This course is designed to teach how to use the most common and useful features of
Wolfram Mathematica; an extremely powerful technical computing system that can be used
to model a wide range of problems. Students will also learn important techniques and styles
that will equip them with a profound mastery of Mathematica. Plotting functions in several
ways, making models that can be manipulated in real time by the user, and efficiently
computing solutions to complicated equations are among the things we will cover. We will use
these skills to model various structures in math, computer science and physics, and for the
final project every student will pick something relative to their designated major (or interest
otherwise) to model, whether that be in physics, math, engineering, economics, or anything
else mathematical in nature. Over the course of learning these tools students will encounter
mind-blowing examples of what Mathematica can do, seeing first-hand that creating models that
can be manipulated in real time helps greatly in understanding the underlying symmetries
and properties of a problem.
| Week of | Topic | Useful References |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Introduction and Basics: Variables, Lists, Functions, Manipulate | Variables and Functions Lists Manipulate |
| Week 2 |
Basics II
Model C2 - Converting Between Rectangular and Polar Coordinates |
Map Table Fold |
| Week 3 | Plotting I | Plotting |
| Week 4 | Computation | Solve Limit Derivative Integrate Simplify Expand Numeric |
| Week 5 | CS-Style Scripting | If, Which, Switch Loops Blocks and Modules |
| Week 6 | Graphics | Graphics Graphics 3D Graphics Grid Show | Week 7 | Plotting II | Region Plot Contour Plot Density Plot | Week 8 | Plotting III | Polar Plot Parametric Plot | Week 9 | Plotting IV | Plot3D ContourPlot3D ParametricPlot3D |
| Name | Office Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Vlad Dobrin | vdobrin@umd.edu | By Appointment |
| Devan Tamot | tamotd@cs.umd.edu | By Appointment |
| Dan Zou | danzou12@cs.umd.edu | By Appointment |
Click the name of an assignment below to see its specifications.
| Homework 1 | Sept. 9, 2019 |
| Homework 2 | Sept. 16, 2019 |
| Homework 3 | Sept. 23, 2019 |
| Homework 4 | Sept. 30, 2019 |
| Homework 5 | Oct. 7, 2019 |
| Homework 6 | Oct. 14, 2019 |
Here are the winners for the homework assignments! These models are the models that stood out and showed creativity in Mathematical Modeling. Outstanding job to all of you!
This page is dedicated to post freqently asked questions from office hours, emails, or in person. For quick look up on a specific topic, press F3 to search for it.
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| "I was trying to download Mathematica but there was a problem with it. Do you by any chance know what the problem is? I have attached an image when I try to start the download manager." | Try downloading one of the older versions of Mathematica, if that doesn't work let Ajeet know! |