[Math] Try to solve the following differential equation: $y”-4y=2\tan2x$

ordinary differential equations

I am trying to solve this equation:
$y''-4y=2\tan2x$

the Homogeneous part is:
$$y_h=c_1e^{2x}+c_2e^{-2x}$$
and I get according the formula:
$$C_1'e^{2x}+C_2'e^{-2x}=0$$
$$2C_1'e^{2x}-2C_2'e^{-2x}=2\tan2x$$

my questions is:

  1. if $y_h$ is right?

  2. how can I find $c_{1}$ , $c_{2}$ ?

thanks

Best Answer

What you have done so far is correct. You should proceed as follows:

Write the last two equations as a system

$$\left(\begin{array}{cc} e^{2x} & e^{-2x} \\ e^{2x} & -e^{-2x} \end{array}\right) \cdot \left(\begin{array}{c} C_{1}^{\prime} \\ C_{2}^{\prime} \end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{c} 0 \\ \tan(2x) \end{array}\right)$$ Invert the matrix on the LHS to get $$\left( \begin{array}{cc} C_{1}^{\prime} \\ C_{2}^{\prime} \end{array}\right)=-\frac{1}{2}\left(\begin{array}{cc} -e^{-2x} & -e^{-2x} \\ -e^{2x} & e^{2x}\end{array} \right)\cdot \left( \begin{array}{c} 0 \\ \tan(2x) \end{array}\right)=-\frac{1}{2}\left(\begin{array}{c} -e^{-2x}\tan(2x) \\ e^{2x}\tan(2x) \end{array} \right)$$ This gives you a system of first order equations which you can solve by integrating. However, its not a particularly nice integral.

Related Question