Introductory Workshop in Computational Science

National Science Teachers Summer School 2003 Tuesday 14th January 2003

30 minutes	What is Computational Science Steve Roberts from the Department of Mathematics at ANU introduces some ideas, techniques and applications of computational science. He will also outline a new degree that ANU is offering in computational science.
45 minutes	Hands on tutorial: Bouncing Ball (EScience/HPS Computer Lab) Step through the process of developing a computer simulation of a gas. In the process you will learn a little of objected oriented programming with VPython. We will produce a simulation of a ball bouncing in a box
15 minutes	Coffee break (CSIT Common Room)
45 minutes	Continuation of Tutorial: Simulating a Gas (EScience/HPS Computer Lab) Using the bouncing ball simulation, we add extra balls and collisions between balls to obtain a simulation of a gas. We can do experiments with our virtual gas and verify theoretical results such as the Maxwellian distribution of particle velocities in a gas.

Software Each participant will receive a CD of Python 2.2- an easy to learn object-oriented programming language, along with Vpython- an extension for displaying 3D scenes developed as an educational tool for visualizing physical and mathematical systems and concepts. The CD will also contain an open source book on programming with Python. Support The workshop is organised by ANU Department of Mathematics  with support from APAC (Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing). Contact Steve Roberts , phone 6125 4445, fax 6125 4984.