Diff Eq- Nonhomogeneous Equations

Totalderiv
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Homework Statement


Find a particular solution of the given equation.
y^''' + 4y^' = 3x-1

Homework Equations



r^3 + 4r = 0
r = 0, r = 2i, r = -2i

The Attempt at a Solution


y(x) = Ax-B
y^'(x) = A
y^''(x) = 0
y^'''(x) = 0


The answer is:
y(x)=(3/8)x^2 - (1/4)x
But I'm not sure how they came to this, please help!
 
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r=0 gives a constant as a solution of the homogeneous equation. So instead of trying Ax+B you must multiply by x and try ##y_p=Ax^2+Bx##.
 
Totalderiv said:
Thanks! I have another question though,

4y^'' + 4y^' + y = 3xe^x

How do I start this?

The same way you started the other one. You find the complementary solution and then use Undetermined Coefficients for the particular solution. Surely your text discusses the method of Undetermined Coefficients, doesn't it?
 
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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