Computer resources: Math 20B
The purpose of this page is to make you aware of some mathematical computation software packages that are available for your use on campus free of charge. Which one, if any, you decide to use depends on your personal interests and preferences.
The use of these programs in this class is OPTIONAL. You will never be asked to use these programs to do your homework, nor will you ever be tested on using them. If you prefer to use your favorite model of the TI graphing calculator, that is perfectly fine.
calc101.com
The easiest way to get answers to your integration and differentiation questions is via the website http://www.calc101.com/. You can get instant answers for free, but if you want to see the intermediate steps you need to purchase a password. The website is very easy to use. It is powered by the software MATHEMATICA which is described below. Although it is a bit of a time investment to go to the source, that is, learn to use MATHEMATICA or a similar software to do your integrals, it is well worth it. Read on.
MATLAB and MATHEMATICA
What are they?
The packages software packages MATLAB, MATHEMATICA and MAPLE can be thought of as a graphing calculator on steroids. Lots of steroids. These are very powerful tools that can do symbolic and numerical integration, differentiation, plotting, and that's just the tip of the tip of the iceberg.
Can I access them free of charge if I am on campus?
MATLAB should be available on any campus PC, MAC or UNIX computer, but MATHEMATICA is less widely available on campus. Since MAPLE does not seem to be available on our campus, it will not be described here.
What do I get out of learning how to use these programs?
If you are a person who likes to tinker with software, or are thinking of going on in math, computer science, physics, engineering, or related fields, or are just curious, here are the advantages of using MATLAB or MATHEMATICA in this class:
1. If you are thinking of going on to Math 20D and 20F, you will be required to use MATLAB in these classes. You will definitely have a head start if you come in already familiar with it.
2. Note that both MATLAB and MATHEMATICA can compute indefinite integrals, not just definite ones. That means that you can save that money you were planning to spend on a TI-89 by using them on campus for free. (To the best of my knowledge, the TI-89 is the cheapest TI model that can do indefinite integrals.)
3. If you are looking for a job in the high tech sector (including a summer job), a working knowledge of one of these software packages will definitely be a boost to your resume.
4. MATLAB and MATHEMATICA are actually used in industry as well as academia to solve problems. This is why I think it is worth the extra effort to learn to use one of them-- as long as it doesn't traumatize you too much.
What's next?
If choosing between MATLAB and MATHEMATICA, be aware that MATLAB is the one that will be used in Math 20D and 20F. However, MATHEMATICA is more pleasant to use, at least in my opinion. If you get really frustrated with MATLAB, try MATHEMATICA.
MATLAB
To get it going from a Windows machine:
Locate the START menu in the bottom-left of the screen. Click on it and
then move the mouse through the following string of popup menus.
START -> All Programs -> MATLAB 6.5 -> MATLAB 6.5
then click again.
On a unix terminal, just type "matlab".You'll have the full integration capabilities but not the graphical ones.
MATHEMATICA
On a unix workstation typing "mathematica" will bring up the program in a notebook format. If you are just on a unix terminal, type "math" . You'll have the full integration capabilities but not the graphical ones.