Numerical Methods with VBA Programming

  9    Sets of Linear Equations

9.1 Lots of Linear Equations

A few linear equations are not hard to solve by hand. Indeed, this topic is often considered before a student even begins the study of algebra. But in science and engineering it is often necessary to solve many linear equations, perhaps thousands or even millions, simultaneously. These equations may be the result of approximating partial differential equations as sets of linear equations. Large numbers of such equations frequently are encountered in computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling. In Chapter 11 we shall see how partial differential equations can be approximated as linear ...