1. EP208 Computational Methods in Physics
INTRODUCTION TO COURSE
Department of Engineering Physics
University of Gaziantep
Feb 2014

2. Content
Introduction
The Course
Example Numerical Problems

3. Introduction
This is an introductory level course in numerical and computational methods with emphasis on applied computing.
Solving problems in engineering often relies on a numerical method when an analytical method is complex or not available. In such cases computers are employed to perform the numerical calculations with speed and accuracy.
Numerical analysis is very large discipline; see the list of topics given in wikipedia.

4. By the end of the course, the student will be able to approach
some problems from a computational point of view and be able
to implement solutions in the form of dedicated computer
programs.
We will use
C++ Programming Language for the implementation of the numerical methods on the computer.
gnuplot for plotting data
Processing for plotting data

5. Course Web Page http://www.gantep.edu.tr/~bingul/ep208
Also search Google and Wikipedia for any of the expressions used in this course.

6. Course Content Sources of Errors Numerical Differentiation
Roots of Equations
Optimization
Numerical Integration
Solutions of Differential Equations
Least Square Fitting
Monte Carlo Methods

7. Lectures, Labs, Attendance, Exams
Mondays – 08:30-10:20 (17:00-18:40)
two-hour lecture
Thursdays – 13:30-15:20 (19:45-21:30)
two-hour lab
Attendance
You must attend at least 70% of the course
Exams
Mid-term 30% 22 Mar 2014
Quiz 30% Weekly
Final 40% ?? May 2014

8. Grading FIRST & SECOND EDUCATION
Independent from the arithmetic mean of the class,
the following rules will be applied for each student:
> FF
> FD
> DD
> DC
> CC
> CB
> BB
> BA
> AA

9. YOUR LAPTOP or FLASH DISK WITH YOU
Computer Labs
We’ll use Windows and/or Linux operating systems
Every week, there will be a QUIZ
You may need to save them on a flash drive or on the internet.
DO NOT FORGET TO BRING
YOUR LAPTOP or FLASH DISK WITH YOU

10. Example Numerical Problems
Find the root of the equation:
Evaluate the integral:
Solve the differential equation:

11. Example Numerical Problems
Aerospace engineers sometimes compute the trajectories (path) of
projectiles like rockets. A trajectory of a rocket is defined by a (x, y)
coordinates and is modelled by
Find the appropriate
initial angle θ if v0 = 200 m/s
and x = 1950 m
(a) For y0 = 0 and y1 = 0
(a) For y0 = 28 m and
y1 = 123 m.

12. Solution:
(a) We have analytical solution
(b)
It is not easy to find the
analytical solution of
the last equation.
We can use a numerical
method which gives
We’ll see later…