Why study numerical methods?
Numerical methods are extremely powerful problem-solving tools. They are capable of handling large system of equations, non-linearities and complicated geometries that are not uncommon in engineering practice and that are often impossible to solve analytically. As such, they greatly enhance our problem-solving skills. During your engineering careers, you may often have occasions to use commercially available prepackaged, or ‘canned’ computer programs that involve numerical methods. The intelligent use of these programs often is predicated on knowledge of the basic theory underlying the methods. Many problems cannot be approached using canned programs. If you are conversant with numerical methods and are adept at computer programming you will have the capability of designing your own programs to solve problems without having to buy or commission expensive software. Numerical methods are an efficient vehicle for learning to use computers. It is well known that an effective way to learn p
