In this section we need to take a look at the equation of a line in R 3 R 3 . As we saw in the previous section the equation y = m x + b y = m x + b does not describe a line in R 3 R 3 , instead it describes a plane. This doesn’t mean however that we can’t write down an equation for a line in 3-D space. We’re just going to need a new way of writing down the equation of a curve. So, before we get into the equations of lines we first need to briefly look at vector functions. We’re going to take a more in depth look at vector functions later. At this point all that we need to worry about is notational issues and how they can be used to give the equation of a curve. The best way to get an idea of what a vector function is and what its graph looks like is to look at an example. So, consider the following vector function. → r ( t ) = ⟨ t , 1 ⟩ r → ( t ) = ⟨ t , 1 ⟩ A vector function is a function that takes one or more variables, one in this case, and returns a...
Let’s work one final problem.
Example 4 Find the first four terms in each portion of the series solution around for the following differential equation.
We finally have a differential equation that doesn’t have a constant coefficient for the second derivative.
So is an ordinary point for this differential equation. We first need the solution and its derivatives,
Plug these into the differential equation.
Now, break up the first term into two so we can multiply the coefficient into the series and multiply the coefficients of the second and third series in as well.
We will only need to shift the second series down by two to get all the exponents the same in all the series.
At this point we could strip out some terms to get all the series starting at , but that’s actually more work than is needed. Let’s instead note that we could start the third series at if we wanted to because that term is just zero. Likewise, the terms in the first series are zero for both and and so we could start that series at . If we do this all the series will now start at and we can add them up without stripping terms out of any series.
Now set coefficients equal to zero.
Solving this gives,
Now, we plug in values of .
Now, from this point on all the coefficients are zero. In this case both of the series in the solution will terminate. This won’t always happen, and often only one of them will terminate.
The solution in this case is,
So is an ordinary point for this differential equation. We first need the solution and its derivatives,
Plug these into the differential equation.
Now, break up the first term into two so we can multiply the coefficient into the series and multiply the coefficients of the second and third series in as well.
We will only need to shift the second series down by two to get all the exponents the same in all the series.
At this point we could strip out some terms to get all the series starting at , but that’s actually more work than is needed. Let’s instead note that we could start the third series at if we wanted to because that term is just zero. Likewise, the terms in the first series are zero for both and and so we could start that series at . If we do this all the series will now start at and we can add them up without stripping terms out of any series.
Now set coefficients equal to zero.
Solving this gives,
Now, we plug in values of .
Now, from this point on all the coefficients are zero. In this case both of the series in the solution will terminate. This won’t always happen, and often only one of them will terminate.
The solution in this case is,
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