How do you find the general solution of the differential equation x dy/dx = 6y + x^3 – x?

To find the general solution of the given differential equation

x dy/dx = 6y + x3 – x, we start by rewriting the equation in a more manageable form.

First, let’s rearrange the equation:

dy/dx = (6y + x3 – x)/x

This simplifies to:

dy/dx = 6(y/x) + x2 – 1

Now, we can use a substitution to facilitate solving the equation. Let’s define:

v = y/x so that y = vx.

Using the product rule, the derivative of y with respect to x can be expressed as:

dy/dx = v + x(dv/dx)

Substituting back into our original equation gives us:

v + x(dv/dx) = 6v + x2 – 1

Rearranging this equation results in:

x(dv/dx) = 5v + x2 – 1

This simplifies to:

dv/dx = (5v + x2 – 1)/x

Now we have a first-order linear ordinary differential equation in standard form:

dv/dx – (5/x)v = (x2 – 1)/x

Next, we find the integrating factor, μ(x), which is:

μ(x) = e-5ln|x| = x-5

Multiplying both sides of our equation by the integrating factor:

x-5dv/dx – 5x-6v = (x-3 – x-5)

This can be expressed as:

d/dx(v*x-5) = x-3 – x-5

Integrating both sides gives:

v*x-5 = -1/2 * x-2 + 1/4*x-4 + C

Where C is the constant of integration. Now solving for v:

v = (-1/2 * x3 + 1/4*x1 + C*x5)

Substituting back for y gives:

y = v*x = x*(-1/2 * x3 + 1/4*x1 + C*x5)

The general solution of the differential equation is:

y = -1/2 * x4 + 1/4 * x2 + C*x6

In conclusion, by transforming the original differential equation and utilizing substitution along with integrating factors, we successfully arrived at a general solution. This approach not only simplifies the equation but also leverages standard methods for solving first-order linear ordinary differential equations.

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