Graduate Program

Mathematics

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

2007

Thesis Director

Patrick Coulton

Thesis Committee Member

Charles Delman

Thesis Committee Member

None

Abstract

The primary purpose of this work was as an aid for students taking an elemenentary differential equations course, or for students that may be trying to find approximate solutions to a differential equation without solving it. This work covers numererical methods of approximating differential equations. There are three types of methods covered, Euler's method, Runge-Kutta method, and Picard method. Also, in each of these sections there is a biography to introduce students to the various mathematicians covered. In the Appendix, there are several Maple worksheets that can be implemented into a differential equations course. These worksheets contain some programming language in addition to a slight explanation of what is occurring in each step. After the biography of each section, the method is described and there is an example to aid students in performing the method on their own.

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Mathematics Commons

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