ModelingToolkit second derivative only gives first derivative

Specific Domains Modelling & Simulations
1

Hello,

I’m running into an issue that has left me confused. Using ModelingToolkit v6.7.1, I (for example) want to simulate a falling object. So:

@variables t [unit = u"s"] x(t) [unit = u"m"] v(t) [unit = u"m/s"]
@parameters g=-9.8 [unit = u"m/s^2"]
Dt = Differential(t)
Dt2 = Differential(t)^2

I would think that I could just set the second derivative of x equal to g:

@named eqs = ODESystem([
	Dt2(x) ~ g,
])
prob = ODEProblem(structural_simplify(eqs), [x => 0.0], (0.0,10.0))
sol = solve(prob, saveat=1)

Then when I plot x vs t, I would expect to get a parabola, but instead I get a straight line:

image

If I only use first derivatives, however, and introduce another variable v, it does work:

@named eqs = ODESystem([
	Dt(v) ~ g,
	Dt(x) ~ v,
])
prob = ODEProblem(structural_simplify(eqs), [x => 0.0, v => 0.0], (0.0,10.0))
sol = solve(prob, saveat=1)

image

Is this the expected behavior? If so, why doesn’t my first attempt work, or what is the proper way to define a second derivative? Thanks!

2

Does ode_order_lowering fix it? Anyways, this should be an issue in the MTK repo, not a Discourse post.

3

Thanks, that works! I also opened an issue here regarding the possibility of this type of user error being caught and thrown rather than passing silently.

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