Applications of Ordinary Differential Equations (Modelling Problems)

Modelling means setting up a mathematical model of a physical or other system. The

model may be a function to be evaluated or plotted or a differential or other equation to be solved. In
this section we consider systems that can be modelled in terms of a separable differential equation.
Definition:
Whenever a physical law involves a rate of change of a function such as velocity, acceleration etc. it
will lead to a differential equation and that equation is known as Mathematical model of that physical
process.

In this section we shall solve the following four types of Modelling problems:
Type-I: Growth/Decay Problem
In this case the amount y (t ) at time t is directly proportional to the rate of change of y (t ) .
dy
 y (t ),  y  ky(t )
dt
The sign of k depends on growth and decay of the physical process.
Problem Set-1.1
Q.17) Half-Life (Time in which half of the given amount of radioactive substance disappears)
What is the half-life of 88 Ra 226 (in years)?
Solution: Let y (t ) be the amount of radioactive substance at time t .
dy
The rate of change w.r.to time is .
dt
By the physical law governing the process of radiation
dy
 y (t ),  y  ky(t )
dt
The constant k  0 is a definite physical constant whose numerical value is known for various
radioactive substance.
In case of Radium 88 Ra 226 , the value of k  1.4  1011 sec1 .
Let the initial amount of radioactive substance at time t  0 be y0 .
Hence the initial condition is y (0)  y0 .
The initial value problem is
dy
 ky(t ), y (0)  y0
dt
Solving the differential equation by separating variables we get
dy
 y 
 kdt ,  ln y  kt  C1  y (t )  Ce kt

