Problems solving this differential equation for a Pendulum with Mathematica

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around solving a differential equation related to a pendulum using Mathematica. Participants are addressing issues encountered while implementing the solution and plotting the results, focusing on both exact and approximate methods.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Homework-related
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses difficulty in solving the differential equation using Mathematica and seeks assistance with their code.
  • Another participant points out that the initial conditions provided are incorrect, suggesting that one should include the first derivative of phi.
  • A participant reports success in plotting the differential equations after adjusting the initial conditions and asks how to distinguish between the plotted functions.
  • Suggestions are made for including legends in the plot to differentiate the functions.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the need for correct initial conditions, but the discussion remains unresolved regarding the best methods for plotting and distinguishing the functions.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include potential misunderstandings of Mathematica syntax and the need for clarity in initial conditions and plotting techniques.

Lambda96
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TL;DR
Mathematica does not solve the differential equations
Hi,

unfortunately, I have problems that Mathematica does not solve the differential equation. The task is as follows and it is about the task c

Bildschirmfoto 2023-06-28 um 18.54.02.png


In the Mathematica Notebook, the following was written for task c

"You can use the following two lines of code to produce the solutions of the exact and approximated differential equations with boundary conditions. After that, write a plot[ ] function to sketch the two together."

exact[t_] := Evaluate[phi[t] /. NDSolve[..., phi[t], {t, 0, 20}]];
approx[t_] := Evaluate[phi[t] /. DSolve[..., phi[t], t]];I then tried to calculate the differential equation for equation (4) using the two codes and got the following

Bildschirmfoto 2023-06-28 um 18.58.49.png

I then tried solving the differential equation using only NDSolve and get the following.

Bildschirmfoto 2023-06-28 um 19.04.34.png

I am a beginner in Mathematica, so I do not know what I have done wrong in the two formulas?
 
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As the error messages say, your initial conditions are wrong. You have
Code:
phi[0]==0
and
Code:
phi[0]==Pi/2
which is not meaningful. You should have the first derivative of phi for one of those.
Code:
phi'[0]==...
 
Thanks Dale for your help and for looking over my code 👍

I have now tried plotting the differential equations again, but this time with phi'[0]=0 and with ##\gamma=0.1## and got the following.

Bildschirmfoto 2023-06-28 um 21.44.11.png

Is there any way that I can show in the plot which function is which?
 
Lambda96 said:
Is there any way that I can show in the plot which function is which?
There are different options. Try for instance
Code:
Plot[{exact[t],approx[t]},{t,0,20},PlotLegends->"Expressions"]
 
Thanks DrClaude for your help, this is exactly what I was looking for 👍
 
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