Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2025/paper-2/5/a/solution

The Fourier transform of a derivative is times the transform under the stated convention. Transforming the linear ordinary differential equation gives
The applied force is , with the Heaviside step function, so . Partial fractions give
Using the transform pair yields
Its value and first derivative both vanish at , so the joining introduces no spurious Dirac delta terms. Equivalently, this is the convolution of the force with the causal impulse response .

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