14

Differential equations and difference equations

14.1 Introduction

In order to model most physical situations we need to simplify their description. The idea of a system is central to this simplification. We identify the important elements that interact within the system. The only external interactions characterized as system inputs and the outputs are the quantities related to the system behaviour which we are interested in measuring. For instance, in examining the suspension system of a car we consider the system input to be forces exerted on the wheels of the car. The important elements in the system are the mass of the car and the springs and dampers used to connect the body of the car to the suspension links. We are interested in measuring ...

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