Symbolic computation with Maple V for undergraduate electromagnetics

Although symbolic analysis has been successfully used as an educational tool for mathematics, circuits, signals and systems courses, its value in electrical engineering education is still a controversial issue. The paper presents the use of symbolic computation in electromagnetics, where the complexity of the involved mathematics often prevents the students from understanding the underlying physical aspects. The educational strategy the authors propose is complementary to the numerical approach. It is based on actual symbolic calculation of electromagnetic field, not just on field visualization. An example of a Maple V worksheet dedicated to the computation of magnetic field with the Biot-Savart-Laplace method (BSL) is presented. The worksheet contains a theoretical introduction, 8 solved problems (equations, text and plots) and 12 proposed projects. After going through several solved problems, the students are asked to make changes in the worksheet and to discuss the results. They are finally required to conceive their own worksheets for solving new proposed problems, using the BSL worksheet as a model. Their experience shows that the symbolic computation has an outstanding educational potential not only in mathematics, circuits and systems, but also in electromagnetics.