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2002 Paper 3 Q6
D: 1700.0 B: 1484.9

Find all the solution curves of the differential equation \[ y^4 \l {\mathrm{d}y \over \mathrm{d}x }\r^{\! \! 4} = \l y^2 - 1 \r^2 \] that pass through either of the points

  1. \(\l 0, \, \frac{1}{2}\sqrt3 \r\),
  2. \(\l 0, \, \frac{1}{2}\sqrt5 \r\).
Show also that \(y = 1\) and \(y = -1\) are solutions of the differential equation. Sketch all these solution curves on a single set of axes.


Solution: \begin{align*} && y^4 \left (\frac{\d y}{\d x} \right)^4 &= (y^2 - 1)^2 \\ \Rightarrow && y^2 \left (\frac{\d y}{\d x} \right)^2 &= |y^2 - 1| \\ && y \left (\frac{\d y}{\d x} \right) &= \pm \sqrt{|y^2-1|} \\ \Rightarrow &&\int \frac{y}{\sqrt{|y^2-1|}} \d y &= \int \pm 1 \d x \\ \Rightarrow && \pm \sqrt{|y^2-1|} &= \pm x + C \\ \end{align*}

  1. Since \(y^2 < 1\), our solution curve should be of the from \(-\sqrt{1-y^2} = \pm x + C\) Plugging in \((0, \tfrac12 \sqrt{3})\), we obtain \(-\tfrac12 = C\), therefore our solution curves are \(\pm x = \frac12 - \sqrt{1-y^2}\)
  2. Since \(y^2 > 1\), our solution curve should be of the from \(\sqrt{y^2-1} = \pm x + C\) Plugging in \((0, \tfrac12 \sqrt{5})\), we obtain \(\tfrac12 = C\), therefore our solution curves are \(\pm x = \sqrt{y^2-1}-\frac12\)
Clearly if \(y = \pm 1\), \(y'=0\) and the equation is satisfied.
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