Introduction – Maths in Renewable Energy
Please watch a video on the role of mathematics in the Renewable Energy industry. David Pullinger graduated from the University of Bristol in 2010 and is now a Chartered Engineer working for RINA as an expert in wind energy consultancy. He discusses his role and how he analyses vast datasets to make recommendations to clients.
Calculus
We set the context by describing how a sea voyage relates to position and velocity. Speeds and accelerations change in time – we deal with this by integration and differentiation, using www.wolframalpha.com. Please follow the video below (15 minutes):
Vectors
Positions, speed and velocity change in two directions. They are described as vectors and we explore ways of handling and adding these quantities. Please follow the video here (10 minutes).
Examples
This video shows examples of integration and vector addition (11 minutes).
Time to have a go
The homework for this session concerns navigation and calculations of latitude and longitude. You resolve the daily distance of travel into components, then find the corresponding subtended angles. You are summing small quantities – what might this process be called? This homework pdf file explains the homework in detail and offers some hints.
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