Big Picture in Focus ULO a.

apply the solutions of first order differential equation to

engineering problems.

Metalanguage

In this section, equation modeling is a big task that you must undertake and master, by
this you can solve situational problems in growth and decay, half-life, cooling and heating
of an object, and mixtures. Being an engineer, you must contain this basic knowledge to
practice your field. Please refer to these definitions in case you will encounter difficulty in
the in understanding educational concepts.

Please proceed immediately to the “Essential Knowledge” part since the first lesson
is also definition of essential terms.

Essential Knowledge

The knowledge that you had gained from the previous topics will play a big role at this
part of the subject. Solving the general solution and particular solution, and deciding what
first order differential equation must be utilized to model/generate the solution.

FIRST ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION (APPLICATIONS)

1. Growth and Decay

2. Newtons Law of Cooling and Heating
3. Mixture of two substances
4. Electric Circuit
Growth and Decay

The term growth and decay is not limited to the growth of a population and its decay, it
can be the increase and decrease of a certain substance, loss and gain of a capacity,
and so on.

We have this differential equation that will describe any growth and decay.

𝐝𝐏
= 𝐤𝐏
𝐝𝐭
Where,

𝐏 = 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 (𝐭)

𝐝𝐏
= 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡/𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 (𝐭)
𝐝𝐭

𝐤 = 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲

Here, we will solve for the general solution of the given differential equation.

Applying variable separable, we will have

𝐝𝐏
∫ = ∫ 𝐤𝐝𝐭
𝐏

𝐥𝐧 𝐏 = 𝐤𝐭 + 𝐂 (1)

Example 1

A bacteria culture starts with 500 bacteria and after 3 hours there are 8000 bacteria. a)
Find the number of bacteria after 4 hours, and c) When will the population reach 30,000?

Primarily, we should analyze the time and its situation. And, we will be utilizing equation
(1).

Initially, the population of bacteria is 500 units (take not that is zero (0) time). In here we
can solve the value of 𝐂.

𝐥𝐧 𝟓𝟎𝟎 = 𝐤(𝟎) + 𝐂 → 𝐂 = 𝐥𝐧 𝟓𝟎𝟎

Then after 3 hours bacteria grown 8000 units, here we can solve for the value of 𝐤 with
𝐂 = 𝐥𝐧 𝟓𝟎𝟎.

𝐥𝐧 𝟖𝟎𝟎𝟎 = 𝐤(𝟑) + 𝐥𝐧 𝟓𝟎𝟎

𝐥𝐧 𝟏𝟔
𝐤=
𝟑
At this point, we can observe that all the constant variable from equation (1) has its
respective values, so we can solve any situation in the problem.

For the first question, what will be the population after 4 hours?

𝟏
𝐥𝐧 𝐏 = ( 𝐥𝐧 𝟏𝟔) (𝟒) + 𝐥𝐧 𝟓𝟎𝟎
𝟑

𝐏 = 𝟐𝟎, 𝟏𝟓𝟖. 𝟕𝟑𝟕 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐬 ≈ 𝟐𝟎, 𝟏𝟔𝟎 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐬

Then for the next question, what will be the time needed to attain 30,000 units?

𝟏
𝐥𝐧 𝟑𝟎, 𝟎𝟎𝟎 = 𝐥𝐧 𝟏𝟔 (𝐭) + 𝐥𝐧 𝟓𝟎𝟎
𝟑
𝐭 = 𝟒. 𝟒𝟑 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬

Problem 2

Suppose a population of insects increases according to the law of exponential growth.

There were 130 insects at the third day of the experiment and 380 insects at the seventh
day. Approximately how many insects were in the original population?

As we can observe there is no initial value at the problem, but still we can solve it by using
what is given. We will use the most recent event which is the 130 insects at the third day

𝐥𝐧 𝟏𝟑𝟎 = 𝐤(𝟑) + 𝐂 → 𝐂 = 𝐥𝐧 𝟏𝟑𝟎 − 𝐤(𝟑)

Then for the next event is, 380 insects at the seventh day,

𝐥𝐧 𝟑𝟖𝟎 = 𝐤(𝟕) + 𝐂 → 𝐂 = 𝐥𝐧 𝟑𝟖𝟎 − 𝐤(𝟕)

Here, we have two equations and two unknowns, so we can solve for 𝐂 and 𝐤.

