First-order linear differential equation

Definition

Format of the differential equation

A first-order linear differential equation is a differential equation of the form:

$\frac{dy}{dx}+p(x)y=q(x)$

where $p,q$ are known functions.

Solution method and formula: indefinite integral version

Let $H(x)$ be an antiderivative for $p(x)$, so that $H^{\prime }(x)=p(x)$. Then, we multiply both sides by $e^{H(x)}$. Simplifying, we get:

$\frac{d}{dx}[e^{H(x)}y]=q(x)e^{H(x)}$

Integrating, we get:

$e^{H(x)}y=\int q(x)e^{H(x)}dx$

Rearranging, we get:

$y=e^{-H(x)}\int q(x)e^{H(x)}dx$

where

$H$

is an antiderivative of

$p$

.

The function $e^{H(x)}$ is termed the integrating factor for the differential equation because multiplying by this turns the differential equation into an exact differential equation, i.e., a differential equation to which we can apply integration on both sides.