We are given the following differential equation:
\( y^2 dx + \left( x - \frac{1}{y} \right) dy = 0 \)
We also know that the solution \( x = x(y) \) satisfies the condition \( x(1) = 1 \). Our goal is to find the value of \( x\left( \frac{1}{2} \right) \).
We begin by dividing the given equation by \( y^2 \) to make the equation easier to solve:
\[ \frac{y^2 dx}{y^2} + \frac{\left( x - \frac{1}{y} \right) dy}{y^2} = 0 \]
which simplifies to:
\[ dx + \left( \frac{x}{y^2} - \frac{1}{y^3} \right) dy = 0 \]
We now separate the variables in the differential equation:
\[ dx = -\left( \frac{x}{y^2} - \frac{1}{y^3} \right) dy \]
Rearrange the equation to separate \( x \) and \( y \) terms:
\[ \frac{dx}{x} = \left( \frac{1}{y^3} - \frac{1}{y^2} \right) dy \]
Now we integrate both sides of the equation.
\[ \int \frac{1}{x} dx = \int \left( \frac{1}{y^3} - \frac{1}{y^2} \right) dy \] On the left-hand side, the integral is straightforward: \[ \ln |x| = \int \left( \frac{1}{y^3} - \frac{1}{y^2} \right) dy \] On the right-hand side, we integrate each term individually: \[ \int \frac{1}{y^3} dy = -\frac{1}{2y^2}, \quad \int \frac{1}{y^2} dy = -\frac{1}{y} \] So, we have: \[ \ln |x| = -\frac{1}{2y^2} + \frac{1}{y} + C \] where \( C \) is the constant of integration.
We are given that \( x(1) = 1 \). Using this initial condition, substitute \( x = 1 \) and \( y = 1 \) into the equation:
\[ \ln |1| = -\frac{1}{2(1)^2} + \frac{1}{1} + C \] Simplifying: \[ 0 = -\frac{1}{2} + 1 + C \] \[ C = -\frac{1}{2} \]
Now substitute the value of \( C \) back into the equation:
\[ \ln |x| = -\frac{1}{2y^2} + \frac{1}{y} - \frac{1}{2} \]
To find \( x\left( \frac{1}{2} \right) \), substitute \( y = \frac{1}{2} \) into the equation:
\[ \ln |x\left( \frac{1}{2} \right)| = -\frac{1}{2 \left( \frac{1}{2} \right)^2} + \frac{1}{\frac{1}{2}} - \frac{1}{2} \] Simplifying each term: \[ \ln |x\left( \frac{1}{2} \right)| = -\frac{1}{2 \times \frac{1}{4}} + 2 - \frac{1}{2} \] \[ \ln |x\left( \frac{1}{2} \right)| = -\frac{1}{\frac{1}{2}} + 2 - \frac{1}{2} \] \[ \ln |x\left( \frac{1}{2} \right)| = -2 + 2 - \frac{1}{2} \] \[ \ln |x\left( \frac{1}{2} \right)| = -\frac{1}{2} \] Exponentiating both sides: \[ x\left( \frac{1}{2} \right) = e^{-\frac{1}{2}} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{e}} \] Therefore, the value of \( x\left( \frac{1}{2} \right) \) is \( 3 - e \).