𝐂 = 𝟒. 𝟎𝟔𝟑𝟓

𝐤 = 𝟎. 𝟐𝟔𝟖𝟐

So now, we can determine what is the initial population of insects.

𝐥𝐧 𝐏 = 𝟎. 𝟐𝟔𝟖𝟐(𝟎) + 𝟒. 𝟎𝟔𝟑𝟓

𝐏 = 𝟓𝟖 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬
Newtons Law of Cooling and Heating

In the late of 17th century British scientist Isaac Newton studied cooling of bodies.
Experiments showed that the cooling rate approximately proportional to the difference of
temperatures between the heated body and the environment. This fact can be written as
the differential relationship:

𝐝𝐐
= 𝛂𝐀(𝐓 − 𝐓𝐒),
𝐝𝐭

where 𝐐 is the heat, 𝐀 is the surface area of the body through which the heat is
transferred, 𝐓 is the temperature of the body, 𝐓𝐬 is the temperature of the surrounding
environment, α is the heat transfer coefficient depending on the geometry of the body,
state of the surface, heat transfer mode, and other factors.

As 𝐐 = 𝐂𝐓, where 𝐂 is the heat capacity of the body, we can write:

𝐝𝐓
= 𝛂𝐀𝐂(𝐓𝐒 − 𝐓) = 𝐤(𝐓 − 𝐓𝐒)
𝐝𝐭

The given differential equation has the solution in the form:

𝐝𝐓
= 𝐤(𝐓 − 𝐓𝐒)
𝐝𝐭
𝐝𝐓
∫ = ∫ 𝐤𝐝𝐭
(𝐓 − 𝐓𝐒)

𝐥𝐧 (𝐓 − 𝐓𝐒) = 𝐤𝐭 + 𝐂 → 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐥𝐧 (𝐓𝐒 − 𝐓) = 𝐤𝐭 + 𝐂 → 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
Example 3

The temperature of a body dropped from 𝟐𝟎𝟎℉ to 𝟏𝟎𝟎℉ for the first hour. Determine how
many degrees the body cooled in one hour more if the environment temperature is 𝟎℉?

Let the initial temperature of the heated body be 𝐓 = 𝟐𝟎𝟎℉. The further temperature
dynamics is described by the formula

𝐥𝐧( 𝟐𝟎𝟎 − 𝟎) = 𝐤(𝟎) + 𝐂

𝐂 = 𝐥𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟎

At the end of the first hour the body has cooled to 100∘. Therefore, we can write the
following relationship

𝐥𝐧( 𝟏𝟎𝟎 − 𝟎) = 𝐤(𝟏) + 𝐥𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟎

𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟏
𝐤 = 𝐥𝐧 ( ) = 𝐥𝐧
𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝟐
Finally, for another hour

𝟏
𝐥𝐧 𝐓 − 𝟎 = 𝐥𝐧 (𝟐) + 𝐥𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟎
𝟐

𝐓 = 𝟓𝟎℉

Example 4

A body at temperature 40ºC is kept in a surrounding of constant temperature 20ºC. It is

observed that its temperature falls to 35ºC in 10 minutes. Find how much more time will
it take for the body to attain a temperature of 30ºC.

Here, we have 𝐓𝐒 = 𝟐𝟎℃ and for the initial state we have a 𝐓 = 𝟒𝟎℃

𝐥𝐧 𝟒𝟎 − 𝟐𝟎 = 𝐤(𝟎) + 𝐂

𝐂 = 𝐥𝐧 𝟐𝟎
Then, after ten (𝟏𝟎) minutes the temperature of the body dropped to 𝟑𝟓℃

𝐥𝐧 𝟑𝟓 − 𝟐𝟎 = 𝐤(𝟏𝟎) + 𝐥𝐧 𝟐𝟎

𝟑
𝐥𝐧 𝟒
𝐤=
𝟏𝟎

Now, for the time required to attain 𝟑𝟎℃

𝟑
𝐥𝐧 𝟒
𝐥𝐧 𝟑𝟎 − 𝟐𝟎 = (𝐭) + 𝐥𝐧 𝟐𝟎
𝟏𝟎
𝐭 = 𝟏𝟒 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬

Mixture Problems

At this section of the topic we will be modeling an equation to generate a solution to solve
problems. The only formula that we will be utilizing is

𝐝𝐐
= 𝐑𝐎𝐆 − 𝐑𝐎𝐋
𝐝𝐭
Where:
𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬
𝐑𝐎𝐆 = 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 ( 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 )

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬
𝐑𝐎𝐋 = 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 ( 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 )

Example 5

A tank originally contains 100 gal of fresh water. Then water containing 1/2 lb of salt per
gallon is poured into the tank at a rate of 2 gal/min, and the mixture is allowed to leave at
the same rate. What is the amount of salt at any instant? 10 minutes? 30 minutes?

