Exercise · ZW-ORDER-AND-LINEARITY-010 · ★★★ Advanced

The pendulum \(\theta''+\dfrac{g}{L}\sin\theta=0\) is an equation that is:

Choose one option.

Show answer
  • A. nonlinear of second order

Explanation

The order is 2 because of \(\theta''\), and \(\sin\theta\) makes it nonlinear (it linearizes for small angles via \(\sin\theta\approx\theta\)).

Study Differential equations in ZWMath →

Review the concept: Order and linearity

The order of a differential equation is that of its highest derivative; the equation is linear if the unknown and its derivatives appear only to the first power and are never multiplied together.

\[a_n(x)\,y^{(n)}+\cdots+a_1(x)\,y'+a_0(x)\,y=g(x)\]

More practice problems: order and linearity

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