advice on ODE review?

I'm signed up for a class that deals with analytical and numerical methods to solve mechanical engineering problems. my ODE class was a long time ago now. Any advice on what particulars to review? I have an ODE textbook, but don't want to tackle it randomly in the next two weeks.

I recall fairly well how to set up IVP problems, use separation of variables, and use the method where you take an integral(e ^tx) and apply it to both sides (don't recall what that method's called), and I recall how to (generally ) deal with non-homogeneous cases, though I'd have to review some particular solution cases. Any advice is welcome.

Oh, and I'm not even exactly sure what "analytical and numerical methods" means specifically. The catalog specifies diff eq's as a prereq, that's about it.

thanks,

k wallace

Reply to
k wallace
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Hudson's Engineer's Manual had a pretty condensed review

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Reply to
vjp2.at

You say that you are not sure what "analytical and numerical methods" means, so let me try to fill you in on that part.

Analytical methods refers to the methods you probably learned when you too DE in college, such as separation of variables which you mention, the use of an integrating factor which you also mention, probably Laplace transforms, maybe Fourier transforms, perhaps some stuff on Bessel functions, Legendre functions, Hankle function, and elliptic functions and the ODEs associated with each type of function. There is plenty of material of this sort to go for many semesters, so it is hard to say exactly what you will get, but it will be some of this.

Numerical methods means ways of doing arithmetic to obtain answers to various sorts of problems. For example, the numerical solution of linear algebraic equations is a large area of study involving ways to solve systems of algebraic equations by means of the computer, where the computer does nothing more than a lot of arithmetic, but it does it very fast and with a lot more accuracy than most people. There are also numerical approximations to things like integration, and perhaps most iteresting for your course, the numerical solution of differential equations.

The numerical solution of ODEs has been almost entirely given to IVP problems, with only minimum attention to two point boundary value problems. There is also the very large class of PDEs to be solved, and there are many very effective PDE solutions that are emerging using finite elements and boundary elements. You should be hoping to get at least some of these last items. This is where the new, exciting stuf is today.

Using finite elements and boundary elements it is now possible to solve stress, heat transfer, and electromagnetic field problems in 3D in real geometries. This means solving the actual PDE equations with the proper boundary conditions in these complicated domains. This is really pretty gee whiz stuff.

Reply to
Dr. Sam

hey, thanks. That helped! Just got the book for it in the mail, and the first third is all ODE stuff I can recall & figure out. The latter 2/3, though, look a little scary from here, but I relish the adventures... I say that today, anyway, the night before school starts up again.:) kwallace

Reply to
k wallace

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