Differential Equations : Nonhomogeneous Linear Systems

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Differential Equations

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Example Questions

Example Question #11 : System Of Linear First Order Differential Equations

Solve the following system.  

Possible Answers:

a

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, we will need the complementary solution, and a fundamental matrix for the homogeneous system. Thus, we find the characteristic equation of the matrix given.

Using , we then find the eigenvectors by solving for the eigenspace.

This has solutions , or . So a suitable eigenvector is simply .

Repeating for ,

This has solutions , and thus a suitable eigenvector is . Thus, our complementary solution is  and our fundamental matrix (though in this case, not the matrix exponential) is . Variation of parameters tells us that the particular solution is given by , so first we find  using the inverse rule for 2x2 matrices. Thus, . Plugging in, we have . So  .

Finishing up, we have .

Adding the particular solution to the homogeneous, we get a final general solution of 

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