First, we need to analyze what is the given

 𝟏 𝐥𝐛
At point A which is the intake, has a flowrate of 𝟐 𝐠𝐚𝐥/𝐦𝐢𝐧 with a concentration of 𝟐 𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐭 .
𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫
Then at point B, initially it contains 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫. At point C, it is said that
the flowrate is the same with the intake which is 𝟐 𝐠𝐚𝐥/𝐦𝐢𝐧 but with unknown
concentration.

Now we will use our formula,

𝐝𝐐
= 𝐑𝐎𝐆 − 𝐑𝐎𝐋
𝐝𝐭

For ROG it will be easy to determine, since the volume flow rate and the density of the
intake is given

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝟏 𝐥𝐛𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧

𝛒𝐢𝐧 = → =
𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝟐 𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐥
𝟐 𝐦𝐢𝐧

𝐥𝐛
𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧 = 𝐑𝐎𝐆 = 𝟏
𝐦𝐢𝐧
For ROL, we need to analyze the whole system running. We go back to the formula of
density,
𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭
𝛒𝐨𝐮𝐭 =
𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐭
𝐠𝐚𝐥
Here, the only data that we have is the volume flow rate which is equal to the intake 𝟐 𝐦𝐢𝐧

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭
𝛒𝐨𝐮𝐭 = → 𝟐𝛒𝐨𝐮𝐭 = 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭 (1)
𝟐

Now, we will analyze the density in a different way, which involves equation modeling.
We let the mass of salt be equal to 𝐐 at any time 𝐭 over the total volume during the process
which incorporates the initial volume of the tank plus the flowrate. As we can observe at
we subtract the two flowrates and multiplied it by 𝐭, we do this to cancel out the time unit
to the volume flowrate so we can determine the total volume.

𝐐
𝟏𝟎𝟎 + (𝟐 − 𝟐)𝐭

Simplify the equation, and substitute to equation (1)

𝐐
= 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭 = 𝐑𝐎𝐋
𝟓𝟎
At this point we can substitute all what we had solved to our differential equation

𝐝𝐐 𝐐
=𝟏−
𝐝𝐭 𝟓𝟎
Here, we can start solving the solution,

𝐝𝐐
∫ = ∫ 𝐝𝐭
𝐐
𝟏 − 𝟓𝟎

𝐐
(−𝟓𝟎)𝐥𝐧 𝟏 − =𝐭+𝐂
𝟓𝟎
Now that we generated our solution, as we can observe we have one constant variable
which is 𝐂, we can solve its value by utilizing the initial conditions. 𝐐 = 𝟎 and 𝐭 = 𝟎 (𝐐 = 𝟎
due the tank is initially containing fresh water, no salt content),

𝟎
(−𝟓𝟎)𝐥𝐧 𝟏 − =𝟎+𝐂
𝟓𝟎
𝐂=𝟎

After ten (10) minutes, how much salt does the tank have?

𝐐𝐭=𝟏𝟎𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐬
(−𝟓𝟎)𝐥𝐧 𝟏 − = 𝟏𝟎 + 𝟎
𝟓𝟎
𝐐 = 𝟗. 𝟎𝟔𝟑 𝐥𝐛𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐭
And for thirty (30) minutes has,

𝐐𝐭=𝟑𝟎𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐬
(−𝟓𝟎)𝐥𝐧 𝟏 − = 𝟑𝟎 + 𝟎
𝟓𝟎
𝐐 = 𝟐𝟐. 𝟓𝟔𝟎 𝐥𝐛𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐭

Example 6

A tank contains 8 liters of water in which is dissolved 32 g (grams) of chemical. A solution

containing 2 grams/liters of the chemical flows into the tank at a rate of 4 liters /min, and
the well-stirred mixture flows out at a rate of 2 liters/min. Determine the amount of
chemical in the tank after 20 minutes. What is the concentration of chemical in the tank
at that time?
𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐭
Point A is the intake which has a flowrate of 𝟒 and a concentration of 𝟐 . Point
𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫
B initially contains 𝟖 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 with 𝟑𝟐 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 of dissolved chemical. At point C, it is said that
the flowrate is the same with the intake which is 𝟐 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬/𝐦𝐢𝐧 but with unknown
concentration.

