In article there is considered the application of the finite difference method to plate bending problems. There are done the calculations of simply supported rectangular plate on an elastic foundation by the finite difference method and to verify the results there is done comparison with the results obtained by double trigonometric series. For more accurate results is studied the degree of discretization of the finite difference mesh.

Keywords: finite difference method, plate on an elastic foundation, Winkler model, governing differential equation of the plate, finite difference operator