Che 245 Computer Applications in Chemical Engineering
Spring 2001
1
MATHCAD TUTORIAL
The Fundamentals
Notice
This manuscript contains the tutorial on using Mathcad 2000 Professional version as taken from the software built-in
tutorial. Originally this material was extracted from MathCad 7 Professional, however, it has been updated by adding
information from Mathcad 2000 Professional version. As such, it is possible that some of the information that was relevant
to MathCad 7 might be present in this manuscript while id does not hold for MathCad200 Professional. Production of this
document was done by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, which uses
MathCad very intensively. Authorization to use this document has been issued by Professor Emmanuel G. Collins,
Associate Chair of Graduate Studies, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Florida A&M - Florida State, 2525
Pottsdamer St. Tallahassee, Florida 32310
Introduction: The Mathcad Advantage
Mathcad is a unique, powerful way to work with equations, numbers, text, and graphs. Unlike any other math software,
Mathcad does math the same way you do. That's because it looks and works like a scratchpad and pencil. Mathcad's on-
screen interface is a blank worksheet on which you can enter equations, graph data or functions, and annotate with text --
anywhere on the page. And instead of forcing you to use a programming-like syntax, Mathcad lets you use the language of
mathematics.
In a programming language, for example, equations look like this:
x=(-B+SQRT(B**2-4*A*C))/(2*A)
In a spreadsheet, equations go into cells looking something like this:
+(-B1+SQRT(B1*B1-4*A1*C1))/(2*A1)
In Mathcad, the same equation looks the way you would see it in a text or a reference book:
x
b
b 2
4 a
.
c
.
2 a
.
The only difference is that Mathcad's equations and graphs are live. Change any data, variable, or equation, and Mathcad
recalculates the math and redraws the graphs -- instantly. With Mathcad, you can solve a wide range of technical
problems -- fr