Applied Numerical Methods with MATLAB® for Engineers and Scientists Third Edition

Abstract

This book is designed to support a one-semester course in numerical methods. It has been written for students who want to learn and apply numerical methods in order to solve problems in engineering and science. As such, the methods are motivated by problems rather than by mathematics. That said, sufficient theory is provided so that students come away with insight into the techniques and their shortcomings. MATLAB® provides a great environment for such a course. Although other environments (e.g., Excel/VBA, Mathcad) or languages (e.g., Fortran 90, C++) could have been chosen, MATLAB presently offers a nice combination of handy programming features with powerful built-in numerical capabilities. On the one hand, its M-file programming environment allows students to implement moderately complicated algorithms in a structured and coherent fashion. On the other hand, its built-in, numerical capabilities empower students to solve more difficult problems without trying to “reinvent the wheel.” The basic content, organization, and pedagogy of the second edition are essentially preserved in the third edition. In particular, the conversational writing style is intentionally maintained in order to make the book easier to read. This book tries to speak directly to the reader and is designed in part to be a tool for self-teaching. That said, this edition differs from the past edition in three major ways: (1) two new chapters, (2) several new sections, and (3) revised homework problems. 1. New Chapters. As shown in Fig. P.1, I have developed two new chapters for this edition. Their inclusion was primarily motivated by my classroom experience. That is, they are included because they work well in the undergraduate numerical methods course I teach at Tufts. The students in that class typically represent all areas of engineering and range from sophomores to seniors with the majority at the junior level. In addition, we typically draw a few math and science majors. The two new chapters are: • Eigenvalues. When I first developed this book, I considered that eigenvalues might be deemed an “advanced” topic. I therefore presented the material on this topic at the end of the semester and covered it in the book as an appendix. This sequencing had the ancillary advantage that the subject could be partly motivated by the role of