Actually, now that I've thought a little harder about what I'm after, namely a cool exhibit for the Museum of Mathematics, whose core audience consists of kids who haven't seen calculus, I realize that what I want is an analogue system for solving ALGEBRAIC equations, as opposed to DIFFERENTIAL equations. So I'm asking for a lot less! As an example of the kind of thing that might be suitable, check out Mark Levi's recent proposal for hydrostatic solution of polynomial equations: https://sinews.siam.org/Details-Page/a-water-based-solution-of-polynomial-eq... Jim Propp On Mon, Jan 29, 2018 at 8:09 AM, James Propp <jamespropp@gmail.com> wrote:
Anyone know of any good designs for an easy-to-make analogue computer based on springs, masses, and dashpots?
That is, we want a supply of easily-interconnectable components that we can combine in ways that correspond to a prescribed differential equation, so that the behavior of the system will be a solution of the equation.
As I recall, there’s also a way to get hydraulic analogues of LRC networks (though I forget what the three sorts of components are called); is there a good design for a hydraulic computer?
Jim Propp