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Computer Algebra Recipes

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164 CHAPTER 4. NONLINEAR ODE MODELS<br />

Problem 4-17: Nonlinear drag on Lake Ogopogo<br />

A boat is launched on Lake Ogopogo with initial speed v0. Thewaterexertsa<br />

drag force F (v) =¡aebv ,witha>0, b>0, thus slowing the boat down.<br />

(a) Find an analytic expression for the speed v(t).<br />

(b) Determine the time it takes for the boat to come to rest.<br />

(c) How far does the boat travel along Lake Ogopogo before coming to rest?<br />

4.2 Second-Order Models<br />

The vast majority of second-order nonlinear models that physicists and engineers<br />

are interested in must be solved numerically. However, we begin this<br />

section with a few examples of models that lead to nonlinear ODEs having exact<br />

analytic solutions. Historically, these models have appeared in many equivalent<br />

guises, so keep this in mind when you read the stories.<br />

4.2.1 Patches Gives Chase<br />

Man ... cannot learn to forget, but hangs on the past:<br />

however far or fast he runs, that chain runs with him.<br />

Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher (1844{1900)<br />

A loveable beagle, named Patches, is patrolling a °at farm ¯eld, sni±ng contentedly<br />

at gopher holes, when she spots her mistress, Heather, walking at<br />

constant speed along a straight road at the edge of the ¯eld. Patches then<br />

runs at constant speed toward Heather in such a way as to aim always at her<br />

with her sensitive beagle nose. With distances in km, Patches is initially at<br />

(x =1;y= 0) and Heather at (0; 0). The road is described by the equation<br />

x = 0, and the ratio of Heather's speed to Patches' speed is r.<br />

(a) Derive the nonlinear ODE describing Patches' path y(x).<br />

(b) Analytically solve the ODE for y(x). If Heather walks at 3 km/h and<br />

Patches runs at 8 km/h, plot y(x) using constrained scaling.<br />

(c) How many minutes does it take the dog to reach her mistress? How far<br />

has Heather walked in this time? How far has Patches run?<br />

(d) Animate the motion of Patches and Heather, including a tangent line to<br />

Patches' instantaneous position, which points towards Heather. Again,<br />

use constrained scaling.<br />

At some instant in time, Patches' coordinates are (x; y(x)), while Heather's<br />

are (0; h). Patches runs towards Heather in such a way as to aim always at her.<br />

Therefore the slope of the tangent to Patches' path is dy=dx =(h¡y(x)=(0¡x),<br />

whichisnowenteredineq.

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