[Math] Write a differential equation for this description

ordinary differential equations

I'm still very new to differential equations and not sure if I'm understanding this question correctly:

If the velocity at time $t$ for a particle moving along a straight line
is proportional to the fourth power of its position $x$, write a
differential equation that fits this description.

So I think the equation would be:

$\frac{dt}{dx}=tx^4$

Is this correct?

Best Answer

Close. This is what you want: $$ \frac{dx}{dt}(t)=\alpha x(t)^{4}\text{ where }\alpha\text{ is a constant}. $$ $x(t)$ is the position of the particle at time $t$, from which it follows that $\frac{dx}{dt}(t)$ is its velocity at time $t$. $\alpha$ appears in the above since the question asks the velocity to be proportional to $x(t)^{4}$.

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