory that the percentage of carbon-14 in the
atmosphere and in living tissues of plants is the same. When a plant or animal dies, the carbon-
14 in the tissue begins to decay. Thus, the age of an artifact that contains plant or animal material
can be estimated by determining what percentage of its original carbon 14 content remains.
Various procedures, called carbon dating or carbon-14 dating, have been developed for
measuring this percentage.
Libby’s calculated value of the half-life of C-14 was approximately 5600 years, but today the
commonly accepted value of the half-life is approximately 5730 years. For his work, Libby
was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1960. Libby’s method has been used to date
wooden furniture found in Egyptian tombs, the woven flax wrappings of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a
recently discovered copy of the Gnostic Gospel of Judas written on papyrus, and the cloth of the
enigmatic Shroud of Turin.

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 Example 2: In 1988 the Vatican authorized the British Museum to date
a cloth relic known as the Shroud of Turin, possibly the burial shroud of
Jesus of Nazareth. This cloth, which first surfaced in 1356, contains the
negative image of a human body that was widely believed to be that of
Jesus. The report of the British Museum showed that the fibers in the
cloth contained between 92% and 93% of their original carbon-14. Use
this information to estimate the age of the shroud.

 The Shroud of Turin, which shows the negative image of the body of a man who appears to have
been crucified, is believed by many to be the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth. In 1988 the
Vatican granted permission to have the shroud carbon-dated. Three independent scientific
laboratories analyzed the cloth and concluded that the shroud was approximately 660 years old, *
an age consistent with its historical appearance. Using this age, determine what percentage of
the original amount of C-14 remained in the cloth as of 1988.

Hints:

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Hints:

Newton’s law of cooling

Example 1: According to Newton’s law of cooling, the rate at which a substance cools in moving air is
proportional to the difference between the temperature of the substance and that of the air. If the
temperature of the air is 290 K and the substance cools from 370 K to 330 K in 10 minutes, find when the
temperature will be 295K.

Solution: Let 𝑇 be the temperature of the substance at the time 𝑡 (in minutes). Then, by hypothesis, we
have

𝑑𝑇 𝑑𝑇
= −𝜆(𝑇 − 290) 𝑜𝑟, = −𝜆𝑑𝑡 ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ (1)
𝑑𝑡 𝑇 − 290

where𝜆 is a positive constant of proportionality.

Integrating (1) between the limits 𝑡 = 0, 𝑇 = 370𝐾 and 𝑡 = 10 minutes, 𝑇 = 330𝐾, we have
330 10
𝑑𝑇
∫ = −𝜆 ∫ 𝑑𝑡 ⇒ [ln(𝑇 − 290)]330
370 = −10𝜆
𝑇 − 290
370 0

⇒ −10𝜆 = ln 40 − ln 80 ⇒ 10𝜆 = ln 80 − ln 40

1
⇒ 10𝜆 = ln 2 ⇒ 𝜆 = ln 2 ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ (2)
10

Again, assuming that 𝑡 = 𝑡 ′ minutes when 𝑇 = 295𝐾 and so integrating (1) between the limits

𝑡 = 0, 𝑇 = 370𝐾and𝑡 = 𝑡 ′ (minutes) , 𝑇 = 295𝐾, we have

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 295 𝑡′
𝑑𝑇
∫ = −𝜆 ∫ 𝑑𝑡 ⇒ [ln(𝑇 − 290)]295
370 = −𝜆𝑡
′
𝑇 − 290
370 0

⇒ −𝜆𝑡 ′ = ln 5 − ln 80 ⇒ 𝜆𝑡 ′ = ln 80 − ln 5

1
⇒ 𝜆𝑡 ′ = ln 16 ⇒ ( ln 2) 𝑡 ′ = 4 ln 2
10

⇒ 𝑡 ′ = 40 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠.

Exercise Problems:

2. The number of bacteria in a yeast culture grows at a rate which is proportional to the number
present. If the population of a colony of yeast bacteria triples in 1 hour, find the number of bacteria
which will be present at the end of 5 hours.

Answer: The bacteria are expected to grow 35 times at the end of 5 hours.

