Microfluidics: Modeling, Mechanics and Mathematics

Chapter 27

Numerical Methods for Solving Differential Equations

27.1 Introduction

In the last sections, we have studied numerical methods for solving linear and nonlinear systems of equations. At this point we will turn to numerical methods for solving differential equations. These methods form the basis of what is generally referred to as computational fluid dynamics (CFD). We will study these methods in more detail in section 29. As we will see, there are numerous methods for solving ordinary first-order differential equations. These methods can, with slight modifications, also be used to solver higher-order ordinary differential equations, as well as systems of ordinary differential equations. Before turning to solving partial differential ...