Assignment 2
Detailed Solutions
Due 8 August 2025
, APM3701
Assignment 2
Due 8 August 2025
Question 1: Heat Flow in a Horizontal Rod (25 Marks)
(a) Initial-Boundary Value Problem (5 Marks)
Consider a horizontal rod of length L with thermal conductivity 1. Let u(x,t) denote the
temperature at position x ∈ [0,L] and time t ≥ 0. The temperature evolves according to
the one-dimensional heat equation:
Initial condition:
u(x,0) = f(x), 0≤x≤L
Boundary conditions:
u(0,t) = g1(t), u(L,t) = g2(t), t ≥ 0
Where:
[noitemsep]u(x,t): Temperature at position x and time t f(x): Initial temperature
distribution g1(t),g2(t): Boundary temperatures at ends x =
0 and x = L x: Spatial variable t: Temporal variable
(b) Uniqueness of the Solution (10 Marks)
Suppose two solutions u1(x,t) and u2(x,t) satisfy the same IBVP. Define the difference:
w(x,t) = u1(x,t) − u2(x,t)
Then w(x,t) satisfies the homogeneous heat equation: