Difference Equations: A Gentle Introduction To Differential Equations

A differential equation (D.E.) is an equation containing one or more independent variables, functions, and derivatives of functions. If the equation contains only a single independent variable such as, for example, in the following equation

xx' + t2x = 0, (1)

where t is the independent variable, x is the unknown function, and the prime denotes differentiation with respect to t, then the differential equation is said to be an ordinary differential equation.

This article discusses differential equations, including the history of, applications and ways to solve these equations.