Introducton
At Telemark College, Department of Technology in Porsgrunn, Norway we have incorporated the use of the computer algebra system Maple V in the engineering mathematics curriculum from August 1995. With the powerful software program including graphical, symbolic and numerical techniques, Maple V Release 5 is the ideal program to make mathematics more relevant and motivating for engineering students and an excellent demonstration tool for the classroom. The use of Maple has changed the way I teach and hopefully the way the students learn. I now have the opportunity to emphasize the learning of concepts, the visualizatione of concepts and the solution of more realistic engineering applications.
Many of the phenomena we observe in everyday life have a periodic motion. And in many cases the periodic motion is maintained by a periodic driving force. For these forced oscillations the amplitude depends on the frequency of the driving force. There is usually some frequency of the driving force at which the oscillations have their maximum amplitude. This occur when the natural frequency of the vibrating system and the frequency of the driving force are approximately equal. This phenomenon of resonance plays an important role in almost every branch of physics. And the avoidance of destructive resonance vibrations is an important factor in the design of mechanical systems of all types.
Application of differential equations plays an important role in science and engineering. And the most important step in determining the natural frequency of vibration of a system is the formulation of its differential equation. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how Maple can be used to investigate and visualize with animations: