You are here

Identifying the Type of ODE

Author(s): 
Philip Crooke and Steven Tschantz

From the title page for the mathlet: "This tool helps identify the type (separable, linear, exact, homogeneous, Bernoulli, Ricatti) of a given first order differential equation. It is possible that a differential equation may be of more than one type."

This mathlet is part of the MathServ DE Toolkit (see link at left). Each tool is a CGI script that submits inputs to Mathematica and returns the outputs to the web page. For more information, see the Center of Mass page from the same authors.

Philip Crooke is Professor of Mathematics and Education and Steven Tschantz is Associate Professor of Mathematics, both at Vanderbilt University

FACULTY REVIEW:

This is a simple mathlet, and it is part of a larger toolkit. Nonetheless, I really like this component. It presents the user with a differential equation and prompts the user to indicate which type of DE it is. Feedback is provided, and I think this could be very useful in helping students gain an understanding of DE classification. Very nice.

SOFTWARE SPECIFICATIONS:

Operating systems supported: MAC OS 7/8/9, Windows 95/98/NT/ME

Browsers: Netscape 4/4.7/6, Internet Explorer 4/4.5/5/5.5

Availability of code:

  • The source code for the tools (.html and .def files) can be downloaded.
  • The cgi script, parsing, and security software are proprietary, although the use of the DE Toolkit is totally free.

Open Identifying the Type of ODE  in a new window.

©Crooke & Tschantz, 2001
Published January, 2001

Philip Crooke and Steven Tschantz, "Identifying the Type of ODE," Convergence (September 2004)