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Autonomous equations

#051

Problem

y=yy' = y

Classification

  • growth
  • equilibrium
  • autonomous

Method

  • separable

Solution

y=Cexy = Ce^x

Simulation & Code

Computational workSimulation
Graph visualization for entry #051
Download .py file
Python codeOpen
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.linspace(-3, 3, 600)
constants = [-2, -1, -0.5, 0.5, 1, 2]

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(7, 4.5))

for constant in constants:
    y = constant * np.exp(x)
    y = np.where(np.abs(y) <= 8, y, np.nan)
    ax.plot(x, y, linewidth=2, label=f"C = {constant}")

ax.axhline(0, color="black", linewidth=1, alpha=0.7, label="equilibrium y = 0")
ax.axvline(0, color="#111827", linewidth=0.8, alpha=0.35)
ax.set_title("Entry #051: y' = y")
ax.set_xlabel("x")
ax.set_ylabel("y")
ax.set_ylim(-8, 8)
ax.grid(True, alpha=0.3)
ax.legend(fontsize=8, ncols=2)

fig.tight_layout()
plt.show()

Handwritten derivation

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Takeaway & Interpretation

This is the basic exponential growth equation. The slope is proportional to the current value of y, so positive solutions grow upward and negative solutions move farther downward. The equilibrium y=0 is unstable because nearby nonzero solutions move away from it.