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Education in Science and Technology
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Coulomb damping
Temple H. Fay

a b

Department of Mathematical Technology , Tshwane University of

Technology , Pretoria 0001 , South Africa
b

Department of Mathematics , University of Southern Mississippi ,

P.O. Box 5045, Hattiesburg , MS 39406 , USA
Published online: 23 Nov 2011.

To cite this article: Temple H. Fay (2012) Coulomb damping, International Journal of Mathematical
Education in Science and Technology, 43:7, 923-936, DOI: 10.1080/0020739X.2011.633624
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International Journal of Mathematical Education in

Science and Technology, Vol. 43, No. 7, 15 October 2012, 923982

CLASSROOM NOTES
Coulomb damping
Temple H. Fayab*
a

Department of Mathematical Technology, Tshwane University of Technology,

Pretoria 0001, South Africa; bDepartment of Mathematics, University of Southern
Mississippi, P.O. Box 5045, Hattiesburg, MS 39406, USA
(Received 29 April 2011)
Viscous damping is commonly discussed in beginning differential equations
and physics texts but dry friction or Coulomb friction is not despite dry
friction being encountered in many physical applications. One reason for
avoiding this topic is that the equations involve a jump discontinuity in the
damping term. In this article, we adopt an energy approach which permits a
general discussion on how to investigate trajectories for second-order
differential equations representing mechanical vibration models having dry
friction. This approach is suitable for classroom discussion and computer
laboratory investigation in beginning courses, hence introduction of dry
friction need not be delayed for more advanced courses in mechanics or
modelling. Our method is applied to a harmonic oscillator example and a
pendulum model. One advantage of this method is that the values of the
maximum deflections of a solution can be calculated without solving the
differential equation either analytically or numerically, a technique that
depends on only the initial conditions.
Keywords: dry friction; dissipation; Coulomb-damped harmonic oscillator;
Coulomb-damped pendulum

1. Introduction
In beginning differential equations, linear models are developed for the explanation
of simple mechanical and electrical vibrations which include viscous damping.
In particular, linear spring models are fully developed using Newtons second law
and Hookes law: forces resulting from the weight and stiffness are the first two terms
usually accounted for. However, damping does not arise from a single physical
phenomenon; damping is a measure of energy dissipation in a vibrational model and
plays an important role in the modelling dynamical systems. There are as many types
of damping as there are ways to convert mechanical energy into heat. These include
material damping, structural damping, interfacial damping, aerodynamic and
hydrological drag; the mathematical description of these are quite different. Many
mechanical systems are complicated and efforts to lump together many facets of the
system into a simpler linear single degree of freedom model are employed in the early
design process as such linear models have known exact solutions.

*Email: thfay@hotmail.com
ISSN 0020739X print/ISSN 14645211 online
 2012 Taylor & Francis
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2011.633624
http://www.tandfonline.com

