Pre-Engineering 220 Introduction to MatLab ® & Scientific Programming j kiefer
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| We will be dealing always with approximate values rather than exact formulæ.
b. History Recall the definition of a derivative in Calculus:  ,
where  and  . We will work it backwards, using  .
In fact, before Newton and Leibnitz invented Calculus, the numerical methods were the methods. Mathematical problems were solved numerically or geometrically, e.g., Kepler and Newton with their orbits and gravity. Many of the numerical methods still used today were developed by Newton and his predecessors and contemporaries. They, or their “computers,” performed numerical calculations by hand. That’s one reason it could take Kepler so many years to formulate his “Laws” of planetary orbits. In the 19th and early 20th centuries adding machines were used, mechanical and electric. In business, also, payroll and accounts were done by “hand.” Today, we use automatic machines to do the arithmetic, and the word computer no longer refers to a person, but to the machine. The machines are cheaper and faster than people; however, they still have to be told what to do, and when to do it—computer programming. Directory: physics physics -> Photometer and Optical Link Sensitivity issues, needs editing 1/2010 Purpose physics -> Photometer and Optical Link Purpose physics -> - physics -> Teacher Notes – Activity 14: Momentum in Collisions physics -> Teacher Notes – Activity 15: Impulse and Change in Momentum physics -> Linear Momentum Definition Download 8.69 Mb. Share with your friends:
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