Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) Simulations of Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Using a Spreadsheet
Physics Education
2007-05-23 v1 Computational Physics
Abstract
We describe a simple and intuitive implementation of the method of finite difference time domain simulations for propagating electromagnetic waves using the simplest possible tools available in Microsoft Excel. The method overcomes the usual obstacles of familiarity with programming languages as it relies on little more than the cut and paste features that are standard in Excel. Avenues of exploration by students are proposed and sample graphs are included. The pedagogical effectiveness of the implementation was tested during an Independent Activities Period class, composed of 80% freshmen, at MIT, and yielded positive results.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.physics/0402096,
title = {Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) Simulations of Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Using a Spreadsheet},
author = {David W. Ward and Keith A. Nelson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0402096},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
Submitted to American Journal of Physics