Solve the differential equation:
subject to the initial condition .
This is a first-order ordinary differential equation that can be solved using the method of separation of variables. The goal is to rearrange the equation so that all terms involving appear on one side and all terms involving appear on the other side, allowing us to integrate both sides independently.
Starting with the given equation:
Rearrange to isolate the derivative:
Divide both sides by (assuming ) and multiply by to separate the variables:
Integrate the left side with respect to and the right side with respect to :
Rewrite as :
To integrate the right side, we use the substitution method. Notice that the derivative of is . We manipulate the integrand to match this form:
Now the numerator is the derivative of the denominator, so the integral becomes:
Here, is the constant of integration (written in logarithmic form for easier combination).
Apply logarithm properties to combine terms. First, use :
Then use :
Exponentiate both sides to eliminate the logarithm:
We are given , which means when , . Substitute these values into equation (1):
Since :
(Note: The original solution writes here, but this is equivalent to finding for the constant of integration.)
Substitute back into equation (1):