Can the Separable First Order ODE be solved with a different answer?

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
5 replies · 5K views
shelovesmath
Messages
59
Reaction score
0
2r(s^2+1)dr + (r^4 + 1)ds = 0
2.book answer different than mine...book's answer: r^2 + s = c(1 -r^2 s)
3. 2r(s^2+1)dr =- (r^4 + 1)ds
-2r/r^4+1 dr = 1/s^2+1 ds
int -2r/r^4+1 dr = int 1/s^2+1 ds
with u substitution on left we have u = -2r, etc.
tan^-1 r^2 = - tan^ -1 s + c
tan^-1 r^2 + tan^-1 s = c
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
Don't forget brackets in writing, it may confuse people.
We have ∫ -2r/(r⁴+1) dr = ∫ 1/(s²+1) ds. The left integral gives -arctan(r²), the right arctan(s), so c - arctan(r²) = arctan(s). (You forgot the minus sign from the variable change). Taking the tangens on both sides and using the addition theorem we have
s = tan [ c - arctan(r²) ] = ( tan c - r² )/( 1 + r² tan c ), so that with c' = tan c we get
( 1 + r² c' ) s = c' - r² which is exactly what your book gave you.
 
grey_earl said:
Taking the tangens on both sides and using the addition theorem we have
s = tan [ c - arctan(r²) ] = ( tan c - r² )/( 1 + r² tan c ), so that with c' = tan c we get
( 1 + r² c' ) s = c' - r² which is exactly what your book gave you.

I, uh, don't remember the tangents theorem. Calculus topic? Precalc? I'll go google I guess. Thanks for the feedback.
 
The derivative of the answer should then match the initial problem; however, this did not work out for me. Does it check out for you?
 
It doesn't look as you have completed the calculation. Take tan of both sides and use the trig expression for tan(A+B)
 
We have tan(a+b) = [ tan a + tan b ]/[ 1 - tan a tan b ], which can be derived using the addition theorems for sine and cosine.

And, if you derive r² + s = c(1 - r² s), you should get 2 r dr + ds = - c (2 r dr s) - c (r² ds), so ( 1 + c s ) 2 r dr + ( 1 + c r² ) ds = 0, which after substituting c from the result and multiplying by (1- r² s) simplifies to ( 1 + s² ) 2 r dr + ( 1 + r⁴ ) ds = 0, which is the original equation.
 
Last edited: