Mathematical Modeling Programming
Professor Thomasey's students have used programming extensively in the four weeks at Governor's School. They used the programs of Stella and Maple to successfully implement models and solve differential equations to further study their models.
Programming with the TI-84 Calculator
Professor Thomasey's students learned how to program their calculators to do difficult tasks and solve problems mathematics students face everyday, including using Pythagorean Theorem. Below is the code the students used to solve right triangle lengths using the Pythagorean Theorem. Feel free to try it on your calculator!
:Lbl A
:ClrHome
:Menu(“I HAVE…”,”2 LEGS”,1,”1 LEG AND
HYP’,2,”QUIT”,3)
:Lbl 1
:ClrHome
:Input “FIRST LEG: “,X
:Input “SECOND LEG: “,Y
:√𝑋2 + 𝑌2 → 𝑍
:Disp “HYP:”,Z
:Goto 4
:Lbl 2
:ClrHome
:Input “LEG: “,X
:Input “HYP: “,Y
:√𝑋2 + 𝑌2 → 𝑍
:Dsip “SECOND LEG:”,Z
:Lbl 4
:Pause
:Menu(“AGAIN?”,”YES”,A,”NO”,B)
:Lbl B
:Lbl A
:ClrHome
:Menu(“I HAVE…”,”2 LEGS”,1,”1 LEG AND
HYP’,2,”QUIT”,3)
:Lbl 1
:ClrHome
:Input “FIRST LEG: “,X
:Input “SECOND LEG: “,Y
:√𝑋2 + 𝑌2 → 𝑍
:Disp “HYP:”,Z
:Goto 4
:Lbl 2
:ClrHome
:Input “LEG: “,X
:Input “HYP: “,Y
:√𝑋2 + 𝑌2 → 𝑍
:Dsip “SECOND LEG:”,Z
:Lbl 4
:Pause
:Menu(“AGAIN?”,”YES”,A,”NO”,B)
:Lbl B
Programming on Maple
During their four weeks here at Governor's School, mathematical modeling students also used the mathematical program Maple to solve various problems in class. Maple is an extremely useful program to solve differential equations and graph phase plane diagrams. Below is a sample of work done on Maple:
Programming on Stella
The Stella modeling program is a very effective to demonstrate the inputs and outputs of a particular model. Governor's School students used Stella to sample a population model and see how it changes given specific functions and values. Below is work done in Stella: