I trying to decide on a project.

[Darth Frodo]

Hi all, I am taking a Numerical Computation course this year which basically consists of learning MATLAB and R. We are tasked with doing a mini research project which involves using either of theses environments.

I am most interested in classical mechanics and have recently taken a course in ODEs so I am thinking something involving solving ODEs numerically rather than analytically.

The problem is I'm having a tough time getting to an ODE. I need help in choosing a situation which when modeled, will yield an ODE to solve.

One idea I have is looking at the motion of a rain droplet on a window.

Any help on this matter would be most appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[jedishrfu]

How about a drop of water dripping from a faucet?

http://www.seas.harvard.edu/softmat/downloads/2005-06.pdf

http://pre.aps.org/pdf/PRE/v55/i6/p6776_1

or the flight of a frisbee?

http://biosport.ucdavis.edu/researc...ation-and-throw-biomechanics/HummelThesis.pdf

http://scripts.mit.edu/~womens-ult/frisbee_physics.pdf

or the flight of a baseball with various kinds of spin?

http://baseball.physics.illinois.edu/AJPFeb08.pdf

Also you can check the Open Source Physics website for various kinds of modeling in Java:

www.compadre.org/osp