Engr. Jonas M.

Placer
Dean, Engineering and Technology Department
Cor Jesu College
• an industry standard
calculation software
• as versatile and powerful as
programming languages, yet
as easy to learn as a
spreadsheet
• a rich problem-solving
environment that gives a wide
choice of tools for computing
• supports a variety of analysis
and visualization techniques
• used to interfere with other
engineering, drawing and
business applications
• used to publish “live”
documents on the web.
 a powerful
technical
computing Math a flexible, full
featured
environment
centered on CAD technical word
processor.
the real math
notation
This means that :
• tasks of performing computations and
documenting them are integrated into one
seamless process, resulting in substantial
increase in productivity
• performs mathematics the same way you do
• it looks and works like a pad of paper and pencil
• Mathcad’s on-screen interface is a blank
worksheet on which you enter equations, graph
data or functions, and annotate with text –
anywhere on the page.
 Live Document Interface

Mathcad’s equations and graphs are

“live.”
Change any data, variable, or
equation, and Mathcad recalculates
your worksheet – instantly.
MathCad Toolbars
The Main Menu

This gateway to math, graphic and symbolic

functions provides the commands that handle
the details of editing and managing your
worksheets.
Click the menus to see the array of
computational and formatting functionality
available to you.
The Math Toolbar

Choose from the View menu

to see a tear-away bar whose buttons bring-
up toolbars of math operators. You can dock
the bar under the main menu.
If you let the mouse hover over each of the buttons
on the bar, you will see a tool tip telling you what menu
each button bring up:

Click one of these buttons in the bar to bring up the associated

operator toolbar. You can the use the operator toolbar to insert
math sylbols right into your Mathcad worksheet.
Mathematical expressions in Mathcad look the way you should see them in a text
or a reference :
Figure below presents a basic sample formating in the MathCad environment for
finding solutions to quadratic equations using the quadratic formula.
1. Writing a text notes
– type any word or letter and press the
space bar, then MathCad reads that word
and the succeeding words as a text note
e.g.
2. Writing mathematical functions and formulas :
“is equal to” sign
e.g.
2. Writing mathematical functions and formulas :
writing “subscript(s)”
e.g.

Notes: a. Space bar shifts the math editing line

to consider the whole term P2
b. Use the Space bar to lengthen the editing line
and select parts of the math expression
c. Use the arrow keys ( left or right)
to move the editing line
Performing calculations therefore in the Structural Dynamic
Analysis of Buildings can be easily formatted in the Mathcad
environment.

Example problems:
•Two-story building frame
•Five-story building frame

Analysis in six sub exercises:

Exercise No. 1 : Building Mass and Stiffness Matrices

Exercise No. 2 : Eigen Value Problem –
Calculation of the Dynamic Properties
of the Building
Exercise No. 3 : Modal Participation Factor
Exercise No. 4 : Modal Lateral Forces and Lateral
Displacements
Exercise No. 5 : Effective Modal Mass
Exercise No. 6 : Equivalent Lateral Force Procedure
and Scaling Factor