Learning MathematicaAn alternative that many students find easier to use is Mathcad. It is installed on a few computers in Department labs and may also be purchased (for Windows only) at a student discount. Click on the lab on the schedules page to get the schedule of usage by classes, which is heavy. You may use the lab any time it is open and no class has reserved it. There are several books written to help physicists and physics students use Mathematica and Mathcad. The most complete reference for Mathematica is probably the guide at the Wolfram Mathematica documentation center. As a sample, see the section on numerical solution of differential equations. See also Mathematica Tutorial by Scott DeRuiter. Dr. Barnier is currently teaching a course, Math 180, on how to use Mathematica. Some of the materials on his course website, such as Practice1, may be helpful to you. Note that this is a Mathematica notebook. Save it on your computer and then open it with Mathematica.
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