Math 20D

MATLAB Assignments

This is the gateway page for the Math 20D MATLAB assignments. Basic information for using MATLAB on campus ACS computers can be found in the first assignment, as well as the FAQ page. In general, though, each lab is self-contained and can be completed without prior MATLAB experience, although some assignments depend on commands learned in previous assignments.

1. Introduction to MATLAB
2. Direction Fields with DFIELD
3. Modeling with Differential Equations
4. Numerical Methods with First-Order Equations
5. Second-Order ODEs
6. Systems of ODEs
7. Series Solutions
8. The Laplace Transform

        IMPORTANT: What you need to know about MATLAB Final Exam

Feedback:

    If you have any suggestions or comments about the lab assignments, we'd love to hear from you.  Also, if you encounter any mistakes or broken links, let us know.  Send an e-mail to Michael Scullard or Alon Regev.

References:

Books:

• Boyce, William E. and Richard C. DiPrima. Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems. 8th ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005.
  This is the textbook for most of the Math 20D course.
• Kreysig, Erwin. Advanced Engineering Mathematics. 7th ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1993.
  This book explains many of the applications of differential equations to science and engineering.
• Polking, John C. and David Arnold. Ordinary Differential Equations Using MATLAB. 2d ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
  Here we discover many of the MATLAB tools for solving differential equations. Also included are tutorials for MATLAB-specific applications developed by the authors, such as DFIELD.
• Stewart, James. Calculus - Early Transcendentals. 5th ed. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 2003.
  This is also a textbook for Math 20D, covering the first few weeks of the course.

Web Sites:

• http://archives.math.utk.edu/topics/ordinaryDiffEq.html
  Just about anything on the web concerning differential equations can be found in this comprehensive list of links.
• http://math.rice.edu/~dfield/
  You can download the software for the DFIELD application here.
• http://www.claymath.org/millennium/
  The Clay Mathematics Institute has offered a million dollar prize for the solution of a variety of open problems in mathematics. One such problem involves solving the Navier-Stokes equations, which are a set of differential equations.
• http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/index.html
  The MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive is a comprehensive reference for information about mathematicians and the history of mathematics.  Biographies of mathematicians mentioned in these assignments are found on this site.
• http://www.math.bcit.ca/examples/index.shtml
  This site is a great resource for finding applications of math to the real world.
• http://www.math.ucsd.edu/
  This is the home page for the UCSD Department of Mathematics.
• http://www.mathworks.com/
  The Mathworks is the creator of MATLAB. Product information and help can be found here.
• http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/
  This is the ACS (Academic Computing Services) home page, containing resources for computing at UCSD.
• http://www.sci.wsu.edu/idea/
  IDEA, or Internet Differential Equations Activities, is a project designed to demonstrate applications of differential equations in a variety of disciplines.

Acknowledgments:

Last modified:

04/01/2008