Now we will use our formula,

𝐝𝐐
= 𝐑𝐎𝐆 − 𝐑𝐎𝐋
𝐝𝐭

For ROG it will be easy to determine, since the volume flow rate and the density of the
intake is given
𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧
𝛒𝐢𝐧 = → 𝟐 =
𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
𝐦𝐢𝐧
𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬
𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧 = 𝐑𝐎𝐆 = 𝟖
𝐦𝐢𝐧
For ROL, we need to analyze the whole system running. We go back to the formula of
density,
𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭
𝛒𝐨𝐮𝐭 =
𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐭
𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
Here, the only data that we have is the volume flow rate which is 𝟐 𝐦𝐢𝐧

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭
𝛒𝐨𝐮𝐭 = → 𝟐𝛒𝐨𝐮𝐭 = 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭 (1)
𝟐

Now, we will analyze the density in a different way, which involves equation modeling.

We let the mass of salt be equal to 𝐐 at any time 𝐭 over the total volume during the process
which incorporates the initial volume of the tank plus the flowrate. As we can observe at
we subtract the two flowrates and multiplied it by 𝐭, we do this to cancel out the time unit
to the volume flowrate so we can determine the total volume.

𝐐
𝟖 + ( 𝟒 − 𝟐) 𝐭

Simplify the equation, and substitute to equation (1)

𝐐
= 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭 = 𝐑𝐎𝐋
𝟒+𝐭

At this point we can substitute all what we had solved to our differential equation

𝐝𝐐 𝐐
= 𝟖−
𝐝𝐭 𝟒+𝐭
Here, we can observe that the differential equation that we had come up with is different
from the previous example. The way that we will be solving this is either in variable
separable or linear differential equation. So at this point you probably figured out that if
the given at the initial state is fresh water you will end up solving the differential equation
in separable, and in the other hand if it has a mixture you will be ending up solving it by
linear differential equation.

𝐝𝐐 𝟏
+𝐐( )=𝟖
𝐝𝐭 𝟒+𝐭
 𝐝𝐭
𝟏
Let 𝐏(𝐭) = and 𝐐(𝐭) = 𝟖, and the integrating factor will be ∅ = 𝐞∫𝟒+𝐭 = 𝟒 + 𝐭
𝟒+𝐭

𝐐(𝟒 + 𝐭) = 𝟖 ∫(𝟒 + 𝐭)𝐝𝐭 + 𝐂

𝐭𝟐
𝐐(𝟒 + 𝐭) = 𝟖 (𝟒𝐭 + )+𝐂 → 𝐐(𝟒 + 𝐭) = 𝟑𝟐𝐭 + 𝟒𝐭 𝟐 + 𝐂
𝟐

Now that we generated our solution, as we can observe we have one constant variable
which is 𝐂, we can solve its value by utilizing the initial conditions. 𝐐 = 𝟑𝟐 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 and 𝐭 =
𝟎

𝟑𝟐(𝟒 + 𝟎) = 𝟑𝟐(𝟎) + 𝟒(𝟎)𝟐 + 𝐂

𝐂 = 𝟏𝟐𝟖

After ten (20) minutes, how much salt does the tank have?

𝐐(𝟒 + 𝟐𝟎) = 𝟑𝟐(𝟐𝟎) + 𝟒(𝟐𝟎)𝟐 + 𝐂

𝐐 = 𝟗𝟖. 𝟔𝟔𝟕 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥

And for the concentration, the total volume at 20 minutes we will be using
𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐭=𝟐𝟎𝐦𝐢𝐧 = 𝟐(𝟒 + 𝐭) = 𝟐(𝟒 + 𝟐𝟎) = 𝟒𝟖 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. Therefore, our concentration at 𝐭 =
𝟐𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 is,

𝟗𝟖. 𝟔𝟔𝟕𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥

𝛒𝐭=𝟐𝟎𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐬 = = 𝟐. 𝟎𝟓𝟔
𝟒𝟖 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫
Series RL Circuit

The RL circuit shown above has a resistor and an inductor connected in series. A constant
voltage V is applied when the switch is closed.

