Symbolic Calculations
The chapter is devoted to symbolic calculations in which the variables and commands operate on mathematical expressions containing symbolic variables. The representation of a symbolic expression, its simplification, the solution of algebraic expressions, symbolic differentiation and integration, and conversion of the symbolic numbers to their decimal form are described. ODEs solutions are also presented. The final sections of the chapter give examples of the symbolic calculation implementation for some mechanical and tribological problems that were solved numerically in previous chapters, namely lengthening a two-spring scale, shear stress in a lubrication film, a centroid of a certain plate, and two-way solutions of the ODE describing the second order dynamical system – traditional and using the Laplace transform.