MATHEMATICAL MODELING
OF ENGINEERING PROBLEMS
An engineering device or process can be studied either experimentally (testing
and taking measurements) or analytically (by analysis or calculations).
The experimental approach has the advantage that we deal with the actual
physical system, and the desired quantity is determined by measurement,
within the limits of experimental error. However, this approach is expensive,
time-consuming, and often impractical. Besides, the system we are studying
may not even exist. For example, the entire heating and plumbing systems
of a building must usually be sized before the building is actually built on
the basis of the specifications given. The analytical approach (including the
numerical approach) has the advantage that it is fast and inexpensive, but
the results obtained are subject to the accuracy of the assumptions, approximations,
and idealizations made in the analysis. In engineering studies,
often a good compromise is reached by reducing the choices to just a few
by analysis, and then verifying the findings experimentally.