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VU Math Software
The Mathematical Sciences Department uses a number of different software
packages in its various course offerings:
Maple
Computer Algebra System from
Maplesoft for symbolic, numeric, and graphical computation. It is
available via a network version on the various UNIT public sites, or on the
citrix server via
the web, and locally in some of the Mendel G computer classrooms in the Start
menu program list. This is a required tool in the science / engineering
calculus sequence Mat1500, 1505, 2500, and in differential equations with linear
algebra Mat 2705.
Computer
Algebra Systems and Number Crunching Based Software
The three leading computer algebra systems are Maple V, Mathematica
(from Wolfram Research Institute), and
MACSYMA. We have a university site
license for Maple while a few individual licensed users of Mathematica
exist across campus.
Engineering uses two numerical mathematics packages with limited symbolic
tools: MATLAB (MATrix LABoratory) from
MATH WORKS used primarily by Electrical and Computer Engineering, and
MathCad (from MATH SOFT) used more by
the remaining engineering departments.
Maple has worksheet files (.ms before Release 4, .mws after, also
.mw files beginning with Release 8) which include text regions, input
command regions, and output graphics, numerics and symbolic results acts as
a wordprocessor for the text regions since release 4. Mathematica has
notebook files (.m). MATLAB has command and text filled script files
(.mat) but require execution to see the popup graphics (their notebook
files which combine output with the commands use MS-Word as a viewer).
MathCad is a combination wordprocessor/grapher/super calculator with
reportlike files that don't seem to have a name (.mcd). MathCad has access
to some symbolic calculations using a Maple engine.
MiniTab
MiniTab is user friendly statistical software available on the PC
Networks. Math 1230/1235 use miniTab.
EXCEL
Windows spreadsheets available on all the local area networks. The
Business Calculus sequence MAT1330-1335 use Excel.
Some current assignments and examples or data files may be found here.
Maple worksheets
Villanova students pay almost as much tuition as UPenn students. The
UPenn Math Department uses
Maple for
Windows and Mac in all of its calculus sequence courses. Their
Undergraduate Math Site
points to all of their
calculus course-related Maple worksheets which are found under specific
course names under their Windows subdirectory (for Windows files) or under Mac
for those few of you on the "other platform"
- Math
130: Liberal Arts Calc
- Math
150 and 151: Business Calc
- Math
240 and 241: Science/Engineering Calc
A UPenn link to math
softw
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