The solution of linear second order differential equations of the form a(d2y/dx2) + b(dy/dx) + cy = 0

An equation of the form: 1 https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> a d 2 y d x 2 + b d y d x + c y = 0 , https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315843629/20901bc5-1466-42ee-a7e4-0cc2fff34b68/content/math_961_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> where a, b and c are constants, is called a linear second order differential equation with constant coefficients. It is termed ‘linear’ since y and its derivatives are all of the first degree, and it is of ‘second order’ since its highest derivative is https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> d 2 y d x 2 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315843629/20901bc5-1466-42ee-a7e4-0cc2fff34b68/content/inline-math_2238_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> (see Section 22.1)