Using the initial condition we find C  y0

Hence the solution is y (t )  y0ekt
y
We have to find out the time during which half of the substance disappeared i.e. y (t )  0 .
2
y ln 2 ln 2
 0  y0ekt , t    1011 sec  1570 years .
2  k 1.4
Q.18) Radium 88 Ra 224 has a half-life of about 3.6 days.
a. Given 1 gram, how much will be still present after 1 day?
b. After 1 year?
Solution:
a. Initial amount is given 1 gram.
In this case the initial value problem is
dy
 ky(t ), y (0)  1
dt
Solving this we get y (t )  ekt .
It is given that the Radium 88 Ra 224 has a half-life of about 3.6 days.
That means in 3.6 days initial amount 1 gram becomes 0.5 gram.
 y(3.6)  0.5
 ln 2
 0.5  ek (3.6) k 
3.6
Hence y (t )  e(ln 2 / 3.6)t gram.
After 1 day it becomes y(1)  e ln 2 / 3.6  0.8248605943 gram.
b. After 1 year=365 days it becomes y (365)  e(  ln 2 / 3.6)365  3.01233465 1031 gram.
Q.20) The efficiency of the engine of subsonic airplanes depends on air pressure and usually is
maximum near about 35,000 ft. Find the air pressure y (x) at this height. The rate of change y(x) is
proportional to the pressure. At 18,000 ft. it is half its value y0  y (0) at sea level.
Solution: Let y (x) be the air pressure. It is given that y( x) y ( x) .
 y( x)  ky
At sea level air pressure is y0 , the given initial condition is y0  y (0) .
Again it is given that at 18,000 ft. the pressure is decreased to half its value y0 .
Hence the 2nd initial condition is y (18000)  y0 / 2 .
The initial value problem is
y( x)  ky, y (0)  y0 and y (18000)  y0 / 2
Solving the ODE we get
y( x)  Ce kx
Using the initial condition y (0)  y0 we find C  y0
Hence y ( x)  y0ekx
Again using y (18000)  y0 / 2 we get
y0
 y0e18000k  k   ln 2 / 18000
2
 y ( x)  y0e(  ln 2 / 18000) x
The pressure at 35,000 ft. height is
y0
 y (35000)  y0e(  ln 2 / 18000)35000  .
4
Problem Set-1.3
Q.12) If the growth rate of the number of bacteria at any time t is proportional to the number present at
t and doubles in 1 week, how many bacteria can be expected after 2 weeks? After 4 weeks?
Solution: Let y (t ) be the number of bacteria present at time t .
It is given that the growth rate of the number of bacteria at any time t is proportional to the number
present at t .
dy
 y (t ),  y  ky(t )
dt
Let y0 be the number of bacteria initially present at time t  0 . After 1 week it is doubled.
Hence initial conditions are y (0)  y0 , y (1)  2 y0
Solving the ODE y  ky we obtain
y(t )  Ce kt
Using the initial condition y (0)  y0 we find C  y0
The solution becomes y (t )  y0ekt .
Again using y (1)  2 y0 we obtain
2 y0  y0ek ,  ln 2  k
Thus the number of bacteria present at time t is
y (t )  y0e(ln 2)t
The expected number of bacteria after 2 weeks be
y (2)  y0e2(ln 2)  4 y0
After 4 weeks y (4)  y0e4(ln 2)  16 y0 .
Q.20) If the birth rate and death rate of the number of bacteria are proportional to the number of
bacteria present, what is the population as a function of time?
Solution: Let y (t ) be the individual present at time t .
Let B (t ) be the individual birth at time t and D(t ) be the individual death at time t .
It is given that
dB dD
 y (t ) and  y (t )
dt dt
dB dD
  k1 y and  k2 y
dt dt
dB dD
   (k1  k2 ) y
dt dt
dy
  (k1  k2 ) y
dt
Solving the ODE we get y(t )  Ce( k1 k2 )t .
If k1  k2  0 then population increase and if k1  k2  0 then population decrease.
Q.27) (Dryer) If a wet sheet in a dryer loses its moisture at a rate proportional to its moisture content
and if it loses half of its moisture during first 10 minutes, when will it have lost 99% of its moisture?
Solution: Let y (t ) be the moisture content in the wet sheet.
dy
It is given that  y (t ),  y  ky(t )
dt
Let y0 be the initial moisture present at time t  0 . Again it is given that the wet sheet loses half of its
moisture during 1st 10 minutes.
Hence initial conditions are y (0)  y0 , y (10)  y0 / 2
Solving the ODE y  ky(t ) we find:
y(t )  Ce kt
Using y (0)  y0 we get C  y0
 y (t )  y0ekt
Again using y (10)  y0 / 2 we get
 y0 ln 2
 y0e10k k 
2 10
 ln 2 
 t
 y (t )  y0 e 10 
We have to calculate the time in which 99% of moisture will be lost that means 0.01 y0 moisture will
be present.
 ln 2 
 t
 0.01 y0  y0 e 10 
10
t  ln( 0.01)   66 min .
ln 2
Assignment:
Q.21 (Problem Set-1.3)
Q. If in a culture of yeast the rate of growth is proportional to the amount y (t ) present at time t , and if
y (t ) doubles in 1 day, how much can be expected after 3 days at the same rate of growth? After 1
week?
Q. If the growth rate of a culture of bacteria is proportional to the number of bacteria present and after
1 day is 1.25 times the original number, within what interval of time will the number of bacteria
(a) double, (b) triple?
Type-II: Newton’s Law of Cooling
Let T (t ) be the temperature in a body and Ts be the temperature in the surrounding medium. By
Newton’s law of cooling
dT dT
 (T  Ts ),   k (T  Ts )
dt dt
Problem Set-1.3
Q.25) A thermometer, reading 5C , is brought into a room whose temperature is 22C . One minute
later the thermometer reading is 12C . How long does it take until the reading is practically 22C ,
say 21.9C ?
Solution: Let T (t ) be the temperature in the thermometer and Ts be the temperature room temperature.
By Newton’s law of cooling
dT dT
 (T  Ts ),   k (T  Ts )
dt dt
The room temperature is given 22C i.e. Ts  22 C
dT
Hence the ODE is  k (T  22)
dt
Initially thermometer reading was 5C .
First initial condition is T (0)  5
After one minute reading is 12C , the second initial condition is T (1)  12 .
The initial value problem is
dT
 k (T  22) , T (0)  5 , T (1)  12 .
dt
Solution of ODE:
dT
 k (T  22)
dt
dT
 T  22  k  dt  ln T  22  kt  C1
 T (t )  22  Ce kt
Using the initial condition T (0)  5 we get
5  22  C  C  17
Hence the solution becomes T (t )  22  17ekt
Again using T (1)  12 we find
 10 
12  22  17e k  k  ln    0.5306
 17 
 T (t )  22  17e( 0.5306)t
Now we have to calculate t so that T (t )  21.9 C
0.1
 21.9  22  17e( 0.5306)t  e( 0.5306)t   0.0059
17
ln( 0.0059)
t   9.7 minute .
 0.5306
Assignment:
Q. A metal bar whose temperature is 20 oC is placed in boiling water. How long does it take to heat
the bar to practically 100 oC say, to 99.9 oC , if the temperature of the bar after 1 min of heating is
51.5°C?
Type-III: Mixing Problem
In a mixture (well stirring) if we add and remove salt quantity, then the changes occur. In this case the
rate of change of salt quantity is equal to the difference between salt inflow and outflow rate.
If y (t ) be the amount of salt then mathematical formulation of this kind of problem is
dy
 Salt inflow rate  Salt outflow rate
dt
Problem Set-1.3
Q.24) A tank contains 400 gal of brine in which 100 lb. of salt are dissolved. Fresh water runs into the
tank at a rate of 2 gal/min. The mixture, kept practically uniform by stirring, runs out at the same rate.
How much salt will there be in the tank at the end of 1 hour?
Solution: Let y (t ) be the amount of salt present in the tank at time t .
We have
dy
 Salt inflow rate  Salt outflow rate
dt
Salt inflow rate:
Since fresh water is coming to the tank at a rate of 2gal/min, so there is no salt present.
Hence, Salt inflow rate=0
Salt outflow rate:
y
Since 400 gal contains y (t ) amount of salt, so 1 gal contains lb. salt.
400
y
Hence 2 gal contains lb. of salt.
200
Thus salt outflow rate  y / 200
Hence the differential equation is
dy y

