A homogeneous first-order differential equation has the form on a domain where . The substitution , so , reduces it toWhere , this is a separable differential equation, with . Values satisfying give the additional straight-line solutions , which must be checked before division. This scaling-based use of “homogeneous” is different from a homogeneous linear differential equation.
For example, gives , so and . Real explicit branches are on intervals where the expression under the square root is positive. Zeros of a denominator and endpoints of a branch must still be checked in the original ordinary differential equation.
Work on an interval with . The homogeneous first-order differential equation becomes a separable differential equation under : substituting gives , hence .
For , integration gives . Renaming the arbitrary constant producesFor the nonzero family the denominator must remain nonzero, so take any connected interval avoiding both and . The zero solution must be restored after division by ; by the Picard-Lindelöf theorem away from , a solution cannot switch between zero and a nonzero branch there.
For real solutions with , the square root requires . First retain the solution , which would be lost by dividing by a square root of .
For , use the homogeneous first-order differential equation substitution , so , and . The equation becomesThis is now a separable differential equation. Integration gives . Since , the positive solutions satisfyThe implicit family is sufficient here because only parts (a) and (b) request an explicit expression. It also shows why the nonnegative choice of matters: denotes the positive square root.
Because the equation depends on the ratio , set , so . Dividing by and substituting givesThis reduces the homogeneous first-order differential equation to a separable differential equation. For ,At , the condition gives , so and . HenceThe interval displayed is the maximal solution interval containing : there is a pole at . Separating variables omitted the solution , or , but that solution does not satisfy the given condition.
The equation is not separable, because cannot be written as a product of a function of and a function of on an open region. For example, the ratio depends on for distinct fixed , whereas a separated product would give a constant ratio.
It is not homogeneous in the sense of a homogeneous first-order differential equation: the right-hand side is not a function of alone. It is also not a homogeneous linear differential equation, since moving the term to the left leaves a nonzero forcing.
It is linear, since it has the standard linear ordinary differential equation formThus the classifications are (a) no, (b) no, (c) yes.
Use the substitution for a homogeneous first-order differential equation. Since , it givesWhere , this separable differential equation integrates to , hence . One can obtain the same relation without division by : the equation gives , so , including .
All real branches of the inverse sine are captured byEach branch is used on an interval with and , with fixed . The strict inequality excludes zeros of , where the original tangent is undefined. When , the formula includes all straight-line solutions . Keeping both families of inverse sine branches is essential for the two different initial conditions below.
For and , put . This is the standard substitution for a homogeneous first-order differential equation. Since , the equation becomesTaking antiderivatives yields . The explicit general solution is thereforeon any interval where and , with a fixed choice of sign. For a check that does not divide by , set to get and hence .
An implicit homogeneous first-order differential equation , where , can be reduced by treating the slope as an auxiliary variable. Differentiating givesWhere the divisions are valid, this is a separable differential equation. Constant slopes lost when dividing by must be checked in the original equation.
For , the reduced equation is and its nonconstant solutions obey . Substitution recovers the parabolas , together with the constant solution . Real graph branches must have , and the original restrictions , still apply. The constant slopes solve the reduced equation but are excluded from the original equation.