maple_as_calculator.html

Maple as a calculator

If you are unfamiliar with Maple, work through this introduction and make sure you understand everything in it.

Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division operators (+,-,*,/):

> 2*(5-8)/(1+16);

Note that all commands end with a semi-colon (;) (or colon: see below).
Hit the Enter key to execute your command. The cursor does NOT have to be at the end of the line.

Obtaining approximate decimal expansions of numbers with evalf

> evalf(-6/17);

> Pi;
evalf(Pi);

Note: to continue an execution group on a new line, use Shift-Enter instead of just Enter.

Powers, trig functions, etc.:

> 7^2;

> sqrt(36);

> evalf( exp(1) );

> cos(Pi);

> arctan(1);

Getting information about a command

> ?arctan

A help window will open. Information on arctan and related functions will be accessible.

Changing the precision of Maple's approximate "floating point" arithmetic:

> Digits:=50;
evalf(Pi);

Assignment (giving names to expressions):

> a:=-16/7;
b:=Pi+a;
d:=b^2+c;
evalf(d);

Restarting the Maple kernel (to clear all assignments):

> a:=77;
a;
restart:
a;

Suppressing output of assignments with the colon (:) expression terminator:

> a:=33;

> a:=34:

> a;

You can clear assignments more selectively than with restart, using unassign:

> a:=99:
a;
unassign('a');
a;

Note that the forward quote has to be used in the above.

An example of a real calculation with Maple:

> w:=300.0;
T[2]:=w/2;
magT:=500.0;
T[1]:=sqrt(magT^2-T[2]^2);
theta_radians:=arctan(T[2]/T[1]);
degrees_per_radian:=evalf(180/Pi);
theta_degrees:=theta_radians*degrees_per_radian;

An advantage of the Maple worksheet over a calculator is that you have an easily editable record of what you have done.

Be sure to Save your worksheet frequently: Maple crashes more often than we'd like, and you can lose all your work.

Whenever you turn in hard copy of a Maple worksheet, please use View->Zoom Factor 75% to conserve paper.