Definition
Given a system of differential equations,.
The number, position, and length of the slope marks can be arbitrary. The positions are usually chosen as (t,u,...y,z)=(aΔt, bΔu, ... eΔy, fΔz) for arbitrary (but usually equal) Δt, Δu, ... Δy, and Δz, and for all integers a, b, ... e, and f that produce points within the chosen t, u, ... y, and z intervals. The length of the slope marks is usually uniform throughout, and unitary or no greater than the least of Δt, Δu, ... Δy, and Δz.
General application
With computers, complicated slope fields can be quickly made without tedium, and so an only recently practical application is to use them merely to get the feel for what a solution should be before an explicit general solution is sought. Of course, computers can also just solve for one, if it exists.If there is no explicit general solution, computers can use slope fields (even if they aren`t shown) to numerically find graphical solutions. Examples of such routines are Euler`s method, or better, the Runge-Kutta methods.
See also
- Examples of differential equations
- Differential equations of mathematical physics
- Differential equations from outside physics
- Laplace transform applied to differential equations
- List of dynamical systems and differential equations topics
External links
- Slope field from ``MathWorld``
- Slope field plotter
References
Blanchard, Paul; Devaney, Robert L.; and Hall, Glen R. (2002). ``Differential Equations`` (2nd ed.). Brooks/Cole: Thompson Learning. ISBN 0-534-38514-1Calculus Differential equations