3. Air at temperature 200K is passed over a substance at 300K. The temperature of the substance cools
down to 260 K in 30 minutes. Assuming that the rate at which a substance cools in moving air is
proportional to the difference between the temperature of the substance and that of the air, find after
what time the temperature of the substance would be 240K.

Answer: 53.8 minutes.

(Application of Linear Equations) Series Circuits: For a series circuit containing only a resistor and an
inductor, Kirchhoff’s second law states that the sum of the voltage drop across the inductor (𝐿(𝑑𝑖/𝑑𝑡))
and the voltage drop across the resistor (𝑖𝑅) is the same as the impressed voltage (𝐸(𝑡)) on the circuit.
See Figure 1.

Figure 1: LR Series Circuit

Thus we obtain the linear differential equation for the current 𝑖(𝑡),

𝑑𝑖
𝐿 + 𝑅𝑖 = 𝐸(𝑡) ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ (1)
𝑑𝑡

where 𝐿 and 𝑅 are constants known as the inductance and the resistance, respectively. The current 𝑖(𝑡) is
also called the response of the system.
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The voltage drop across a capacitor with capacitance 𝐶 is given by 𝑞(𝑡)/𝐶, where 𝑞 is the charge on
the capacitor. Hence, for the series circuit shown in Figure 2, Kirchhoff’s second law gives

1
𝑅𝑖 + 𝑞 = 𝐸(𝑡) ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ (2)
𝐶

Figure 2: RC Series Circuit

But current 𝑖 and charge 𝑞 are related by 𝑖 = 𝑑𝑞/𝑑𝑡, so (2) becomes the linear differential equation

𝑑𝑞 1
𝑅 + 𝑞 = 𝐸(𝑡) ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ (3)
𝑑𝑡 𝐶

1
Example: A 12-volt battery is connected to a series circuit in which the inductance is 2 henry and the
resistance is 10 ohms. Determine the current 𝑖 if the initial current is zero.

Solution: We know, for a series circuit containing only a resistor and an inductor, Kirchhoff’s second law
states that the sum of the voltage drop across the inductor (𝐿(𝑑𝑖/𝑑𝑡)) and the voltage drop across the
resistor (𝑖𝑅) is the same as the impressed voltage (𝐸(𝑡)) on the circuit.

Thus we obtain the linear differential equation for the current 𝑖(𝑡),

𝑑𝑖
𝐿 + 𝑅𝑖 = 𝐸(𝑡)
𝑑𝑡
1 𝑑𝑖
⇒ + 10𝑖 = 12
2 𝑑𝑡

subject to 𝑖(0) = 0. First, we multiply the differential equation by 2.

𝑑𝑖
+ 20𝑖 = 24 ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ (1)
𝑑𝑡

Integration factor = 𝑒 ∫ 20𝑑𝑡 = 𝑒 20𝑡

Multiplying (1) by 𝑒 20𝑡 both sides,

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 𝑑𝑖 𝑑
𝑒 20𝑡 + 20𝑖𝑒 20𝑡 = 24𝑒 20𝑡 ⇒ (𝑖𝑒 20𝑡 ) = 24𝑒 20𝑡
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
24 20𝑡 6
⇒ 𝑖𝑒 20𝑡 = ∫ 24𝑒 20𝑡 𝑑𝑡 ⇒ 𝑖𝑒 20𝑡 = 𝑒 + 𝐶 ⇒ 𝑖(𝑡) = + 𝐶𝑒 −20𝑡
20 5
6 6
Now 𝑖(0) = 0 implies 0 = 5 + 𝐶 ⇒ 𝐶 = − 5

6 6
Therefore the response is 𝑖(𝑡) = 5 − 5 𝑒 −20𝑡 .

Exercise:

A 100-volt electromotive force is applied to an 𝑅𝐶-series circuit in which the resistance is 200 ohms and
the capacitance is 10−4 farad. Find the charge 𝑞(𝑡) on the capacitor if 𝑞(0) = 0.Find the current 𝑖(𝑡).

Answer:

1 1 −50𝑡 1
𝑞(𝑡) = − 𝑒 ; 𝑖(𝑡) = 𝑒 −50𝑡
100 100 2

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