Mathcad is computer software for the verification, validation, documentation and re-use of mathematical calculations in engineering and science, notably mechanical, chemical, electrical, and civil engineering. Released in 1986 on

DOS DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems. DOS may also refer to: Computing * Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel * Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...

, it introduced live editing (

WYSIWYG In computing, WYSIWYG ( ), an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, is a system in which editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed d ...

) of typeset mathematical notation in an interactive notebook, combined with automatic computations. It was originally developed by

Mathsoft MathSoft was founded in 1984 by Allen Razdow and David Blohm to provide mathematical programs to students, teachers, and professionals. The company is best known for its Mathcad software, an application for solving and visualizing mathematical pro ...

, and since 2006 has been a product of

Parametric Technology Corporation PTC Inc. (formerly Parametric Technology Corporation) is an American computer software and services company founded in 1985 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The global technology company has over 6,000 employees across 80 offices in ...

History

Mathcad was conceived and developed by Allen Razdow at his company

. It was released in 1986. It was the first system to support WYSIWYG editing and recalculation of mathematical calculations mixed with text. It was also the first to check the consistency of engineering units through the full calculation. Other equation solving systems existed at the time, but did not provide a notebook interface:

Software Arts Software Arts was a software company founded by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston in 1979 to develop VisiCalc VisiCalc (for "visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for Apple II by ...

' ''

TK Solver TK Solver (originally TK!Solver) is a mathematical modeling and problem solving software system based on a declarative, rule-based language, commercialized by Universal Technical Systems, Inc. History Invented by Milos Konopasek in the late ...

'' was released in 1982, and Borland's ''Eureka: The Solver'' was released in 1987. Mathcad was acquired by Parametric Technology in April 2006. Mathcad was named "Best of '87" and "Best of '88" by '' PC Magazine''s editors.

Overview

Mathcad's central interface is an interactive notebook in which equations and expressions are created and manipulated in the same graphical format in which they are presented (WYSIWYG). This approach was adopted by systems such as Mathematica,

Maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

Macsyma Macsyma (; "Project MAC's SYmbolic MAnipulator") is one of the oldest general-purpose computer algebra systems still in wide use. It was originally developed from 1968 to 1982 at MIT's Project MAC. In 1982, Macsyma was licensed to Symbolics a ...

MATLAB MATLAB (an abbreviation of "MATrix LABoratory") is a proprietary multi-paradigm programming language and numeric computing environment developed by MathWorks. MATLAB allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementa ...

, and

Jupyter Project Jupyter () is a project with goals to develop open-source software, open standards, and services for interactive computing across multiple programming languages. It was spun off from IPython in 2014 by Fernando Pérez and Brian Granger. ...

. Mathcad today includes some of the capabilities of a

computer algebra system A computer algebra system (CAS) or symbolic algebra system (SAS) is any mathematical software with the ability to manipulate mathematical expressions in a way similar to the traditional manual computations of mathematicians and scientists. The d ...

, but remains oriented towards ease of use and documentation of numerical engineering applications. Mathcad is part of a broader product development system developed by PTC, addressing analytical steps in systems engineering. It integrates with PTC's Creo Elements/Pro,

Windchill Wind chill or windchill (popularly wind chill factor) is the lowering of body temperature due to the passing-flow of lower-temperature air. Wind chill numbers are always lower than the air temperature for values where the formula is valid. When ...

, and Creo Elements/View. Its live feature-level integration with Creo Elements/Pro enables Mathcad analytical models to be directly used in driving

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

geometry, and its structural awareness within Windchill allows live calculations to be re-used and re-applied toward multiple design models.

Summary of capabilities

The Mathcad interface allows users to combine a variety of different elements (mathematics, descriptive text, and supporting imagery) into a worksheet, in which dependent calculations are dynamically recalculated as inputs change. This allows for simple manipulation of input variables, assumptions, and expressions. Mathcad's functionality includes: * Numerous numeric functions for statistics, data analysis, image processing, and signal processing; * Ubiquitous dimensionality checking and simplification; * Solution of

systems of equations In mathematics, a set of simultaneous equations, also known as a system of equations or an equation system, is a finite set of equations for which common solutions are sought. An equation system is usually classified in the same manner as single e ...

