First you take that second-order ODE apart into two first-order ODEs, as in one of the previous homework problems: 1. get highest-order term by itself on LHS: x'' = t - xx' 2. define helper var: v=x' 3. rewrite and stick on helper var eqn: v' = t - xv x' = v The state vector has two variables in it: [x] [v] At t=0, this vector has the following entries: [x] = [1] [v] [2] t=0 At t=0, the derivative vector is: [x'] = [ 2 ] [v'] [0 - 2(1)] t=0 Here's the forward euler algorithm, first step: [x] = [1] + 0.1 [ 2] = [1.2] [v] [2] [-2] [1.8] t=0.1 Next step: [x] = [1.2] + 0.1 [ 1.8 ] = [ 1.38] [v] [1.8] [0.1 - 1.8(1.2)] [1.594] t=0.2