If the exact solution to a differential equation cannot be found one method of solving the equation is by repeated differentiation to find a Taylor series for the solution. In general the series will involve the introduction of constants, but these can be found if we have some initial or boundary conditions for the solution.
For example, ifwith
then we can find the first two terms in the Taylor series
using the differential equation itself. We are givenand can rearrange the equation to give
Substitute
and
to get
then
We can get the third and fourth terms by differentiating the differential equation to give
Substituteand
to get
Now differentiateto get
Substituteand
to get
Then