The areas of mathematics most related to computational mechanics are partial differential equations, linear algebra and numerical analysis. The most popular numerical methods used are the finite element, finite difference, and boundary element methods in order of dominance. In solid mechanics finite element methods are far more prevalent than finite difference methods, whereas in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism, finite difference methods are almost equally applicable. The boundary element technique is in general less popular, but has a niche in certain areas including acoustics engineering, for example.