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Math 4430:
Ordinary Differential Equations
Exam 2
Instructions: Answer each question to the best of your ability. You MUST SHOW ALL
WORK for full credit. Clearly indicate your final answers. Good luck!

Problem

Points

12

12

10

10

Total:

50

Score

Important: I have read and understand the CU honor code and by signing below I affirm
that I have neither given nor received aid on this exam.

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1. Solve the IVP:

y 00 6y 0 + 9y = 0;

y(0) = 0, y 0 (0) = 1.

Solution
The characteristic equation is r2 6r + 9r = 0, which factors as (r 3)2 = 0, so this
equation has a double root of r = 3. The the general solution in this case is
y(x) = c1 e3x + c2 xe3x .
To find c1 and c2 we apply the first initial condition to get
0 = c1 e0 + c2 (0)(e0 ) = c1 .
Using this fact we compute


3x

y (x) = c2 e

3x

+ 3xe


.

Applying the second initial condition gives



0
0
1 = c2 e + 3(0)(e ) = c2 .
Then the specific solution to the IVP is
y(x) = xe3x .

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Page 3

2. Using the method of variation of parameters, find a particular solution to the equation
y 00 4y = e2x .

Solution
By the variation of parameters method, there exists a particular solution
= u1 y1 + u2 y2 .
The characteristic equation is r2 4 = 0 so r = 2. Then we have distinct real roots
r1 = 2 and r2 = 2 so we may take
y1 = e2x

and

y2 = e2x .

We compute
W [e2x , e2x ] = e2x (2e2x ) 2e2x (e2x ) = 4.
To find u1 we compute
Z
Z
Z
y2 g(x)
e2x e2x
1
x
u1 =
dx =
dx =
dx = .
W
4
4
4
To find u2 we compute
Z
Z 2x 2x
Z
e4x
y1 g(x)
e e
e4x
u2 =
dx =
dx =
dx =
.
W
4
4
16
Then a particular solution is
1
1
= xe2x e2x
4
16
or since the second term is a solution to the homogeneous equation, a simpler particular
solution is given by
1
= xe2x .
4

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Page 4

3. Consider the differential equation

2y 00 3y 0 + y = (x 2)ex/2 .
By the method of judicious guessing, what is the appropriate guess for the form of the
particular solution ?

Solution
The characteristic equation is 2r2 3r + 1 = 0 which has roots r1 = 1/2 and r2 = 1.
Since 1/2 is a root, the method judicious guessing suggests the form
= (Ax + Bx2 )ex/2 .

Based on your guess, solve for the undetermined coefficients.

We compute


2
= A + (A/2 + 2B)x + (B/2)x ex/2
0

and


= (A + 2B) + (A/4 + 2B)x + (B/4)x ex/2 .
00

Plugging these into the differential equation and canceling the exponential terms, the
LHS becomes



 

2
2
2
2 (A + 2B) + (A/4 + 2B)x + (B/4)x 3 A + (A/2 + 2B)x + (B/2)x + Ax + Bx
which simplifies to
(A + 4B) + (2B)x
so we have
(A + 4B) + (2B)x = x 2.
Comparing coefficients gives
2B = 1

and

A + 4B = 2.

The first equation gives B = 1/2. Plugging this into the second equation gives A = 0.
Thus our particular solution is
1 2 x/2
xe .
=
2

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4. Find the Laplace transform of each of the following functions:

sin(x)
0x<
(a) f (x) =

x
x .

Solution
We first rewrite f (x) in terms of Heaviside functions as
f (x) = (H0 H ) sin(x) + H x
= sin(x) H sin(x) + H x
= sin(x) + H sin(x ) + H (x ) + H

definition of Hc
since H0 = 1
algebra/trig

Now applying L via the table and using property 3 we get

F (s) =

1
es
es es
+
+
+
s2 + 1 s2 + 1
s2
s

(b) The function y(x) where y(x) satisfies

y 00 + 2y = cosh(2x);

y(0) = 0, y 0 (0) = 1.

Solution
Applying L to both sides gives
(Y 1) + 2Y =

s2

s
4

and now solving for Y (s) we get

1
Y (s) =
3


s
+1 .
s2 4

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Page 6

5. Find the inverse Laplace transform of each of the following functions:

(a) F (s) =

e3s
s2 2s + 5

Solution
Completing the square in the bottom we rewrite F (s) as
e3s
e3s
=
F (s) = 2
s 2s + 5
(s 1)2 + 4
From the table and property 2 we have that


1
1
L
= ex sin(2x)
(s 1)2 + 4
Now by property 3 we get


e3s
1
L
= H3 ex3 sin(2(x 3)) = H3 ex3 sin(2x 6).
(s 1)2 + 4
(b) F (s) =

s+1
(s 1)10

Solution
Using algebra we can rewrite F (s) as
F (s) =

s+1
s1
2
1
2
9!
10!
=
+
=
+
.
10
10
10
9
(s 1)
(s 1)
(s 1)
9! (s 1)
10! (s 1)10

Now by linearity and property 2 we have



s+1
1
2 9 x
1
L
= x8 ex +
xe .
10
(s 1)
9!
10!

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Page 7

The following table lists several common functions f (x) and their Laplace transform
F (s).

f (x)

F (s)

f (x)

1
s

sin(x)

xn

eax

cos(x)

n!
sn+1

1
sa

s2

s
+ 2

cosh(x)

sinh(x)

(x c)

F (s)

s2

+ 2

s2

s
2

s2

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