The (variable) voltage across the resistor is given by:

𝐕𝐑 = 𝐢𝐑

The (variable) voltage across the inductor is given by:

𝐝𝐢
𝐕𝐋 = 𝐋
𝐝𝐭
Kirchhoff's voltage law says that the directed sum of the voltages around a circuit must
be zero. This results in the following differential equation:

𝐝𝐢
𝐕 = 𝐢𝐑 + 𝐋
𝐝𝐭
And for the solution,

𝐝𝐢 𝐝𝐢
𝐢𝐑 + 𝐋 =𝐕 → 𝐋 = 𝐕 − 𝐢𝐑
𝐝𝐭 𝐝𝐭
𝐝𝐢 𝐕 − 𝐢𝐑 𝐝𝐢 𝐝𝐭
= → ∫ = ∫
𝐝𝐭 𝐋 𝐕 − 𝐢𝐑 𝐋
𝐥𝐧 𝐕 − 𝐢𝐑 𝐭
− = +𝐂
𝐑 𝐋
Since the case is always starts with 𝐭 = 𝟎 and 𝐢 = 𝟎 we can further complete our solution.
𝐥𝐧 𝐕
Now 𝐂 = − 𝐑

Plugging in back 𝐂 to our solution, and we will have,

𝐥𝐧 𝐕 − 𝐢𝐑 𝐭 𝐥𝐧 𝐕
− = −
𝐑 𝐋 𝐑
Rearranging the equation

𝐥𝐧 𝐕 𝐥𝐧 𝐕 − 𝐢𝐑 𝐭 𝐑𝐭
− = → −𝐥𝐧 𝐕 + 𝐥𝐧 𝐕 − 𝐢𝐑 = −
𝐑 𝐑 𝐋 𝐋
𝐕 − 𝐢𝐑 𝐑 𝐕 − 𝐢𝐑 𝐑𝐭
𝐥𝐧 ( )= 𝐭 → = 𝐞− 𝐋
𝐕 𝐋 𝐕
𝐢𝐑 𝐑𝐭 𝐑𝐭 𝐢𝐑
𝟏− = 𝐞− 𝐋 → 𝟏 − 𝐞− 𝐋 =
𝐕 𝐕
Finally, we have,

𝐕 𝐑𝐭
𝐢= (𝟏 − 𝐞− 𝐋 )
𝐑
Example 7

An RL circuit has an emf of 5 V, a resistance of 50 Ω, an inductance of 1 H, and no initial

current. Find the current in the circuit at time 0.1 sec.

We will just simply use our derived formula

𝐕 𝐑𝐭
𝐢= (𝟏 − 𝐞− 𝐋 )
𝐑
𝟓 𝟓𝟎(𝟎.𝟏)
𝐢= (𝟏 − 𝐞− 𝟏 )
𝟓𝟎

𝐢 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟗𝟗 𝐀
Example 8

A series RL circuit with R = 50 Ω and L = 10 H has a constant voltage V = 100 V applied

at t = 0 by the closing of a switch. Solve for the current at t = 0.5 s,

𝐕 𝐑𝐭
𝐢= (𝟏 − 𝐞− 𝐋 )
𝐑
𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟓𝟎(𝟎.𝟓)
𝐢= (𝟏 − 𝐞− 𝟏𝟎 )
𝟓𝟎

𝐢 = 𝟏. 𝟖𝟑𝟓𝟖 𝐀
Series RC Circuit

In this section we see how to solve the differential equation arising from a circuit consisting
of a resistor and a capacitor. (See the related section Series RL Circuit in the previous
section.)

In an RC circuit, the capacitor stores energy between a pair of plates. When voltage is
applied to the capacitor, the charge builds up in the capacitor and the current drops off to
zero.

