# Second and Higher Order Differential Equations

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This chapter is devoted to differential equations of order higher than one. Of course, the first question that comes to your mind: why? After some further thoughts, you should probably realize that these equations constitute a significant part of tools needed to model real world, and you may recall from school Newton's second law:  A change in motion is proportional to the motive force impressed and takes place along the straight line in which that force is impressed (Isaac Newton).'' Its common form is $${\bf F} = m{\bf a} ,$$ where m is the mass and a is the acceleration: $${\bf a} = {\text d}{\bf v}/{\text d} t = {\text d}^2 {\bf x} / {\text d} t^2 ,$$ which is expressed as the second derivative of the displacement, x. A change in velocity v must be accompanied by a force affecting every part of the body.

Ordinary differential equations (ODEs) may be divided into two classes: linear equations and nonlinear equations. The latter have a richer mathematical structure than linear equations and generally more difficult to solve in closed form. Unfortunately, the techniques applicable for solving second order nonlinear ODEs are not available at an undergraduate level. Therefore, we concentrate our attention on linear differential equations. However, some nonlinear equations will be exposed later to demonstrate modeling of real world phenomena. Also, we present some classes of nonlinear equations that can be reduced to the first order differential equations.

Linear differential equations of second order are of crucial importance in the study of differential equations for two main reasons. First of all, linear equations have a rich theoretical structure that underlies a number of systematic methods of solutions. Further, a substantial portion of this structure and of these methods is understandable at a fairly elementary mathematical level. The second reason to study second order linear equations is that they are vital to any serious investigation of the classical areas of mathematical physics.

# Motivation to use higher order derivatives

Usually, we are exposed to a wide variety of external motion and movement on a daily basis. From driving a car to catching an elevator, our bodies are repeatedly exposed to external forces acting upon us, leading to acceleration. Excluding the force of gravity to which we all are accustomed, the accelerations that we normally experience are not constant. When we are in a car and accelerate as the lights change to green, our acceleration is not constant. Our body does not feel velocity, but only the change of velocity i.e., acceleration, brought about by the force exerted by an object on our body. We are going to illustrate the concepts with practical examples of parachute problem, roller coasters, and trampolines.

There is no universal agreement of the names of higher order derivatives. We use the term jerk for the third derivative and snap to denote the fourth derivative of displacement with respect to time. The fifth and sixth derivatives with respect to time are referred to as crackle and pop, respectively. The origin of the use of the term jerk to denote the time rate of change of acceleration is obscure. The French geometer Transon (A. Transon, J. Math. Pures Appl., vol. 10, 320, 1845) was probably the first to consider the third time derivative of distance in mechanics and he uses the term virtualite for it. The concept of the jerk, as a predictor of large accelerations of short duration, has important practical engineering applications in the design of intermittent-motion mechanisms such as cams and genevas, as well as in design of the transition curves that provide a gradual rise in curvature from straight paths to circular arcs in railways and highways.

Acceleration without jerk is just a consequence of static load. Jerk is felt as the change in force, similar when one opens the chut during free fall. Acceleration of a paratrooper does not suddenly switch on, but instead grows from one value to another during a short period of time. So there must be some jerk involve (which may be very significant). Changing jerk involves some snap. This can be expressed mathematically as

${\bf j} = {\text d}{\bf a} / {\text d}t = \left( {\text d}{\bf F} / {\text d}t \right) /m , \qquad {\bf s} = {\text d}{\bf j} / {\text d} t .$

Let the motion of a particle along a three times continuously differentiable plane curve C be described as a function of time t by the position bector r(t) measured from a given fixed origin. Let the curve C be given in the intrinsic form $$\rho = \rho (s) ,$$ where s is arc length measured from a given fixed point on C and ρ is the radius of curvature at any point of the path. Then the velocity vector v(t) and vector acceleration a(t) can be ex[ressed in the tangential-normal form:

\begin{eqnarray*} {\bf v}(t) &=& \dot{\bf r} (t) = v\,{\bf t} , \\ {\bf a} (t) &=& \dot{\bf v} (t) = \dot{v}\,{\bf t} + \left( v^2 /\rho \right) {\bf n} . \end{eqnarray*}
where, as usual, a dot represents differentiation with respect to time, t is the tangential unit vector, and n is the normal unit vector. Here $$v = |{\bf v} (t) | = \dot{s}$$ is called the speed, and $$\rho = \rho \left( {\bf r} (t) \right)$$ is curvature of the path at time t. The tangential and normal components of teh acceleration, $$\dot{v}$$ and $$v^2 / \rho ,$$ are called the acceleration along the path and the centripetal acceleration, respectively.

The time rate of change of the vector acceleration is called the vector jerk and is obtained by differentiating the acceleration and using $$\dot{\bf t} = \left( v/\rho \right) {\bf n}$$ and $$\dot{\bf n} = -\left( v/\rho \right) {\bf t} .$$ The result is

$\dot{\bf j} (t) = \left( \ddot{v} - v^3 /\rho^2 \right) {\bf t} + \left( v/\rho \right) \left[ 3\dot{v} - \left( v/\rho \right) \dot{\rho} \right] {\bf n} ,$
or
$\dot{\bf j} (t) = \left( \ddot{v} - \frac{v^3}{\rho^2} \right) {\bf t} + \frac{1}{v} \left( \frac{\text d}{{\text d}t} \,\frac{v^3}{\rho} \right) {\bf n} .$

An area conservation law in the hodograph plane can be deduced similar to that which holds for the position vector in planar motion under a central force. If dφ denotes the angle between the velocity vector v at time t and a neighboring velocity vector v + dv at time t + dt, then the sectorial area dA along the hodograph between v and v + dv is given by

${\text d}A = \frac{v^2}{2}\, {\text d} \phi = \frac{v^2}{2\rho} \, {\text d} s .$
Hence, the normal component of the jerk can be expressed in the form
$j_n = \frac{1}{v}\, \frac{{\text d}}{{\text d}t} \left( \frac{v^2}{\rho} \, \dot{s} \right) = \frac{2}{v}\,\ddot{A} .$
From this equation follows that jn = 0 if and only if $$\dot{A} =$$ constant or, expressed equivalently, if and only if the velocity vector sweeps out equal areas in equal time intervals.