Matlab seems like a very useful tool for creating simulations. Especially those of dynamic systems(such as swinging pendulums). From a simple analysis you can construct a model. Take for instance Vibration Analysis, where you have springs connected to masses(the most simplest case), if you know what equation relates the force to the motion of the mass then you have solved for that system consisting of the mass and spring. This is usually a second-order differential equation. If you solve this you have solved the system which means that you know what happens at any point in time with respect to the system. This means that second-order differential equations are of supreme importance when modelling mathematically. If you  add damping to the system, we can include this in the second-order differential equation, it is another term, and in our free-body diagram we can idealize it as a dash-pot( A device consisting of a piston that moves within a cylinder containing oil). Whilst there are more complex cases than this, it is interesting to consider what happens when dealing with rotations as oppose to translational movement; the terms in the second-order differential equation look different to that in the simplest case.