Consider a thin rod of length with an initial temperature throughout and whose ends are held at temperature zero for all time . The temperature in the rod is determined from the boundary-value problem: 0<x<L and t>0; t>0; 0<x<L. In the following simulation, the temperature is graphed as a function of x for various fixed times. Things to try:

• Change the initial condition u(x,0)=f(x).
• Explore the solutions by clicking on the buttons or type a number to show the graph.