ABSTRACT
In solving problems arising from mathematical physics and engineering, it is often possible to replace the problem of integrating a differential equation by the equivalent problem of seeking a function that gives a minimum value of some integral. Problems of this type are called variational problems. The methods that allow us to reduce the problem of integrating a differential equation to the equivalent variational problem are usually called variational methods. The variational methods provide simple but powerful solutions to physical problems provided we can find approximate basis functions. A prominent feature of the variational method lies in the ability to achieve high accuracy with few terms in the approximate solution. A major drawback is the difficulty encountered in selecting the basis functions. In spite of the drawback, the variational methods have been very useful and provide basis for both the method of moments and the finite element method.
