For the nonhomogeneous case, suppose we have the

particular solution y = y p so that y p′ + p(x)y p = g(x).

If ya is any other solution of (I.2), then ya′ + p(x)ya =

g(x). Setting z = ya − y p , we have

z ′ + p(x)z = 0,

that is, z is a solution of the homogeneous equation.

The previous theorem shows that

ya (x)− y p (x) = ce−P(x) ⇔ ya (x) = y p (x)+ce−P(x) .

Theorem I.2. The general solution of the first order

linear o.d.e. y ′ + p(x)y = g(x) is

y(x) = y p (x) + ce−P(x) ,

where y p (x) is any solution of the o.d.e., c is an arbitrary

R
constant, and P(x) = p(x) dx .

OHP 16
Thus one method for finding the general solution of a
first order o.d.e. is to find the solution of the homoge-
neous equation as well as a particular solution of the
nonhomogeneous equation. We could ‘guess’ a partic-
ular solution y p .

Example 4.1. Consider a electrical circuit with current

I (t) at time t, constant resistance R, constant induc-
tance L, and voltage V (t) at time t.

V(t)

OHP 17
The current in this circuit satisfies the differential equa-
tion
dI dI R V (t)
L + R I = V (t) or + I = . (I.4)
dt dt L L
This last equation is of the form (I.2) with p(t) = R/L.

Setting α = R/L, the general solution of the homoge-

neous equation is then

I (t) = ce−αt .

Suppose V (t) = V0 , a constant. We might expect a

particular solution I p to be a constant, say A.

Substitution of A into the first equation in (I.4) shows

that R A = V0 , that is, I p (t) = A = V0 /R.

So the solution of the problem is

V0
I (t) = + ce−αt .
R
If we have the initial condition I (0) = 0, then c =
−V0 /R. ⊠

OHP 18
Example 4.2. For the electrical circuit of Example 4.1,
suppose V (t) = V0 t, that is, a straight line of slope V0 .
If we try I p (t) = a + bt, then we require

Lb + R(a + bt) = V0 t.

This leads to the equations

Lb + Ra = 0 and Rb = V0 .

Solving these two simultaneous equations yields (with

α = R/L)

V0 Lb V0
b= and a = − =− .
R R αR
Thus the particular solution is
 
V0 t V0 V0 1
I p (t) = − = t− ,
R αR R α

and so the general solution of the nonhomogeneous

equation is
 
V0 1
I (t) = t− + ce−αt .
R α

OHP 19
If the current is 0 at t = 0, then

V0 V0
− +c =0⇔c = ,
Rα Rα
and hence
V0 −αt


I (t) = αt − 1 + e .
Rα

OHP 20