Gwybodaeth am y Modiwl

General structure of the module

As with most mathematics modules, the course will be delivered via 22 lectures (two per week).

There will be four assignments throughout the course. These count towards the final module mark, as does attendance at lectures at tutorials. Together, these make up 20% of your final module mark. I therefore encourage you very strongly to hand in your attempts at assignments, partly to get marks, but mainly in order to get feedback on your attempts. Make sure you read my red squiggles on your work carefully and ask if there's any feedback you don't understand!

The remaining 80% of your module mark is assessed through a two-hour exam in the May exam period.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

  1. solve elementary examples of first-order and linear second-order differential equations with given initial or boundary conditions;

  2. construct simple mathematical models.

Overview of content

The following is an outline of the topics to be covered in this module:

DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS:

First-order equations with separable variables. Homogeneous and linear first-order equations. Linear second-order equations with constant coefficients. Determination of particular integrals when the non-homogeneous term is a polynomial, circular function or exponential function. Method of variation of parameters. Initial and boundary value problems. Higher order linear equations with constant coefficients. Discussion of existence and uniqueness.

MATHEMATICAL MODELLING:

The use of mathematical models to describe and understand the real world. Differentiation and rates of change. Formulation of differential equations to describe time-dependent phenomena, including:

  • elementary dynamics using Newton's laws of motion;

  • population dynamics;

  • flow of charge around simple electric circuits.

Further information

Definitive module information is available on the Aberystwyth University module pages.