Help! Solving a Differential Equation with Laplace

Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around solving a differential equation using Laplace transforms. The specific equation is a second-order linear differential equation with a non-homogeneous term involving an exponential and a sine function.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the standard approach of solving the homogeneous equation first and then finding a particular solution. There are suggestions to use trial solutions involving exponential and trigonometric functions.

Discussion Status

The conversation includes attempts to verify the correctness of the book's answer, with some participants expressing doubt about the provided solution. There is mention of using online calculators as a resource for checking work.

Contextual Notes

One participant notes a lack of access to MATLAB, which may limit their ability to verify their solution. Additionally, there is an indication that the attachment containing the problem details has not been reviewed yet.

silvrstring
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hello everyone.

I think Pierre-Simon Laplace is alive and well and he is trying to kill me, or drive me mad. I am trying to solve the attached problem. It is a differential equation---D2x+Dx-2*x=5*e^(-t)*sin(t). I have repeatedly tried to solve this problem. I don't like asking for help with homework, but I desperately want to know what I am doing wrong. I would like to think that the book has the wrong answer (it has happened before). Unfortunately, I don't have access to my MATLab, right now---I don't know why. So, I can't check it.

The problem, and one of my several attempts at the solution, are attached. I hope you can help me see my error(s).
 

Attachments

  • Laplace5.jpg
    Laplace5.jpg
    24.5 KB · Views: 415
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
Unfortunately I can't see the attachment yet. But generally one would first solve the homogeneous problem and try to find a particular solution.
The homogeneous problem is
[tex]x''(t) + x'(t) - 2 x(t) = 0[/tex]
so the standard approach is plugging in [itex]x = e^{\lambda t}[/itex] as a trial solution.
For the inhomogeneous problem, you have something with trig functions, so I'd try plugging in [itex]x = \left[ A cos(t) + B sin(t) \right] e^{-t}[/itex] and try to solve for A and B to find a particular solution.

Otherwise, I'm waiting for the attachment to be approved :)
 
I got the same answer you did. Seems like there's something wrong with the book's answer. By the way, being lazy, I used the online calculators at wims:
http://wims.unice.fr/wims/
 
Welp, the book was wrong. The written answer is correct. Thanks for responding, though.
I'll check out the wims calculator Defennder. Thanks for the tip.
 

Similar threads

Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
Replies
10
Views
2K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
Replies
9
Views
3K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
1K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
1K