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924

Classroom Notes

Studying Coulomb damping using our elementary methods can achieve two ends:
the first being the introduction of new, deeper and perhaps more relevant syllabus
material and second, illustrates and provides practice for the use of a computer
algebra system, numerical algorithms and graphical interpretation. Furthermore, we
demonstrate an integration between theory, numerics and graphics that shows the
student that one goes hand-in-hand with the other.
There is no question that dissipation plays an important role in modelling of
damped nonlinear dynamical systems. Despite this importance, only linear dissipative forces are discussed in beginning texts. Thus many frictional forces which
influence the motion of an object through a fluid or a gas are ignored as they are
usually considered complex.
Material damping arises from complex molecular interactions and thus is
highly dependent upon the type of material and its fabrication. Structural damping
is a more macroscopic effect and is important as, for example, modern high-rise
buildings may oscillate excessively in high winds. Interfacial damping arises from
dry friction in a structural system. Generally aerodynamic damping in structures is
small compared to mechanical damping and is interesting as, at low velocities,
it is positive but can be negative at certain high-wind conditions. Hydrological
drag is relatively large, especially for ocean structures. For more details on
these items see [1]
The attention given to viscous damping in beginning differential equations
courses is reasonable as it fits into a linear differential equation of motion. If one
assumes that the damping force is a function D(v) dependent upon velocity v,
then D(0) 0 as with no motion there is no damping. Thus, assuming D(v) has a
Taylor approximation about v 0, a first-order approximation of D(v) is simply cv
where c is a constant. But there is another type of damping of major import,
Coulomb damping, the result of two dry (or sometimes lubricated) surfaces rubbing
together.
In this article, we illustrate how one might introduce in the classroom or
computer laboratory setting an investigation of this important nonlinear friction
through two fundamental examples, one with a linear restoring force (harmonic
oscillator with dry friction) and the other with a sinusoidal restoring force
(Coulomb-damped pendulum). These examples provide a glimpse into dealing
with discontinuous models and can serve as an introduction to discontinuous models
such as dissipative oscillators with quadratic damping, see [2]. All numerical and
graphical investigations were carried out using Mathematica version 7 [3], but any
computer algebra system or ode solver package would suffice.
In Section 2, we give a brief description of Coulomb friction. Section 3 is devoted
to an energy approach and an energy function. A harmonic oscillator with dry
friction example is discussed in Section 4, where the function will be used to calculate
the relative maxima and minima for the oscillations. The Coulomb-damped
pendulum model is examined in Section 5 where again we use the energy approach
to calculate relative extrema and to determine basins of attraction for the attracting
spiral points (stable equilibria) for this model. For the harmonic oscillator equation
with Coulomb damping, the decrease in amplitude of the oscillations is linear, but
for the Coulomb-damped pendulum this is not the case. This observation leads to a
Student Project, culminating Section 5, which suggests an investigation seeking, for
Coulomb damping, a generalization of the notion of logarithmic decrement used for
viscous damping of the harmonic oscillator.

International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 925

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2. Coulomb damping
A common type of mechanical damping arises from dry friction. Charles-Augustin
de Coulomb (17361806) won the 1781 prize from the Academie des Sciences for
Theorie de Machines Simples, Memoires de Savants etranges, tomb X (published
separately in Paris in 1809) and therein pointed out the difference between
static and dynamical friction . Due to this study, sliding friction is called Coulomb
friction [4]. Of course, Coulomb is much better known for his foundational work in
electricity and magnetism and in particular his inverse square law of electrostatic
force.
A nice introduction to Coulomb damping can be found in Andronov et al. [5], see
also [6]. However, in elementary textbooks for beginning courses, Coulomb damping
is generally not mentioned or developed. Two interesting examples of Coulomb
friction are given in Jordan and Smith [7] The first example involves a continuous
belt revolving at a constant rate with a surmounted sliding block attached to a spring
which is fixed to a stationary support (stickslip oscillation). The second
example is a model of a simple brake shoe applied to a the hub of a revolving
wheel (non-oscillatory damped motion). An energy approach is used to build phase
plane portraits for each example. Our energy approach is a somewhat deeper
analysis.
Coulomb friction is exhibited in complex structures with non-welded parts, such
as airplane wings. This type of friction between two moving or sliding surfaces (dry
or lubricated) is generally independent of the velocity and the frequency of the
motion, and thus under Coulomb damping, the frictional force is constant, or very
nearly constant. Static friction, also called stiction, is larger than sliding friction
between two surfaces and occurs only when the velocity is instantaneously zero.
Hence the effect is to give the magnitude of the sliding frictional force a spike when
the velocity is very near zero, Norton [8]. Stiction only affects the model behaviour as
a stopping condition at the turning points of the motion [9]. We assume the stiction is
small enough that it can be ignored and will assume that the Coulomb frictional
force is constant in absolute magnitude.
Herein we only consider strictly dissipative oscillators. A frictional force usually
opposes the direction of the motion (sometimes Coulomb friction can add energy
into a system as for a violin string and thus need not be strictly dissipative, the Van
der Pol equation that models a relaxation oscillator is a non-strictly dissipative
oscillator), and consequently always has the opposite sign of the velocity. To
interpret this force for an equation of motion, with the correct sign to adjust for the
direction of motion, the equation of motion usually becomes
::

x c Sgnx f x 0:

