Nonlinear DE with initial conditions and substitution method

43 Views Asked by At

Solve the nonlinear DE $y'' + yy' = 0$ with $y(0) = 1, y'(0) = -1$ and find an interval of definition for this solution.

My progress: After substitution $u = y' = \frac{dy}{dx}$, I found $\frac{-y^2}{2} + C = u$ where $C$ is constant. However, the sign of $C$ makes the indefinite integral unclear, unsure what to consider. Moreover, I did not understand what does "interval of definition" mean. Any help on how to continue in such circumstances and elaboration on "interval of definition" would be welcomed.

1

There are 1 best solutions below

4
On BEST ANSWER

Plugging in your initial conditions, you get that

$$-\frac{1}{2} + C = -1 \implies C = -\frac{1}{2}$$

From here just use separation of variables again

$$\int -dx = \int \frac{2\:dy}{1+y^2} \implies y = -\tan\left(\frac{x}{2}+C\right)$$

with another $+C$. Again plugging in initial conditions gives us $C= -\frac{\pi}{4}$. $y$ is only defined when $x-\frac{\pi}{2}$ is between odd multiples of $\pi$ (why?). Can you figure out which interval that would have to be for this problem?