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Introduction to Mathematica
Course Outline
Mathematica is a powerful computational tool for engineers and scientists. In this lesson, you will learn the development history and basic features of Mathematica. In particular, you will learn how to enter text, build mathematical expressions, create graphs, make interactive models, and utilize data. You will also see a complete example built within the Mathematica environment.This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of course materials.
At the conclusion
of this course, the student will:
- Understand the functionality of Mathematica;
- Be familiar with the interface, graphics, text and computational features of Mathematica; and
- Be
able to perform
Course Introduction
Math is everywhere and in
everything. From bridges to high-rises, from roller-coasters to the space shuttle,
math is critical to today's high-tech society. Mathematica by Wolfram Research makes math easy and approachable for users from college
students to professional engineers who are at the cutting edge of some of the most important
and demanding technical environments in the world.
Mathematica is a valuable technical computing
tool for engineers and architects. You can think of Mathematica as a combination of
Mathematica provides a rich problem-solving
environment that gives you a wide variety of analysis and visualization tools.
Unlike other technical software, Mathematica does math the same way you do. That
is because it looks and works like a scratchpad and pencil. Mathematica's on-screen
interface is a blank notebook on which you can enter equations, graph data
or functions, and annotate with text - anywhere on the notebook.
Mathematical expressions in Mathematica look the way you would see them in a textbook
or a reference book. The only difference is that Mathematica's equations and graphs
are live, which means Mathematica recalculates the math and redraws the graphs every
time you change any data, variable, or equation in a notebook. This feature in
Mathematica is called "Computable Document Format."
In addition to the Computable Document Format, another important feature that sets
Mathematica apart from other technical computing tools is its built-in support for
units. Mathematica can handle unit conversion automatically within a worksheet.
Therefore, the technical documents prepared using Mathematica can be easily understood
and verified by others. In addition, using Mathematica in your work can relieve
you from tedious and repetitive design calculations, eliminate arithmetic errors,
and produce quality design calculations.
Course Content
In this lesson, you will learn the historical background and basic features of Mathematica by watching the following videos:
1. Stephen Wolfram on the Background and Vision of Mathematica (27:12 video)
2. Announcing the Computable Document Format (CDF): Bring Documents to Life with the Power of Computation (19:26 video)
3. Hands-on Start to Mathematica: Notebooks (4:18 video)
4. Hands-on Start to Mathematica: Methods to get started (10:23 video)
5. Hands-on Start to Mathematica: Basic calculations (8:07 video)
6. Hands-on Start to Mathematica: Basic graphics (9:54 video)
7. Hands-on Start to Mathematica: Making interactive models (5:12 video)
8. Hands-on Start to Mathematica: Utilizing data (3:57 video)
9. Hands-on Start to Mathematica: Presentations (3:47 video)
10. Hands-on Start to Mathematica: Complete example (4:14 video)
and study the following tutorials:
11. How to Use Mathematica (PDF, 9 pages)
12. Introduction to Mathematica - A (PDF, 5 pages)
13. Introduction to Mathematica - B (PDF, 9 pages)
To gain a better understanding of the basic features of Mathematica, you need to download a copy of a free 30-day trial version of Mathematica from Mathematica.com. Once you install the software, you may try various commands and features within a notebook or access more commands of Mathematica in its Documentation Center. In addition, you may take General Mathematica Online Courses to learn the specifics of the Mathematica.
Course Summary
This course covers some of the basic features of Mathematica, which include interface features, graphical features, computational features, and text and document features. Through this online course, the student should be able to use Mathematica to solve some of the routine design problems in his/her design practice.Related Links
For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:
Wolfram Mathematica - Wolfram Mathematica 8 Documentation
Getting Started with Mathematica
Mathematica - Wikipedia (HTML)
Once you finish studying the above Mathematica document and application files, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
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DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDHonline.org or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered professional engineer. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