The function f(x) will be called the restoring force (actually  f(x) is the restoring
force but it is traditional to transpose all the forces to the same side to the equation
::
as the acceleration x); the constant c is the coefficient of friction and is material:
dependent; the signum function Sgnx is defined by
8
:
for x 4 0,
<1
:
:
2
Sgnx 0
for x 0,
:
:
1 for x 5 0:
Here stiction is neglected and the mass has been normalized to be 1.

926

Classroom Notes

Something else to note, the critical values for the system

:

x y,
:

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y c Sgn y  fx

depend only on the roots of f(x) and not at all on the coefficient of friction c.

3. Energy
The so-called energy approach for conservative systems is very useful and easy to
implement, for example see [10,11]. We can produce a useful energy surface here as
well despite the jump discontinuity in the equation/system. Let us return to
:
Equation (1) and multiply through by xd and integrate from  0 to  t to obtain
Zt
Zt
Zt
:: :
: :
:
xxd
c Sgnxx d
f xx d 0:
4
0

The first integral represents kinetic energy

1
2
2 mv :

1: 2 1: 2
xt  x0 :
2
2

The last integral represents potential energy since it depends solely upon displacement x(t). The middle integral represents the loss of mechanical energy that is
:
converted into heat and we call this term the dissipation. Setting y x and
integrating, we have
Zx
y2 y20
 c Sgn yx  x0
f d 0,
6
2
2
x0
:

where the initial values are x(0) x0 x0 y0 :

Note that the right-hand side appears to be a constant so that kinetic plus
potential plus dissipation is constant in the surface determined by the energy
function and thus contours in the energy surface represent trajectories for the system
with the initial values determining the contour constant. But the factor Sgn(y) means
that as the trajectory crosses the x-axis ( y 0), the value of the contour constant
:
changes. Note that again we have a discontinuity at x y 0:
We will see that this energy function is more than the usual kinetic plus potential
since the dissipation term is present. From physical considerations, we know the sum
of the kinetic and potential energies is not constant but decreases and these combined
energies reduce as friction causes a heat sink and stable critical values are thus
attracting spiral points for these oscillating systems.

4. The Coulomb-damped harmonic oscillator

Let us assume the restoring force is linear of the form f(x) x so that the equation of
motion is that of a harmonic oscillator with dry friction damping
::

x c Sgnx x 0:

There is no loss of generality to assume the coefficient of x is 1 since it is at most a

dilation of the time variable t to obtain this. Of course, Equation (7) is really two

International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 927

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equations depending upon the sign of the velocity x and note that there is a jump
:
discontinuity when x 0: This means that the motion is divided into intervals
bounded by the conditions that the velocity is zero and between endpoints is of
constant sign.
:
:
If we assume x 4 0, and we have initial conditions x0, x0 x0 , y0 , then the
solution to
::

xcx0

xt x0 c cost y0 sint  c:

is

If x 5 0, and we have initial conditions x0, x0 x0 , y0 , then the solution to

::

xcx0

10

xt x0  c cost y0 sint c:

11

is

Thus a solution to Equation (7) consists of basically an oscillating function whose

:
increasing segments from a relative minimum to a relative maximum (when x 4 0 is
determined by the solution (9) and decreasing segment from the relative maximum to
:
the next relative minimum (when x 5 0 comes from the solution (11). Note that the
frequency of the oscillation is the same as the natural frequency.
We can predict the decrease in amplitudes from one cycle to the next. Suppose we
choose the initial conditions (x(0), y(0)) (x0, 0) with x0 > 0 so that we are beginning
the oscillations at a relative maximum. The solution for the next half-cycle is given by
xt x0  c cost c,

