transgalactic said:
http://i40.tinypic.com/30lcmm0.gif
here is the full solution that i was presented
i can't see what is the continuity.
from the KCL eqaution i will get
v+cv'=1
i can't understand the disappearance of the parameter in the next line
it makes no sense
and this is a formal solution so it has to be correct
??
Correct - the parameter should not disappear as it seems to have done in the next line. This is either a mistake that your instructor made or that you made when you were taking notes. On the other hand, where does c come from? I don't see anything in your drawing that shows this. Isn't this the capacitance, which you show as 4 F.?
So it appears that the problem is:
cv' + v = 1
From your notes, it appears that your initial condition is v(0) = 4. Shouldn't this be 2 volts? That's the voltage from the battery or power supply. The part about continuity is that the voltage across the capacitor has to be the same just before t = 0 as just after t = 0, which is the same as it must be right at t = 0.
Now, put the solution you have somewhere that you can't see it.
In fact, throw it away! We don't need it any more. Stop telling us about it.
You need to do two things:
- Solve the homogeneous equation: cv' + v = 0, or maybe it is 4v' + v = 0. Cyosis and dx have given you at least a couple of ways to do this. Your solution to the homogeneous equation, vh will be Ae-t/c or maybe Ae-t/4, if c is as I think it is. From your initial condition you can solve for A.
- Find a particular (not private) solution to the nonhomogeneous equation. I would try vp = K, and substitute this into the equation cv' + v = 1 (or maybe 4v' + v = 1), to see what K needs to be.
Your general solution (not formal solution) will be the homogeneous solution v
h plus the particular solution, v
p.
You can check that it actually is a solution by substituting it back into your differential equation cv' + v = 1 (or maybe it's 4v' + v = 1). It should also be true that v(0) = 4 (or whatever it's supposed to be, as I mentioned above.
If your solution satisfies the DE and the initial condition, then that's the solution. If the one that you threw away is different in any appreciable way,
then it is not the solution.