SOLVING DIFFERENTIAL

EQUATIONS USING COMPUTER

 Types of Computer Calculations
1. Numerical Analysis
➢ Computers represent values only using numbers; e.g., 2 is represented as
1.4142…, 𝑒 is represented as 2.7183…, etc.
➢ Expressions and equations can be directly computed using numerical operations.
➢ Computers solve the differential equations by simulating small changes in the value
of the input (similar to how Riemann sum approximates integrals).
➢ In differential equations, we can only get the value of the functions and their
derivatives at certain points; we cannot determine the actual functions themselves.
➢ In the real world, numerical analysis is widely used in engineering design for
computational fluid dynamics, computational mechanics, finite element method, etc.

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 Types of Computer Calculations
2. Symbolic Solution
➢ Computers represent values using both symbols and numbers.
➢ Software that solve symbolically are called “computer algebra systems” (CAS).
➢ To solve expressions and equations, computers need to manipulate the symbols
in addition to running operations on the numbers.
➢ Functions and irrational constants are generally stored as symbols.
➢ CAS software can determine the general solution of differential equations directly.
➢ However, not all equations can be solved symbolically. A computer can only solve
equations for which it has been programmed to solve.
➢ In this discussion, symbolic solutions are used to solve differential equations.

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Python…

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SymPy Library

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Google Colab

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 Link to Google Colab Notebook
Try it yourself: (Note: you need a Google account to run the code snippets)
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/195B2TEApFjTC7CLotjSkzXhpnRK5AEcp?usp=sharing

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 Import SymPy Library
• The SymPy library and its functions and classes must be imported at
the start of the program.

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 Define Variables and Functions
and the Differential Equation
• In our first example, the differential
equation can be defined using x and y,
where y is a function of x.
• We define the variable x as a SymPy
symbol, and define y as a SymPy function.
• To define a differential equation, we use
the Eq() function – this has two parameters
separated by a comma:
✓ expression at the left side of the equation
✓ expression at the right side of the equation

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 Define Variables and Functions
and the Differential Equation cont.
• Since we defined y as a function of x, we
need to always put y(x) instead of just y.
• Addition/subtraction and grouping is
formatted similar to math, by using the ‘+’,
‘-’, ‘(‘, and ‘)’ symbols.
• Multiplication and division is represented
using the ‘*’ and ‘/’ symbols.
• Exponentiation is represented by ‘**’ (two
asterisks).
• Differentiation is done by adding “.diff()” to
an expression. For example, y(x).diff(x, 2)
𝑑2𝑦
means
𝑑𝑥 2

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 Classify the Type of ODE
• Based on the form of the equation, SymPy can classify the differential equation into
different types.
• For each type, SymPy already has a programmed set of steps for the solution.

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 Solve the Differential Equation
• We can then run dsolve() on the differential equation to get its general solution.

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 Tips…
• To run individual cells, click the “Play” button beside the cell, or press
“Ctrl+Enter”.
• The output should appear below the code cell.
• Make sure all SymPy variables are defined.

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