12

since over this portion of the cycle y < 0 and accordingly x is decreasing. This
half-cycle ends at t , and x()  x0 2c. Thus the reduction in amplitude is 2c
and consequently from one relative maximum (minimum) to the next relative
maximum (minimum) is 4c.
An equivalent form of Equation (7) is the system
:

x y,
:
y c Sgn y  x,

13

for which (0, 0) is the unique critical value. Intuitively, this critical value should be
:
classified as an attracting spiral point, but due to the jump discontinuity at x 0,
eigenvalue classification fails since the derivative of c Sgn(y) fails to exist at y 0.
In Figure 1, we show a vector field plot for the system (13) with c 1/9 indicating
that (0, 0) is an attracting spiral point as expected. The value c 1/9 was chosen
solely for scaling and other visual effects, and the figure is intended to be
representative of the model behaviour.
The relative maxima and minima for the solution to (7) with c 1/9 are given in
Table 1, where the first maxima is at (t1, x1) and t1 0.732815 since 10 sin(t1)/9
cos(t1) 0. It readily follows that t2 t1 , t3 t2 , t4 t3 , and so on.
Evaluating the numerical solution at these times provides the values listed in Table 1.

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928

Classroom Notes

Figure 1. Vector field plot for system (13), c 1/9.

Table 1. Relative extrema (Equation (7)).
x1 1.38374
x2 1.16151
x3 0.939292

x4 0.717069
x5 0.494847
x6 0.272625

The change from one maximum to the next is 4c 4/9 and similarly from one
minimum to the next. This means that all the peaks lie on a pair of straight lines
x 4c(t  t1) x1. This is indicated in Figure 2.
One need not solve the system numerically in order to determine the relative
extrema of the solution to the initial value problem. Knowing a formula for the
energy of the system which depends upon both displacement and velocity is one way
to determine these extrema as they occur when the velocity is zero. The only problem
is that the energy is determined by two formulae, one when the velocity is positive
and other when the velocity is negative, thus requiring an iterative method.
The relative extrema for this solution are easy to find from Equations (9) and
(11), but we will use an energy approach to determine these maximum amplitudes of
:
the oscillation. To that end, multiply Equation (7) by x d and integrate from  0 to
:
 t, to obtain (setting y x
y2 y20 x2 x20
  c Sgn yx  x0 :
2
2
2
2

14

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International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 929

Figure 2. The solution x(t) for (x0, y0) (1, 1).

We interpret the kinetic energy as y2/2 and the potential energy as x2/2 and set the
energy as
Ex, y

y2 x2 y20 x20
 c Sgn yx  x0 :
2
2
2
2

15

The initial energy is

E0 Ex0 , y0

y20 x20
,
2
2

16

and we interpret the right-hand side of Equation (15) as dissipation.

Returning to our example above, since y0 > 0, the first increasing segment of the
solution peaks at (t1, x1) (see Figure 2) which can be found from (9). The energy
along this segment is given by (15)
 2

 
y2 y20
x
x20
1
x  x0 :


17

9
2
2
2
2
Since (1, 1) are the initial conditions, Equation (17) becomes
y2 10 x2 1
  x:

9
2
2 9

18

Now x1 is found using NewtonRaphson method as y 0 when x x1. Recall that

NewtonRaphson method requires a starting point which we choose to be x0 1.
This yields x1 1.38374.
The next extrema is a relative minimum at (t2, x2) and x2 is that value of x which
yields y 0 for the energy equation
 2

 
y2
x
x21
1
x  x1 :


19

9
2
2
2
Here we use the starting point 1. This produces x2 1.16151. Alternating beween
the two forms of Equations (15), the relative extrema are readily calculted without

930

Classroom Notes
Table 2. Relative extrema (Equation (15)).

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x1 1.38374
x3 0.93929
x5 0.494845

x2 1.16151
x4  0.71707
x6 0.27262

Figure 3. Vector field plot for the system (20), c 1/9.

ever having to the solve the differential equation. These first six extrema are listed
in Table 2.

