ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on models which utilize a special case of, namely a system of linear first order differential equations. It looks at a simplified representation of a nuclear reaction as neutrons pass through a rod. The chapter considers the rod as a one dimensional object and model it as the interval [0, a] on the x-axis. As a neutron passes through the rod, it may interact with an atom in the rod with the result that the original neutron is replaced by two neutrons moving in the same direction and one neutron moving in the opposite direction. The analysis of electrical networks is a well-known example of a mathematical model with differential equations. Once the basic theory is understood, it is relatively simple to construct a mathematical model of a given network. The chapter discusses the uniqueness of a linear system of first order differential equations.
