SMath for Physics

SMath is a free mathematical notebook program similar to Mathcad that provides many options for studying and solving complex mathematical equations. This book is a primer providing a concise but thorough introduction that keeps physics at a fairly low level so readers can concentrate on understanding the SMath features.

A wide range of topics are discussed in SMath for Physics including: using SMath as a simple scratch pad; getting familiar with the functions (polyroots, roots, and solve) to find the roots of the equations; making use of SMath’s built-in ability to perform symbolic and numerical differentiation and numerical integration; using the vector and matrix features; and performing linear and non-linear regression analysis.

The student who learns how to use SMath can expect to get more accurate results compared to a paper-and-calculator method since input errors are more easily spotted on the SMath ‘page’. The skills acquired learning SMath will help the reader in future work — even if they end up working for a company that uses Mathcad since the interface and features are very similar.