5. The Coulomb-damped pendulum

The pendulum equation is found in almost every beginning text, but usually, because
of its nonlinearity and exact solution involving an arcsine of an elliptic sine, the
equation is given a linear approximation. For a derivation of the analytic solution
see [12]. The undamped pendulum equation is investigated numerically together with
various approximations in [13]. The viscous damped pendulum equation is seldom
discussed in any detail. The Coulomb-damped pendulum is a bit easier to investigate.
In Figure 3, we show a vector field plot for the system
:

x y,
:
:
y c Sgnx  sinx,
where again we have set c 1/9 for visual convenience.

20

International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 931

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The critical values are (n, 0), with attracting spiral points for n even and saddle
points for n odd.
The energy function is determined by the energy equation
y2 y20

2
2

sind c Sgn yx  x0 0,

21

x0

and we set
Ex, y

y2
 cosx c Sgn yx,
2

22

and call this the energy function. Normally, for any given initial condition
(x(0), y(0)) (x0, y0), the contour
Ex, y

y20
 cosx0 c Sgn yx0
2

23

would be the trajectory in the phase plane for the solution to the initial value
problem, except due to the discontinuity. We have to adjust for when the trajectory
crosses the x-axis. The trajectory consists of segments pieced together from the upper
half-plane and the lower half-plane and the energy surface is constant on each of
these segments; the value of the contour constant will change from the upper halfplane to the lower half-plane. We illustrate this with the initial conditions
(x0, y0) (1, 1). These initial conditions were chosen as the trajectory produced can
be viewed as representative.
In Figure 4, we plot the phase plane trajectory for
::

1
:
Sgnx sinx 0,
9

24

with (x0, y0) (1, 1) shown solved numerically in both forward and backward time.
Again c 1/9 was chosen as representative and to keep matters of scale appropriate.
This trajectory consists of a number of segments above the x-axis and a number
below. On each trajectory segment, the energy is constant. Even though the
trajectory is continuous as it crosses the x-axis, the contour constants above and
below are different. In Figure 4, we plot the trajectory indicating that (0, 0) is an
attracting spiral point and eight other points on the x-axis where the trajectory
crosses.
With the exception of the furthest most point to the right (2.42045, 0), and the
furthest point to the left (1.85091,0), six of these points are listed in Table 3
alternating positive and negative. Starting at the initial point (1, 1) travelling in a
clockwise direction to the first crossing of the x-axis at (x1, 0) and then continuing
travelling below to the point (x2, 0), then travelling above to (x3, 0) and so on.
These points are listed in Table 3, with the time values that generate them from
the numerical algorithm. For the last point closest to the origin, (x7, 0), the
numerical algorithm stalls at t 20.0989, which produces the value of
x(20.0989) 0.0403, but as we will see, the energy approach predicts the value to
be x7 0.0263356.
A plot of the solution x(t) with these six local maxima and minima indicated is
given in Figure 5.

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932

Classroom Notes

Figure 4. The full trajectory for (x0, y0) (1, 1) and crossing points.

Table 3. Relative extrema with times values.

(t1, x1) (0.9351325, 1.47732)
(t2, x2) (4.485212, 1.17258)
(t3, x3) (7.869422, 0.903965)

(t4, x4) (11.148161, 0.656845)

(t5, x5) (14.3592246, 0.422916)
(t6, x6) (17.52999, 0.196617)

In this figure, the upper dashed line is the line passing through the points (t1, x1)
and (t3, x3); its reflection is the lower dashed line. We see that the decay in amplitude
no longer is linear.
But to find these points in Figure 5, we need not resort to a numerical trajectory
solution. We need only use the energy surface (25) determined by Equation (24) and
the initial condition (x0, y0) (1, 1):
y2
1
y2
1
 cosx Sgn yx 0  cosx0 Sgn yx0 :
9
9
2
2

25

Starting at (1, 1) and moving clockwise, we first reach (x1, 0). The value x1 can be
calculated from the equation
1
1
1
 cosx1 x1  cos1 :
9
2
9

26

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International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 933

Figure 5. The solution x(t) and relative extrema.

