Autonomous Differential Equation

n.a.s.h
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Homework Statement


solve the following...


dy/dt= 0.5(100-y) with initial condition:y(0)=20

Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution



i found the general equation to be I=0.5Ln |100-y|+c
but I am stuck as to what to do with the initial condition...
 
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n.a.s.h said:

Homework Statement


solve the following...


dy/dt= 0.5(100-y) with initial condition:y(0)=20

Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution



i found the general equation to be I=0.5Ln |100-y|+c
but I am stuck as to what to do with the initial condition...

What's "I"?

And you are saying that 0.5 * ln |100-y| + c is some kind of a solution to this DE?

\frac{dy}{dt} = \frac{100-y}{2}
 
yes i think its the general equation...
 
n.a.s.h said:
yes i think its the general equation...

I would say put t=0 and y=20 into that solution and then solve for the constant c, but I can't. Because there is no t. That's a problem. Can you show us how you got it? I think there's some other errors on the way.
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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