Determining the Differential
Equation
We wish to find a differential equation that will allow us to gain insight into the
behavior of the system. By using the fact that the normal
is orthogonal to the tangent at
,
which is expressed symbolically as

and the facts that
and
,
we are able to derive the differential equation

A detailed explanation of the derivation is included in Appendix
A.


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This page was last updated on 12/27/99.