Solving Equation: ln(y)(x^4 - y^4) + ln(x)(y^4 - x^4) + (y^2 - x^2)^2 = 0

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The equation ln(y)(x^4 - y^4) + ln(x)(y^4 - x^4) + (y^2 - x^2)^2 = 0 is discussed with a focus on finding the value of x when y=5. The conversation highlights that while x=5 is a trivial solution, numeric methods are necessary to find other potential solutions due to the complexity of the equation. Participants emphasize the importance of plotting the function to visualize its behavior, noting that it tends to -infinity for x<5 and +infinity for x>5. The discussion concludes that x=5 is likely the only solution corresponding to y=5, reaffirming the need for careful consideration of the equation's domain. Overall, the thread provides insights into solving complex equations and the utility of graphical analysis.
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Hello All,

Could you please indicate me how to resolve this equation:

ln(y) (x^4 - y^4)+ ln(x) (y^4 - x^4) + (y^2 - x^2)^2 = 0

I am really struggling with it...

Thanks in advance,

C:)
 
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What exactly do you mean by solving it? What do you need to do?
 
Mentallic,

Thanks a lot for your reply.
I mean, I want to know the value of "X" when "Y=5".

Thanks in advance,
 
CIMP said:
Mentallic,

Thanks a lot for your reply.
I mean, I want to know the value of "X" when "Y=5".

Thanks in advance,

Hey CIMP and welcome to the forums.

Do you know about root finding algorithms?
 
CIMP said:
Mentallic,

Thanks a lot for your reply.
I mean, I want to know the value of "X" when "Y=5".

Thanks in advance,

Then what you're looking for is to solve explicitly for x. However, you can't do that with the use of elementary functions (the usual - addition, multiplication, square roots, powers, trig, exponentials). You will need to find a numeric approximation to the answer.

There are trivial solutions however such as y=x and y=-x, but notice that with logarithms present in the equation, this means you need to restrict x and y to be more than zero, so only y=x, x>0 is a trivial solution.

So, if y=5 then x=5 as well, but that's not the only solution. The others can be found by numeric methods.
 
How about this, to get going:

x^4-y^4=-(y^4-x^4)

So you could write (ln(y)-ln(x))(x^4-y^4)+(y^2-x^2)^2=0
ln(y/x)(x^4-y^4)+(y^2-x^2)^2=0
ln(y/x)(x^4-y^4)=-(y^2-x^2)^2
ln(y/x)(x^2-y^2)(x^2+y^2)=-(y^2-x^2)^2
ln(y/x)(x^2+y^2)=(y^2-x^2)
ln(y/x)=(y^2-x^2)/R^2

Where R is the distance from the origin.

I don't know if this helps at all- it may give you a better idea of what the graph looks like though :rolleyes:
 
Hello Mentallic,
Thank you very much for your help. I really could advance more with your explanation. I made a plot as suggested by Jamma, and I could see that the function when X<5 it tend to -infinit and if X>5 it also tends to +infinit.

Hello Jama,
Thank you very much for your advice. It is vey useful to make a plot of the function before going to more sophisticated things!

Hello Chiro,
I use Maxima and Matlab and it was the first time that I was looking how to extract the root algoritms with them, but it was quite harder to use it... :bugeye:In fact, I pass all the day of yesterday dealing with that. Then I give up and I ploted the function and it was easy easier to see that it has just one solution when X=5. By lucky!
But I need to learn how to use the software...

Thanks everybody. I am so happy to be in this forum. Thansk again for your time and help...

CIMP
 
CIMP said:
I could see that the function when X<5 it tend to -infinit and if X>5 it also tends to +infinit.

Not quite. Even though ln(y/x) is real for x,y<0, the original equation was of the form ln(y)-ln(x) in which case x,y<0 is NOT valid. You need to keep in mind that whatever transformations you do, you only consider the domain of the original function, not your manipulated function.
 
Mentallic said:
Then what you're looking for is to solve explicitly for x. However, you can't do that with the use of elementary functions (the usual - addition, multiplication, square roots, powers, trig, exponentials). You will need to find a numeric approximation to the answer.

There are trivial solutions however such as y=x and y=-x, but notice that with logarithms present in the equation, this means you need to restrict x and y to be more than zero, so only y=x, x>0 is a trivial solution.

So, if y=5 then x=5 as well, but that's not the only solution. The others can be found by numeric methods.

Actually, I'm going to have to disagree with you here. It looks to me as if x=5 IS the only solution corresponding to y=5.
 
  • #10
Char. Limit said:
Actually, I'm going to have to disagree with you here. It looks to me as if x=5 IS the only solution corresponding to y=5.

Ahh yes they're in fact double roots. Thanks for spotting it!

\ln{y}(x^4-y^4)+\ln{x}(y^4-x^4)+(y^2-x^2)^2=0

(y^2-x^2)\left(\ln{\frac{1}{y}}(x^2+y^2)+\ln{x}(x^2+y^2)+y^2-x^2\right)=0

The first factor corresponds to the roots of y=\pm x thus only y=x, x&gt;0 to satisfy the domain, and the second factor is

\ln{\frac{x}{y}}(x^2+y^2)=x^2-y^2

Which gives us the same roots as the other factor, since ln(1)=0.
 
  • #11
Yes! :smile:
Thanks!

"Mathematics is the language of nature..."
 
  • #12
thanks, i hat the same question
 
  • #13
So we've just solved all your homework for you guys, pfft.
 
  • #14
CIMP, in the future, please post your questions in the homework help section.
 

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