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Autonomous equations

#053

Problem

y=3yy' = 3yOpen Model Lab

Classification

  • growth
  • equilibrium
  • autonomous

Method

  • separable

Solution

y=Ce3xy = Ce^{3x}

Simulation & Code

Computational workSimulation
Graph visualization for entry #053
Download .py file
Python codeOpen
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.linspace(-2.5, 2.5, 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(3 * 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 #053: y' = 3y")
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 exponential growth with a faster rate than y'=y. Positive solutions grow rapidly, while negative solutions decrease away from 0. The equilibrium y=0 is unstable because any nonzero initial value moves away from it.