This solution is x1 1.47732. NewtonRaphson method is a good technique for this

calculation. Continuing, the point (x2, 0) is reached by travelling clockwise from
(x1, 0) below the x-axis, and the value x2 1.17258 is found from the equation
1
1
 cosx2  x2  cosx1  x1 :
9
9

27

In general, if i > 1 is odd, then xi1 is calculated by solving

1
1
 cosxi1  xi1  cosxi  xi ,
9
9

28

and if i is even then xi1 is calculated by solving

1
1
 cosxi1 xi1  cosxi xi
9
9

29

Of course this does not give the corresponding ti value, but in practical applications,
one is generally interested in finding the maximum amplitudes of the oscillations and
not when they occur since this depends upon the choice of initial values.
Using numerical methods, it is not difficult to produce a phase plane portrait for
this situation and we do not have to piece together many parts of the trajectory but
only solve an initial value problem in both forward and backward time. Since there
are saddle points involved, one can expect separatrices dividing the plane into
distinct regions of trajectory behaviour and which provide boundaries for basins of
attraction for the spiral points. A partial phase plane portrait including separatrices
and three initial starting points off the axes is given in Figure 6.
The wavy bands shown that are slightly thicker form the boundaries of the basins
of attraction for the attracting spiral points (2n, 0). These band comprise a
separatrix, passing through the saddle points ((2n 1), 0). Of course, many of these
wavy lines are omitted in the figure in order to keep things from becoming too
crowded and obscuring the representative local behaviour near the critical points.
Note that some points are indicated by dots on the y-axis. These points are of
the form (0, vn) where the separatrices emanating from the six saddle points (, 0),

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934

Classroom Notes

Figure 6. An abbreviated phase portrait.

(3, 0) and (5, 0) cross the y -axis. The energy equations (23) and (25) permit the
calculation of these points easily and numerical solutions are not necessary. Suppose
we wish to find where the separatrix from (5, 0) crosses the y-axis. Then the contour
in the energy surface is
Ex, y

y2
x

 cosx 1 5 ,
9
9
2

30

and the value v5 2.73691 is obtained by setting x 0 and solving E[0, y] 1 5/9
for y v5. It is clear that the points (0, vn) are symmetrically placed. The first six
points are tabulated below.
v1 2:16752,
v3 2:46868,
v5 2:73691:
Imagine the pendulum hanging at rest so that x0 0 and at time t 0 the
pendulum is struck with an impulse giving it an initial velocity y0. For small values of
y0 the maximum displacement is less than  and the pendulum begins its damped
oscillatory motion tending towards the rest position again. But if y0 is sufficiently
large (greater in absolute value than v1), the effect is of giving the pendulum a
number of revolutions, and the trajectory will eventually spiral down to one of the

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International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 935

attracting spiral points. Determining the range of values of y0 so that the trajectory
will spiral down to a specified attracting spiral point, (2n, 0) is determined by the
upper (for y0 > 0) and lower (y0 < 0) branches of the separatrix passing through
((2n  1), 0) and ((2n 1), 0) and where these branches intersect the y-axis. So
if y0 is between v3 and v5 say, then the pendulum will swing around completely twice
before beginning its damped oscillations, the trajectory settling into the attracting
spiral point (4, 0).
Student project: The logarithmic decrement (for a definition, see e.g. [14]) is a useful
concept for the linear oscillator model having viscous damping. Given a physical
model, numerical estimation of the logarithmic decrement can be used to estimate
the damping coefficient. Is there an equivalent concept for Coulomb damping that
could be used to estimate the damping coefficient and the rate of decay of the
amplitudes of the maximum oscillations (and their frequencies)?

6. Conclusion
Discontinuous models are usually not discussed in the beginning literature. In this
article, we have provided a natural extension of the usual energy approach to
conservative mechanical vibrational models that permits us to produce phase
portraits and discuss important features of the models having discontinuous dry
friction. Two prototypical models enjoying Coulomb damping (harmonic oscillator
and the pendulum) are investigated to demonstrate the usefulness of the approach
and that it can be effectively used in the classroom or in a computer laboratory
setting.

