Solving the Differential Equation: (x + x) dy/dx = y + y
This article will guide you through the process of solving the differential equation (x + x) dy/dx = y + y. We'll break down the steps and explain the underlying concepts.
Simplifying the Equation
First, let's simplify the given equation:
(x + x) dy/dx = y + y
This simplifies to:
2x dy/dx = 2y
We can further simplify by dividing both sides by 2:
x dy/dx = y
Separating Variables
Now, let's separate the variables to make the equation easier to solve. To do this, we'll move all the y terms to the left side and all the x terms to the right side:
dy/y = dx/x
Integrating Both Sides
Next, we integrate both sides of the equation. Remember, the integral of 1/x is ln|x| and the integral of 1/y is ln|y|:
∫ dy/y = ∫ dx/x
This gives us:
ln|y| = ln|x| + C
Where C is the constant of integration.
Solving for y
To find the explicit solution for y, we need to get rid of the natural logarithm. We can do this by exponentiating both sides of the equation:
e^(ln|y|) = e^(ln|x| + C)
This simplifies to:
|y| = e^(ln|x|) * e^C
Since e^C is a constant, we can replace it with another constant, let's call it K:
|y| = K|x|
Finally, we can remove the absolute value by considering both positive and negative cases:
y = Kx or y = -Kx
Conclusion
We have successfully solved the differential equation (x + x) dy/dx = y + y and obtained the general solution:
y = Kx or y = -Kx
This solution represents a family of straight lines passing through the origin with different slopes determined by the constant K.