Ali Mason 
Ordinary Differential Equations with Applications 

Ordinary differential equations (ODEs) arise in many contexts of mathematics and science (social as well as natural). Mathematical descriptions of change use differentials and derivatives. Various differentials, derivatives, and functions become related to each other via equations, and thus a differential equation is a result that describes dynamically changing phenomena, evolution, and variation. Often, quantities are defined as the rate of change of other quantities (for example, derivatives of displacement with respect to time), or gradients of quantities, which is how they enter differential equations. Ordinary differential equations are equations to be solved in which the unknown element is a function, rather than a number, and in which the known information relates that function to its derivatives. Few such equations admit an explicit answer, but there is a wealth of qualitative information describing the solutions and their dependence on the defining equation. Systems of differential equations form the basis of mathematical models in a wide range of fields – from engineering and physical sciences to finance and biological sciences. Differential equations are relations between unknown functions and their derivatives. Computing numerical solutions to differential equations is one of the most important tasks in technical computing, and one of the strengths of MATLAB. The book explains the origins of various types of differential equations. The scope of the book is limited to linear differential equations of the first order, linear differential equation of higher order, partial differential equations and special methods of solution of differential equations of second order, keeping in view the requirement of students.