References
[1] A. Kareem and K. Gurley, Damping in structures: Its evaluation and treatment of
uncertainty, J. Wind. Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 59 (1996), pp. 131157.
[2] T.H. Fay, Quadratic damping, Int. J. Math. Educ. Sci. Technol. (to appear).
[3] S. Wolfram, The Mathematica Book, 3rd ed., Wolfram Media, Cambridge University
Press, New York, 1999.
[4] E.J. Routh, The Elementary Part: Dynamics of a System of Rigid Bodies, 8th ed.,
(McMillan and Co., 1905), Dover Publications, New York, 1960.
[5] A.A. Andronov, A.A. Vitt, and S.E. Khaikin, Theory of Oscillators, Dover, New York,
1987.
[6] I.R. Lapidus, Motion of a harmonic oscillator with sliding friction, Amer. J. Phys. 38
(1970), pp. 13601361.
[7] D.W. Jordan and P. Smith, Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations, 3rd ed., Oxford
University Press, New York, 1999.
[8] R.L. Norton, Cam Design and Manufacturing Handbook, 2nd ed., Industrial Press,
New York, 2009.
[9] R.D. Peters and T. Pritchett, The not-so-simple harmonic oscillator, Am. J. Phys. 65
(1997), pp. 10671073.
[10] T.H. Fay and S.V. Joubert, Energy and the nonsymmetric nonlinear spring, Int. J. Math.
Educ. Sci. Technol. 30 (1999), pp. 889902.
[11] T.H. Fay and S.V. Joubert, Energy and contour plots for qualitative analysis of nonlinear
differential equations, Math. Comput. Educ. 33 (1999), pp. 6777.

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Classroom Notes

[12] H.T. Davis, Nonlinear Differential and Integral Equations, Dover Publications,
New York, 1962.
[13] T.H. Fay, The pendulum equation, Int. J. Math. Educ. Sci. Technol. 33 (2002),
pp. 505519.
[14] W. Boyce and R. DiPrima, Elementary Differential Equations, 7th ed., Wiley & Sons,
New York, 2001.

Modelling the landing of a plane in a calculus lab

Antonio Morante and Jose A. Vallejo*
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potos,
Lat. Av. Salvador Nava s/n, CP 78290, San Luis Potos (SLP), Mexico
(Received 4 June 2011)
We exhibit a simple model of a plane landing that involves only basic
concepts of differential calculus, so it is suitable for a first-year calculus lab.
We use the computer algebra system Maxima and the interactive geometry
software GeoGebra to do the computations and graphics.
Keywords: mathematical modelling; calculus labs; GeoGebra; CAS
Maxima

1. Introduction
Usually, the problems posed in freshman calculus courses are just formal in character
and, therefore, not quite exciting. Students are not satisfied when we say that
mathematics can be used in different fields of knowledge, they want to see math
applied to real-world situations!
Obviously, the problem is that most real mathematical applications need the
study of more advanced subjects than the ones offered at freshman level, but with a
little bit of imagination it is possible to adapt complex real problems to tractable case
studies requiring a minimum of mathematical formalism. An example of this
approach is [1], of which we present an adaptation using Maxima and GeoGebra.
The choice of this couple is dictated by two main reasons: their power and easiness of
use, and the fact that they are free software, so the students can work at home with
the same programs with which they learn at the classroom, at no cost. We include a
brief Appendix on the basic usage of both programs, to make the lab self-contained.
Before June 1965, when autolanding was first used in a commercial flight,
there were several accidents with landing aircrafts, like that of Paradise Airlines
Flight 901A, where a Constellation crashed with Genoa peak on approach to Lake
Tahoe airport (see, e.g. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19640301-1).
Nowadays, even with good visual conditions, most of the medium/large range
airliners are able to land by means of the so-called instrument landing systems (or
ILS for short). There is a well-defined protocol to decide when to use these ILS,
indeed, landings are classified taking into account several conditions related to
*Corresponding author. Email: jvallejo@fc.uaslp.mx
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2011.633626