500 Examples and Problems of Applied Differential Equations

Book excerpt: This book highlights an unprecedented number of real-life applications of differential equations together with the underlying theory and techniques. The problems and examples presented here touch on key topics in the discipline, including first order (linear and nonlinear) differential equations, second (and higher) order differential equations, first order differential systems, the Runge–Kutta method, and nonlinear boundary value problems. Applications include growth of bacterial colonies, commodity prices, suspension bridges, spreading rumors, modeling the shape of a tsunami, planetary motion, quantum mechanics, circulation of blood in blood vessels, price-demand-supply relations, predator-prey relations, and many more. Upper undergraduate and graduate students in Mathematics, Physics and Engineering will find this volume particularly useful, both for independent study and as supplementary reading. While many problems can be solved at the undergraduate level, a number of challenging real-life applications have also been included as a way to motivate further research in this vast and fascinating field.