Analyzing a 2nd Order Non-Linear ODE with Variable Substitution

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
2 replies · 2K views
member 428835
Can someone check my work here? Both ##f=f(x)## and ##y=y(x)##.
$$f'y'+\frac{fy''}{1+y'^2}=0\implies\\
\frac{y''}{y'(1+y'^2)}=-\frac{f'}{f}\\
\frac{y''}{y'(1+y'^2)}=-\ln(f)$$
Now let ##v=y'##, which implies
$$
\int\frac{1}{v(1+v^2)}\,dv=-\int\ln(f)\,dx\implies\\
\ln(v) - \frac{1}{2}\ln(1 + v^2)+C=-\int\ln(f)\,dx\implies\\
\frac{y'}{\sqrt{1 + y'^2}}=k\exp\left[-\int\ln(f)\,dx\right]$$
Am I correct to this point? Also, how would you proceed?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
joshmccraney said:
Can someone check my work here? Both ##f=f(x)## and ##y=y(x)##.
$$f'y'+\frac{fy''}{1+y'^2}=0\implies\\
\frac{y''}{y'(1+y'^2)}=-\frac{f'}{f}\\
\frac{y''}{y'(1+y'^2)}=-\ln(f)$$

This last line is not correct. The right side should be [itex]-\frac{d}{dx} \ln f\left(x\right)[/itex]
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: member 428835