RyanTAsher said:
Here is my attempt at the answer using your method...
This is the books answer:
C1cos(t)+C2sin(t)-1/3tcos(2t)-5/9sin(2t)
I think I'm close but for some reason the coefficient pairing and solving just isn't intuitive to me...
Is there anyone who can explain to me the process of correctly paring the coefficients and solving?
As a slight extra polish, you could multiply the last two terms by 3, and not change the first two since their coefficients are arbitrary.
You ask the correct method. The correct method is the one that works and that is (for you) simplest. Ah, but if only we could always know that beforehand! Anyway, you made a guess and were told the guess is wrong, so maybe question is how to guess best.
All I can say is that I forget the famous "methods" in between each rare time I ever solve a non-homogeneous lde. So what I do is I look at the RHS and ask myself "What is the function that (in this case) twice (in this case - in others also once or occasionally maybe three or more times) differentiated gives that?"
Here I think I can handle the sine term so firstly the other. It's a product. Instead of cumbrously integrating it twice I think of Leibniz' Theorem for a product (uv)'' = (u''v + 2u'v' + uv'') . So say the last term of that is
(t cos 2t) , then u is t and v is (- cos 2t)/4 . Completing the Leibniz expression I find
[(-t cos 2t)/4]'' = sin t + t cos 2t
On LHS I want something of form Y'' + Y. From last eq. I get:
[(-t cos 2t)/4]'' + [(-t cos 2t)/4] = sin t + (3/4)(t cos 2t)
but to get back the term wanted on RHS, multiply by 4/3 and get
[(-t cos 2t)/3]'' + [(-t cos 2t)/3] = (4/3) sin t + t cos 2t. ... (1)
This is something like the form we want, but the RHS isn't quite and calls for adding (3 - 4/3) sin 2t = (5/4) sin 2t, to get the problem's RHS. And what is (sin 2t) second derivative of?
(- sin 2t)'' = 4 sin 2t
of course, and hammering as before to get a form (Y'' + Y) = (5/4) sin 2t, we find
[(-5/9) sin 2t]'' + (-5/9) sin 2t = (5/3) sin 2t. ...(2)
Adding (1) and (2) we have the p.i. given in your text.
Variations are possible, but doing too many steps in your head is liable to lead to mistakes that waste more time than you save.