Teaching ODEs using the Symbolic Math Toolbox in MATLAB v5.3.1

I have been teaching the applications of ordinary differential equations in modelling electronic circuits to electronic engineering students over the past year. This year I have decided to strengthen my portfolio of mathematics teaching tools to include MATLAB’s Symbolic Math Toolbox. The Symbolic Math Toolbox provides a link between MATLAB and the symbolic algebra program known as Maple. Unlike the rest of MATLAB, which provides powerful numerical routines, the Symbolic Math Toolbox deals with symbols, formulas, and equations. In dealing with differential equations, it leads to explicit formulas for the solutions, provided such formulas exist at all…