Engineering Computing

Joseph L. Zachary
Christopher R. Johnson
Eric N. Edie
Kenneth W. Parker

Hamlet Project
Department of Computer Science
University of Utah

These lessons contain special URLs that interactively demonstrate commands and copy files. (All such URLs end with the file extension ".hamlet".) These URLs will not work unless you have installed the Hamlet external viewer.

World Population

This lesson uses Maple to study the problem of determining the number of square feet that every human on earth would have if all of the dry land were divided up evenly. It illustrates the five-step approach to solving computational problems, with an emphasis on the importance of assessment. It discusses the notions of significant digits and interval arithmetic.

Kitty Hawk

This lesson uses Maple to determine the distance out to sea one can see from the top of a hill. It illustrates the importance of using diagrams to come up with a model, introduces the idea of floating-point error, and shows how algebraic simplification can convert an unstable computation into a stable one.

Cantilevered Blocks

This lesson uses Maple to determine how far out beyond the edge of a table a simple stack of blocks can be cantilevered. It illustrates the role that Maple can play in developing an initial model, and introduces the idea of using built-in functions.

Exponential Growth

This lesson uses Maple to study the phenomenon of exponential growth. It illustrates the power of user-defined functions and shows how Maple can be used to solve equations.

Ballistic Trajectories

This lesson uses Maple to study the problem of visualizing ballistic trajectories. It illustrates the power of visualization in science and engineering through the use of two-dimensional plots, parametric plots, and animations.

Destroyers

This lesson uses Maple to study the problem of modeling the power consumption of a modern destroyer. It illustrates the calculus capability of Maple, the idea of abstracting a function from an expression, and the power of building complicated functions from simple building blocks.

Hamlet Project
hamlet@cs.utah.edu