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15 views

ODE_HW3

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chrisl33056
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ODE: Homework Set Three

September 24, 2024

Homework Overview
This homework set covers the following topics:

• Population model

Review Chapters
To successfully complete this problem set, it is recommended to review the following chapters
from the textbook:

• Chapters 1.5

Deadline
Monday, Sep 30

note
dP
The exponential growth described by dt = aP is called the Malthusian law of population
growth.

Exercises:
Exercise 3.1 (1.5.7): A family of salmon fish living off the Alaskan Coast obeys the
Malthusian law of population growth

dp(t)
= 0.003p(t),
dt
where t is measured in minutes. At time t = 0, a group of sharks establishes residence in
these waters and begins attacking the salmon. The rate at which salmon are killed by the
sharks is 0.001p2 (t), where p(t) is the population of salmon at time t. Moreover, since an
undesirable element has moved into their neighborhood, 0.002 salmon per minute leave the
Alaskan waters.

1
(a) Modify the Malthusian law of population growth to take these two factors into
account.
(b) Assume that at time t = 0 there are one million salmon. Find the population p(t).
What happens as t → ∞?
(c) Show that the above model is really absurd. Hint: Show, according to this model,
that the salmon population decreases from one million to about one thousand in one minute.

Exercise 3.2 (1.5.12): There are many important classes of organisms whose birth
rate is not proportional to the population size. Suppose, for example, that each member of
the population requires a partner for reproduction, and that each member relies on chance
encounters for meeting a mate. If the expected number of encounters is proportional to the
product of the numbers of males and females, and if these are equally distributed in the
population, then the number of encounters, and hence the birth rate too, is proportional to
p2 . The death rate is still proportional to p. Consequently, the population size p(t) satisfies
the differential equation:
dp
= bp2 − ap,
dt
where a, b > 0.
(a) Find the equilibrium points of this model and determine whether they are stable or
unstable.
(b) Show that p(t) approaches 0 as t → ∞ if p0 < ab . Thus, once the population size
drops below the critical size ab , the population tends to extinction. Therefore, a species is
classified as endangered if its current size is perilously close to its critical size.

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