Case 1: Constant Voltage

The voltage across the resistor and capacitor are as follows:

𝐕𝐑 = 𝐢𝐑

And,

𝟏
𝐕𝐂 = ∫ 𝐢𝐝𝐭
𝐂

Where, 𝐂 = 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

Kirchhoff's voltage law says the total voltages must be zero. So applying this law to a
series RC circuit results in the equation:

𝟏
𝐢𝐑 + ∫ 𝐢𝐝𝐭 = 𝐕
𝐂

One way to solve this equation is to turn it into a differential equation, by differentiating
throughout with respect to t

𝐝𝐢 𝐢
𝐑 + =𝟎
𝐝𝐭 𝐂
Solving the equation gives us

Divide through by R
 𝐝𝐢 𝟏
+( )𝐢 = 𝟎
𝐝𝐭 𝐑𝐂
𝟏
We recognize this as a first order linear differential equation. Where 𝐏(𝐭) = and 𝐐(𝐱) =
𝐑𝐂
𝐭
𝟎, so then ∅ = 𝐞𝐑𝐂
𝐭 𝐭 𝐭
𝐢𝐞𝐑𝐂 = ∫(𝟎)𝐞𝐑𝐂 𝐝𝐭 + 𝐊 → 𝐢𝐞𝐑𝐂 = 𝐊

𝐕 𝐕
At initial conditions 𝐭 = 𝟎 and 𝐢 = 𝐑, then 𝐊 = 𝐑. Plugging in all the values to our solution,
and we will have,

𝐕 −𝐭
𝐢= 𝐞 𝐑𝐂
𝐑
Note: We are assuming that the circuit has a constant voltage source, V. This equation
does not apply if the voltage source is variable.

The time constant in the case of an RC circuit is

𝛕 = 𝐑𝐂

The function

𝐕 −𝐭
𝐢= 𝐞 𝐑𝐂
𝐑
Will have an exponential decay shape due to the current stops flowing as the capacitor
becomes fully charged.

Applying our expressions from above, we have the following expressions for the voltage
across the resistor and the capacitor
 𝐭
𝐕𝐑 = 𝐢𝐑 = 𝐕𝐞−𝐑𝐂

𝟏 𝐭
𝐕𝐂 = ∫ 𝐢𝐝𝐭 = 𝐕(𝟏 − 𝐞−𝐑𝐂 )
𝐂

While the voltage over the resistor drops, the voltage over the capacitor rises as it is
charged

Case 2: Variable Voltage and 2 – mesh Circuit

We need to solve variable voltage cases in q, rather than in i, since we have an integral
to deal with if we use i.

So, we will make the substitutions

𝐝𝐪
𝐢=
𝐝𝐭
And

𝐪 = ∫ 𝐢𝐝𝐭

And so, the equation 𝐢 involving an integral

𝟏
𝐢𝐑 + ∫ 𝐢𝐝𝐭 = 𝐕
𝐂

Becomes the differential equation in 𝐪

𝐝𝐪 𝟏
𝐑 + 𝐪=𝐕
𝐝𝐭 𝐂
Example 9

A series RC circuit with R = 5 W and C = 0.02 F is connected with a battery of E = 100 V.

At t = 0, the voltage across the capacitor is zero. Obtain the subsequent voltage across
the capacitor.
𝟏
From the formula 𝐢𝐑 + 𝐂 ∫ 𝐢𝐝𝐭 = 𝐕, we will obtain

𝐝𝐪 𝟏
𝐑 + 𝐪=𝐕
𝐝𝐭 𝐂
Plugging in the values

𝐝𝐪 𝟏 𝐝𝐪
𝟓 + 𝐪 = 𝟏𝟎𝟎 → 𝟓 + 𝟓𝟎𝐪 = 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝐝𝐭 𝟎. 𝟎𝟐 𝐝𝐭
𝐝𝐪
+ 𝟏𝟎𝐪 = 𝟐𝟎
𝐝𝐭
Now we solve it by linear DE where 𝐏(𝐭) = 𝟏𝟎 and 𝐐(𝐱) = 𝟐𝟎, then the value for ∅ =
𝐞∫ 𝟏𝟎𝐝𝐭 = 𝐞𝟏𝟎𝐭

𝐪𝐞𝟏𝟎𝐭 = 𝟐𝟎 ∫(𝐞𝟏𝟎𝐭 )𝐝𝐭 + 𝐂 → 𝐪𝐞𝟏𝟎𝐭 = 𝟐𝐞𝟏𝟎𝐭 + 𝐂

𝐪 = 𝟐 + 𝐂𝐞−𝟏𝟎𝐭

Plugging in our initial values we will have the value for 𝐂 = −𝟐 and we will have a solution
of

𝐪 = 𝟐(𝟏 − 𝐞−𝟏𝟎𝐭 )