Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/paper-2/20/a/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2017 Paper 2 20 a i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
For the solution through , work on the connected domain . While , separation of variables givesThe initial condition gives , soThe restriction matters: the unsquared equation requires . The solution reaches zero at . Continuing the squared formula beyond that point would give a positive derivative, contradicting the original negative square-root right-hand side.
The nonnegative forward continuation is insteadThe two pieces join with , and both satisfy the original equation. Because the right-hand side is nonpositive for , a nonnegative solution cannot leave zero in the forward direction. This is a finite-time extinction phenomenon for a separable differential equation.
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