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Differential Equations (JEE Main 2023–2025)

Topic wise & Subtopic wise Weightage, Trends, Summary

Exam Trend Overview (2023–2025)

• Differential Equations contributes 4–6% of Mathematics (1 questions per paper).
• Consistently 1–2 questions per shift.
• Difficulty: Easy to moderate, Not strictly NCERT-aligned.
• Types: Conceptual (Theory and concept/geometry)

Important Topic to Focus Areas

• Order & Degree
• Variable separable
• Homogeneous (1st  order)
• Linear D.E (1st  order)
• Particular solution

Common Pitfalls
• Order vs degree mix-up
• Wrongly assuming separability
• Confusing homogeneous (function type) with homogeneous
• Missing domain restrictions while separating
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• Forgetting absolute value in  x dx
• Dropping the constant of Integration
• Sign slips in D.E.I.F.

Important Formula Sheet (One-Page Revision)

Formation of Differential Equations • Now, the simple substitution y = vx reduces this
• If an equation in independent and dependent DE to a VS form: y = vx
variables involving some arbitrary constants is dy dv
 vx
given, then a differential equation is obtained as dx dx
follows:
dy  y dv
i. Differentiate the given equation with Thus,  p   transforms to v  x  P (v)
dx x dx
respect to the independent variable (say x)
dv dx
as many times as the number of arbitrary  
constants in it. P (v )  v x
ii. Eliminate the arbitrary constants. This can now be integrated directly since it is in
iii. The eliminant is the required differential VS form.
equation. That is, if we have an equation First Order Linear Differential Equations
f(x, y, c1, c2, ···, cn) = 0. Containing n • A differential equation is said to be linear if an
arbitrary constants c1, c2, c3, ···, cn, then by unknown variable and its derivative occur only in
differentiating this n times, we shall get n - the first degree.
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equations. Now, among these n -equations dy

An equation of the form  P( x)  y  Q( x)
and the given equation, in all (n+1) dx
equations, if the n arbitrary constants c1, c2, Where P(x) and Q(x) are functions of x only or
c3, ···, cn are eliminated, we shall evidently constant, is called a linear equation of the first
get a differential equation of the nth order. order.
For there being n differentiation, the
To get the general solution of the above equation
resulting equation must contain a derivative
we proceed as follows. By multiplying both sides
of the nth order.
of the above equation by e
Pdx
Solving of Variable Separable Form , we get

e  yP  e   Qe 
Solution of a Differential Equation Pdx dy Pdx Pdx

dx
• The solution of the differential equation is a
relation between the variables of the equation
not containing the derivatives, but satisfying the
i.e. e
Pdx dy
 y
dx
d  Pdx
dx
e  Qe   
Pdx

given differential equation (i.e. from which the

given differential equation can be derived). i.e.
d
dx
ye 
Pdx

 Q  e
Pdx

dy
 e x could be obtained ∴ Integrating, we get ye    Qe 
Pdx Pdx
• Thus, the solution of dx  C
dx
by simply integrating both the sides, i.e.
Here, the term e , which converts the left
Pdx
dy
y  e x  C and that of,  px  q is hand expression of the equation into a perfect
dx differential, is called an Integrating factor. In
px 2 short, it is written as IF.
y  qx  C where C is arbitrary constant.
2 Thus, we remember the solution of the above
Differential Equations Reducible to the equation as y  (IF)   Q(IF)dx  C
Separable Variable Type
Bernoulli's Equation
• Sometimes differential equation of the first
order cannot be solved directly by variable • Sometimes a differential equation is not linear but
separation but by some substitution we can it can be converted into a linear differential
reduce it to a differential equation with equation by a suitable substitution. An equation
separable variable. dy
of the form  Py  Qy n where n  0,1 where
A differential equation of the form dx
dy P and Q are functions of x only, is known as
 f (ax  by  c) is solved by writing Bernoulli’s equation (for n = 0 the equation is
dx
linear). It is easy to reduce the above equation
ax  by  c  t
into linear form as below:
Homogeneous Differential Equation Divding both sides by yn, we get
• By definition, a homogeneous function f(x, y) of dy
degree n satisfies the property y n  Py1n  Q
dx
f ( x,  y)   n f ( x, y) dy dz
Putting y1n  z and hence, (1  n) y  n  ,
For example, the functions dx dx
f1 ( x, y)  x3  y3 the equation becomes
dz
 (1  n) Pz  (1  n)Q
dx
f 2 ( x, y)  x2  xy  y 2 which is linear in z.

Here, IF  e
(1n)Pdx
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f3 ( x, y)  x3e x / y  xy 2 are all homogeneous ∴ The solution is,

ze    {(1  n)Q  e 
(1 n )Pdx (1 n )Pdx
functions, of degrees three, two and three }dx
respectively (verify this assertion).
Orthogonal Trajectory
Observe that any homogeneous function f(x, y)
• Any curve, which cuts every member of a given
of degree n can be equivalently written as
family of curves at right angles, is called an
 y  x orthogonal trajectory of the family. For example,
follows: f ( x, y )  x n f    y n f  
x  y each straight line passing through the origin, i.e.,
For example, f ( x, y)  x3  y3 y = kx, is an orthogonal trajectory of the family of
the circles x2 + y2 = a2.
  y 3    x 3 
 x3 1      y 3 1     Procedure for Finding the Orthogonal Trajectory
 x    y  i. Let f(x, y, c) = 0 be the equation of the given
   
family of curves, where c is an arbitrary
Having seen homogeneous functions, we define
parameter.
homogeneous DEs as follows:
ii. Differentiate f = 0 with respect to x and
Any DE of the form M(x, y) dx + N(x, y) dy = 0
eliminate c , i.e., form a differential equation.
dy M ( x, y )
or  is called homogeneous if dx dy
dx N ( x, y ) iii. Substitute  for in the above
dy dx
M(x, y) and N(x, y) are homogeneous functions
differential equation. This will give the
of the same degree.
differential equation of the orthogonal
What is so special about homogeneous DEs? trajectories.
They are extremely simple to solve. To see how,
iv. By solving this differential equation, we get
we express both M(x, y) and N(x, y) as
the required orthogonal trajectories.
 y  y
x n M   and x n N   . This can be done
x x
since M(x, y) and N(x, y) are both homogeneous
functions of degree n. Doing this reduces our
DE to
y y
xn M ( ) M( )
dy M ( x, y ) x x  y
    P 
dx y
N ( x, y ) x n N ( ) y
N( ) x
x x
M (t )
(The function P(t) stands for  )
N (t )

Differential Equations – Topic wise & Sub-Topicwise Weightage (2023–2025)

Main Topic Subtopic 2023 2024 2025 Avg. Qs
Order & Degree 1 1 1 1
Variable separable 1 1 0 1
Homogeneous (1  order)
st
1 0 1 0-1
Linear D.E (1st  order) 0 1 0 1
Particular solution 1 0 1 0-1
Total Questions 4 3 3 3-4