Advantages and Disadvantages of Using MATLAB/ode45 for Solving Differential Equations in Engineering Applications

The present paper demonstrates the route used for solving differential equations for the engineering applications at UAEU. Usually students at the Engineering Requirements Unit (ERU) stage of the Faculty of Engineering at the UAEU must enroll in a course of Differential Equations and Engineering Applications (MATH 2210) as a prerequisite for the subsequent stages of their study. Mainly, one of the objectives of this course is that the students practice MATLAB software package during the course. The aim of using this software is to solve differential equations individually and as a system of equation in parallel with analytical mathematics trends. In general, mathematical models of the engineering systems like mechanical, thermal, electrical, chemical and civil are modeled and solve to predict the behavior of the system under different conditions. The paper presents the technique which is used to solve DE using MATLAB. The main code that utilized and presented is MATLAB/ode45 to enable the students solving initial value DE and experience the response of the engineering systems for different applied conditions. Moreover, both advantages and disadvantages are presented especially the student mostly face in solving system of DE using ode45 cod