dt 200
t
Solving this ODE we get ln y    C1  y(t )  Ce t / 200
200
Initially there is 100lb salt was present in the brine.
The initial condition is y (0)  100 .
Using the initial condition y (0)  100 in the general solution we get C  100
Hence the solution becomes y (t )  100et / 200
At the end of 1 hour i.e. after 60 min. the amount of salt will be
y(60)  100e60 / 200  74.08 lb
Assignment:
Q.1) The tank contains 200 gal of water in which 40lb of salt are dissolved. Five gal of brine, each
containing 2lb of dissolved salt, run into the tank per minute, and the mixture kept uniform by stirring,
runs out at the same rate. Find the amount of salt y (t ) in the tank at any time t .
Q.2) The tank contains 1000 gal of water in which 200lb of salt are dissolved. Fifty gal of brine, each
containing (1  cos t ) lb of dissolved salt, run into the tank per minute. The mixture, kept uniform by
stirring, runs out at the same rate. Find the amount of salt y (t ) in the tank at any time t .
Q.3) The tank contains 80 lb of salt dissolved in 500 gal of water. The inflow per minute is 20 lb of
salt dissolved in 20 gal of water. The outflow is 20 gal min of the uniform mixture. Find the time
when the salt content in the tank reaches 95% of its limiting value (as t   ).
Type-IV: Physical problems involving acceleration
Physical problems like free falling of an object, airplane, rocket etc. involves acceleration. In this
case the mathematical formulation is
y  constant or f (t )
Problem Set-1.3
Q.30) Rocket Problem:
A rocket is shot straight up from the earth, with net acceleration (=acceleration by the rocket engine
minus gravitational pull back) of 7t m / sec2 during the initial stage of flight until the engine cut out
at t  10 sec . How high will it go, air resistance neglected?
Solution: Let y (t ) be the distance covered by the rocket at time t .
It is given that rocket is shot straight up from the earth, with net acceleration (=acceleration a by the
rocket engine minus gravitational pull back g ) of 7t m / sec2 .
So the ODE is
y  a  g  7t (1)
Initially distance covered by the rocket is 0 with 0 initial velocity.
Hence the initial conditions are
y (0)  0 and y(0)  0 .
Solving Equation (1) we get
d  dy 
   7t
dt  dt 
Integrating both sides w.r.to t we get
t2
y(t )  7  C1 (2)
2
Using the initial condition y(0)  0 we get
C1  0
Hence Equation (2) becomes
t2
y(t )  7 (3)
2
Again integrating both sides w.r.to t we find
7
y (t )  t 3  C2 (4)
6
Using the initial condition y (0)  0 in (4) we get
C2  0
Hence (4) becomes
7
y (t )  t 3 (5)
6
It is given that after 10 sec engine is cut out.
Hence the distance covered by the rocket from the earth surface in 10 sec is
7 7000 3500
y (10)  (10)3   m.
6 6 3
This distance is covered with a velocity
(10) 2 700
y(10)  7   350 m / sec
2 2
3500
When the engine cut out at a distance m. after 10 sec the rocket will not stop suddenly due to
3
inertia. So it will cover some additional distance.
At this level acceleration a by the rocket engine is 0.
So again we get an ODE
y   g (6)
3500
The initial conditions are y (0)  and y(0)  350
3
Solving ODE (6) we find
y(t )   gt  C3 (7)
Using y(0)  350 we get
C3  350
Hence (7) becomes
y(t )   gt  350 (8)
Again solving it we get
t2
y (t )   g  350t  C4 (9)
2
3500
Using y (0)  in (9) we get
3
C4  3500 / 3
Equation (9) becomes
t2 3500
y (t )   g  350t  (10)
2 3
When the rocket is stopped at that time velocity will be 0
Hence final velocity is y(t )  0
Using this condition in (8) we find
350 350
0   gt  350 t    35.7 sec
g 9.8
Hence total distance covered by the rocket in 35.7 sec is
(35.7) 2 3500
y (35.7)  9.8  350(35.7)   6245  12495  1167  7417 m.  7 km.
2 3
Assignment:
Q. If an airplane has a run of 3 km. starts with a speed 6m/sec, moves with constant acceleration and
makes the run in 1 minute, with what speed does it take off?

Course Faculty
Dr. Madhusmita Sahoo

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