, such as

ODEs Odes may refer to: *The plural of ode, a type of poem * ''Odes'' (Horace), a collection of poems by the Roman author Horace, circa 23 BCE *Odes of Solomon, a pseudepigraphic book of the Bible *Book of Odes (Bible), a Deuterocanonical book of the ...

and

PDEs In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which imposes relations between the various partial derivatives of a multivariable function. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" to be solved for, similarly to ...

using several methods; *

Root finding In mathematics and computing, a root-finding algorithm is an algorithm for finding zeros, also called "roots", of continuous functions. A zero of a function , from the real numbers to real numbers or from the complex numbers to the complex numbe ...

for polynomials and other functions; * Symbolic manipulation of mathematical expressions; * Parametric 2D and 3D plotting and discrete data plotting; * Leverage standard, readable mathematical expressions within embedded program constructs; *

Vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

and

matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** ''The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchis ...

operations, including

eigenvalue In linear algebra, an eigenvector () or characteristic vector of a linear transformation is a nonzero vector that changes at most by a scalar factor when that linear transformation is applied to it. The corresponding eigenvalue, often denoted ...

s and

eigenvector In linear algebra, an eigenvector () or characteristic vector of a linear transformation is a nonzero vector that changes at most by a scalar factor when that linear transformation is applied to it. The corresponding eigenvalue, often denoted ...

s; *

Curve fitting Curve fitting is the process of constructing a curve, or mathematical function, that has the best fit to a series of data points, possibly subject to constraints. Curve fitting can involve either interpolation, where an exact fit to the data i ...

and

regression analysis In statistical modeling, regression analysis is a set of statistical processes for estimating the relationships between a dependent variable (often called the 'outcome' or 'response' variable, or a 'label' in machine learning parlance) and one ...

; * Statistical and

design of experiments The design of experiments (DOE, DOX, or experimental design) is the design of any task that aims to describe and explain the variation of information under conditions that are hypothesized to reflect the variation. The term is generally associ ...

functions and plot types, and evaluation of probability distributions; * Import from and export to other applications and file types, such as

Microsoft Excel Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It features calculation or computation capabilities, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for App ...

and

MathML Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) is a mathematical markup language, an application of XML for describing mathematical notations and capturing both its structure and content. It aims at integrating mathematical formulae into World Wide W ...

; * Cross references to other Mathcad worksheets; * Integration with other engineering applications, such as

, FEM,

BIM ''Bim'' is a 1974 Trinidad and Tobago film written by Raoul Pantin and directed by Hugh A. Robertson. It was described by Bruce Paddington as "one of the most important films to be produced in Trinidad and Tobago and... one of the classics of Ca ...

, and

Simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the s ...

tools, to aid in product design, like

Autocad AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software application. Developed and marketed by Autodesk, AutoCAD was first released in December 1982 as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics controllers. ...

, Ansys,

Revit Autodesk Revit is a building information modelling software tool for architects, landscape architects, structural engineers, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineers, designers and contractors. The original software was developed by ...

. Although Mathcad is mostly oriented to non-programmers, it is also used in more complex projects to visualize results of mathematical modeling by using distributed computing and coupling with programs written using more traditional languages such as

C++ C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...

Current releases

As of 2022, the latest release from PTC is Mathcad Prime 8.0.0.0. This release is a freemium variant: if the software is not activated after a Mathcad Prime 30-day trial, it is possible to continue using PTC Mathcad Express for an unlimited time as "PTC Mathcad Express Free-for-Life Engineering Calculations Software". This freemium pilot is a new marketing approach for PTC. Review and markup of engineering notes can now be done directly by team members without them all requiring a full Mathcad Prime license. The last release of the traditional (pre "Prime") product line, Mathcad 15.0, came out in June 2010 and shares the same worksheet file structure as Mathcad 14.0. The last service release, Mathcad 15.0 M050, which added support for Windows 10, was released in 2017. Mathcad 15.0 is no longer actively developed but in "sustained support".

Computer operating system platforms

Mathcad only runs on Microsoft Windows. Mathcad Prime 6.0 requires a 64-bit version of

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...

, Windows 8.1 or

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...

. Until 1998, Mathcad also supported

Mac OS Two major famlies of Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc. In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the "Classic" Mac OS with its release of the original Macintosh System Software. The system, rebranded "M ...

Support

Starting in 2011 (Mathcad 15.0) the first year of maintenance and support has been included in the purchase or upgrade price.

Release history

Screen captures of previous Mathcad versions

Image:Mathcad 252 screenshot.png, Mathcad 2.52 (1989) Image:Mathcad31.png, Mathcad 3.1 (1992) Image:Mathcad 6 screenshot.png, Mathcad PLUS 6.0 (1995) Image:historical_MC13.png, Mathcad 13.0 Image:historical_MC15.jpg, Mathcad 15.0 Image:historical_MCPrime1.png, Mathcad Prime 1.0 Image:top_right_Prime_screengrab.png, Mathcad Prime 1.0 working session

References

External links

*
Mathcad blogs

Free trial of Mathcad Prime – Mathcad Express
{{Authority control Computer-related introductions in 1986 Array programming languages Computer algebra system software for Windows Computer algebra systems Computer vision software Data visualization software Dynamically typed programming languages High-level programming languages Linear algebra Mathematical optimization software Numerical analysis software for Windows Numerical linear algebra Numerical programming languages Numerical software Plotting software Proprietary software Regression and curve fitting software Statistical programming languages Time series software Windows-only software