Mathematica Basics - Algebraic Operations I

Introduction

As you would expect from any Computer Algebra System worth its name, Mathematica is capable of doing all of the work commonly dealt with in a basic algebra course.

In this notebook we will investigate some of the usual tricks that are expected from students in basic algebra, and also push the limits back a little by taking advantage of the fact that we have a computer that can do much of our work for us.

Evaluating Commands

Remember, as we said in the introduction to the first notebook, in order to tell Mathematica that you want it to actually evaluate what you have typed, hit the ENTER key over on the extreme right side of your keyboard on the numeric keypad. Again, don't confuse this with the RETURN key, which merely starts a new line of text.

You can now switch to an actual Mathematica practice notebook by clicking on the icon on the left. It may take a while to start up! Don't forget to come back here when you're done! (You can also return here just to reread the instructions.) See you in a few minutes.

Welcome back! You may be wondering how well you did. Click on the icon on the left to see the answers you should have gotten. (Only the answers are given, so if you don't match our results you need to figure out what you did wrong.)

You're now done with this lab. Next you may go to the Table of Contents for the Mathematica Basics Labs, or go to the Table of Contents for all of the Differential Equations Labs, or simply quit.