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Mathematical Tools at MIT - Introduction to Mathematica
Overview
The following materials were originally developed for a hands-on training course offered during the Independent Activities Period in January. The exercise topics are designed to be applicable to many disciplines.
MIT students, others members of the MIT community, and the general public may use the materials as a standalone tutorial. They are made available to the MIT community and the general public under the Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States license.
Class Materials
Every session has a PDF handout with instructions on how to start the tutorial. Additional instructions are given in the Mathematica notebooks with lectures, exercises, and solutions. The lecture notebooks summarize Mathematica concepts, functions, and programming routines that are introduced and/or practiced in the sessions.
Note: Some exercises in sessions 2, 3, 4, and 5 build on exercises that have been completed in previous sessions.
| Session | Description | Lecture & Exercise Files |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mathematica User Interface and Basics Developed by Dr. V. Ivanova |
Front end and kernel. Notebooks. Input forms, typsetting. Variables, operators. Built-in and user defined functions. Lists. Equations. File I/O. Exercises: Using operators, functions, and lists; defining functions; solving equations. |
Instructions (pdf) Interface_Basics (individual files) |
| 2. Numeric and Symbolic Applications Developed by Prof. W. C. Carter |
Accuracy representation, precision. Polymorphism. Symbolic.vs.numeric computation. Patterns. Evaluation. Defining and using functions. Symplifying symbolic expressions. "Smart functions." Exercises: symbolic and numeric applications. |
Instructions (pdf) Numeric_Symbolic_Applications (individual files) |
| 3. Linear Algebra and Calculus Developed by Prof. W. C. Carter |
Vectors and matrices. Linear equations. Derivatives and integrals. Differential equations. Numerical Solutions, interpolating functions. Exercises: matrix math and differential equations for science and engineering. |
Instructions (pdf) Linear_Algebra_Calculus (individual files) |
| 4. Graphics Developed by Dr. V. Ivanova |
2D and 3D plots, real time 3D. Graphics options. Standard and add-on graphics packages. Exercises: plotting functions and data in 2D and 3D. Examples: sound and animation. |
Instructions (pdf) Graphics (individual files) |
| 5. Programming Developed by Dr. V. Ivanova |
Assignments, patterns, and tests. Logical and relational operators. Loops and listable functions. Variable scoping. Procedural, functinoal, and rule-based programming. Exercise: writing a program. Examples: science packages. |
Instructions (pdf) Programming (individual files) |
