Spreadsheet applications in partial differential equations in Nanyang Technological University

Abstract

The spreadsheet program developed by this project serves as a learning tool for solving various types of partial differential equations (namely the elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic equations) using numerical methods. With extensive macro programming in host program Microsoft Excel, the spreadsheet has been tailored for use by someone with no Excel experience. Extensive instructive, error and help messages are also prompted automatically to improve user interactiveness and user friendliness. Apart from providing numerical solutions, the spreadsheet also produces graphical data to enable the user to see a clearer picture of the solution. In addition, a brief introduction to PDEs as well as an introduction to each numerical method has been included to aid the user to further understand each method.