Middle East Technical University

Department of Mechanical Engineering

ME 310 Numerical Methods
All Sections — Fall 2021

Instructor and Assistant Information

office email section

Dr. Ender Ciğeroğlu B-314 cigeroglu@metu.edu.tr 1
Dr. Hakan Çalışkan G-307 chakan@metu.edu.tr 2
Dr. Ali Karakuş G-304 akarakus@metu.edu.tr 3
Mr. Erdem Ata G-134 ataerdem@metu.edu.tr 1,2 & 3
Mr. Murat Çakır G-114 murcakir@metu.edu.tr 1,2 & 3
Mr. Semih Türk G-117 sturk@metu.edu.tr 1,2 & 3

We have online office hours. You can send us emails, but make sure that your email’s subject
line starts with "ME 310-" and do not forget to put your name and student id on your email.

Course Website
All course materials and postings can be accessed through ODTU Class page. You are expected to
follow [ME 310 Your Section] and [ME 310 All Sections] which is a virtual macro class created
to unify all communications between the sections. Please check your METU email regularly for
announcements.

Class Information

Section 1 Monday @ 13:40 Wednesday @ 14:40, 15:40

Section 2 Tuesday @ 10:40 Thursday @ 13:40, 14:40
Section 3 Monday @ 11:40, 12:40 Wednesday @ 12:40

We will have a blend of pre-recorded lectures, distributed lecture notes and scheduled online
meetings. Students will attend the online meetings in virtual classrooms provided by a platform
of instructor’s choice, e.g. Blackboard Collaborate, BigBlueButton, Zoom, WebEx and Microsoft
Teams. The link to join each meeting will be announced on ODTU Class before the scheduled
time. Recordings of these meetings will not be made available for later viewing unless otherwise
is noted.
Grading
There will be two midterm examinations, one final exam and programming projects. We are
planning to make in-person examinations in the midterms and final unless the university or YOK
decide otherwise. Following is the full list of items that will contribute to your letter grade.

Projects 15%
Midterms 2 × 25%
Final 35%

Programming Projects
There will be several programming project assignments throughout the semester. These will
have to include mathematical formulation, numerical solution by computer programming, ap-
propriate presentation, and a short discussion of the results of the given problem. Please follow
the course announcements regarding the procedures to prepare and submit your programming
project assignments. Projects will be done by groups of two students where each member of
the group should participate in every assignment. It is your responsibility to inform your course
assistant and instructor immediately if the other member of your group does not contribute.

Study Problems
There will be study problems published regularly to assist your efforts to study for the exams.
These will not be graded but their answers will be provided. Studying these will prepare you for
the midterm and final exams.

Computer Usage
You are free to choose your programming environment (MATLAB, Mathcad, C, Python, Fortran,
etc.) for all class activities.

Textbook and References

Textbook: Numerical Methods for Engineers, by S.C. Chapra. R.P. Canale, 7th ed, McGraw-Hill
(any edition is also applicable).

There is a vast literature in the field of introductory numerical methods. Following is just an
incomplete list of the books.
• Applied Numerical Methods for Engineers and Scientists, by S.S. Rao.
• Numerical Methods Using MATLAB, by J.H. Mathews and K.D. Fink.
• Numerical Mathematics and Computing, by W. Cheney and D. Kincaid.
• Numerical Analysis: Mathematics of Scientific Computing, by D. Kincaid, and W. Cheney.
• Applied Numerical Analysis, by C.F. Gerald and P.O Wheatley

2
 • Applied Numerical Methods with MATLAB, by S.C. Chapra.
• Numerical Methods for Engineers and Scientists:An Introduction with Applications Using Mat-
lab, by A. Gilat and V. Subramaniam.
• Numerical Methods, by R. Burden and J.D. Faires.
• An Introduction to Numerical Methods: A MATLAB Approach, by A. Kharab, F. Costanzo, and
R.B. Guenther.
• Applied Numerical Methods Using MATLAB, by W.Y. Yang, W. Cao, J. Kim, K.W. Park, H.H.
Park, J. Joung, J.S. Park, H.L. Lee, C.H. Hong and T. Im.
• Numerical Methods for Engineers and Scientists Using MATLAB, by R.S. Edfandiari.

Course Outline

Part Content
Introduction
1. Modeling, Computers and Error Analysis Approximation and Round-off Errors
Truncation Errors and the Taylor Series
Bracketing Methods
2. Roots of Equations
Open Methods
Gauss Elimination
3. Linear Algebraic Equations Matrix Inversion
Gauss-Seidel Method
4. Optimization 1D Unconstrained Optimization
5. Regression Least-squares Regression
Newton’s Divided Difference
6. Interpolation Polynomials
Splines
Newton-Cotes Integration Formulas
7. Numerical Differentiation and Integration Integration of Equations
Numerical Differentiation
Runge-Kutta Methods
8. Ordinary Differential Equations
Boundary-Value Problems

3
Make-up Policy
Make-up exams will only be given to those who have an excuse accepted by the University. In
order to be eligible for make-up consideration, you must contact teaching assistants with an of-
ficial statement of excuse within one week of the original exam date. The make-up examination
will be scheduled after the finals.

Academic Honesty
You are expected to read the code of ethics available at the department’s website (link) and
follow it precisely. Any unethical conduct will not be tolerated. Acts of dishonesty (cheating,
copying, deceiving) will result in a grade "F" and a report to the Department’s Ethics Committee.

Changes to the Course Policy

The course policy is subject to change at the discretion of the instructors to accommodate po-
tential developments during the semester. Changes to the course policy will be announced on
ODTU Class.