How many grams of salt are in the tank after 100 minutes have elapsed

ordinary differential equationsword problem

This is a question from a GRE mock exam. A similar question has been asked GRE Math subject test #61 Differential Equations, but this does not address my question. The general method of solving these questions are rather well-known, for instance First Order differential equations mixing problem.

A tank initially contains a salt solution of 3 grams of salt dissolved in 100 liters of water. A salt solution containing $0.02$ grams of salt per liter of water is sprayed into the tank at a rate of 4 liters per minute. The sprayed solution is continually mixed with the salt solution in the tank, and the mixture flows out of the tank at a rate of 4 liters per minute. If the mixing is instantaneous, how many grams of salt are in the tank after 100 minutes have elapsed?

Here was my solution. We let $x(t)$ be the grams of salt that are in the solution. We have
$$ x + dx = x + \left( 0.02\times 4 – 4 \times \frac{x}{100}\right)dt .$$
From this, we get $$ \frac{dx}{dt} = 0.02\times 4 – 4 \times \frac{x}{100} = 0.08-0.04x.$$
Upon rearranging, $$\frac{1}{0.08-0.04x} dx = dt \implies \frac{\log |0.08-0.04x|}{-0.04 }= t – C ,$$
and noting that $x = 3$ at $t = 0$ gives $C = \log (0.04)/0.04$. Therefore,
$$\frac{\log |0.08-0.04|}{-0.04} = 100 – \log (0.04)/0.04 \implies |2-x| = e^{-4}.$$

So which is the answer, from $x = 2 \pm e^{-4}$? The answer sheet indicates that there is only one answer. (Also, did I go wrong anywhere within my solution?)

Best Answer

You are loosing this information because when calculating $C$ from the starting values you still have the absolute value, so you’re loosing information.

You have $$\log|0.08-0.04x| = -0.04(t-C) = -0.04t + C' $$ Then $$ 0.08-0.04x = \pm \mathrm e^{-0.04t+C'} = \pm \mathrm e^{-0.04t}C'' = \mathrm e^{-0.04t}C''' $$ so $$ 2-x=\mathrm e^{-0.04t}25C''' = \mathrm e^{-0.04t}C''''$$

With the starting values we get $$ -1 = C'''' $$

Thus we get $$ x = 2 + \mathrm e^{-0.04t}$$

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