From my point of view, yes. Others may have different views. Usually, I find it is best to use a catenated symbol and another symbol or integer, eg Xa or x1, instead of an indexed symbol. They are easy to type and can be produced in sequences, do loops and so on. If you prefer to see the symbol and the catenated part separated by an underscore, that's easy too. For example: restart; seq(x||i,i=1..5); seq(X||i,i=[a,b,c,d,e]); for i from 1 to 5 do cat(x_,i) end do; Hope this helps. J. Tarr

From my point of view, yes. Others may have different views. Usually, I find it is best to use a catenated symbol and another symbol or integer, eg Xa or x1, instead of an indexed symbol. They are easy to type and can be produced in sequences, do loops and so on. If you prefer to see the symbol and the catenated part separated by an underscore, that's easy too. For example: restart; seq(x||i,i=1..5); seq(X||i,i=[a,b,c,d,e]); for i from 1 to 5 do cat(x_,i) end do; Hope this helps. J. Tarr

Please note that LinearAlgebra[JordanForm] does not handle matrices of floating point numbers, and one must use linalg[jordanform] for such matrices. Issues can arise in the computation with floating point numbers, so you should set Digits to a high value. You might like to look at LinearAlgebra[SchurForm], which doesn't suffer from these problems. J. Tarr

Please note that LinearAlgebra[JordanForm] does not handle matrices of floating point numbers, and one must use linalg[jordanform] for such matrices. Issues can arise in the computation with floating point numbers, so you should set Digits to a high value. You might like to look at LinearAlgebra[SchurForm], which doesn't suffer from these problems. J. Tarr

The help search engine could be improved and that would overcome some complaints. However, the help page for range should indicate how to determine the ends of a range - even a hyperlink to lhs/rhs would be a useful lead. I have said before and I will say it again, the help pages badly need re-writing. J. Tarr

The help search engine could be improved and that would overcome some complaints. However, the help page for range should indicate how to determine the ends of a range - even a hyperlink to lhs/rhs would be a useful lead. I have said before and I will say it again, the help pages badly need re-writing. J. Tarr

Please see ?posint J. Tarr

Maple 9, 10 and 11 are all loaded onto my machine. Just make sure that you have all the relevant short-cut icons on your desk top. J. Tarr

Returning to John Fredsted's point, one small problem with the Maple 11.01's standard interface has driven him to abandon Maple 11 and with it the physics package which, I imagine, could have been very useful to him. The standard worksheet mode interface should be well out of the development stage by now - it's been around since Maple 9. But John is not alone in complaining about this interface in Maple 11. Of course one can use editors to produce Maple code. But Maple makes the point that its GUI allows one to solve problems in an interactive environment as opposed to traditional off-line coding (or at least it did in earlier releases). Surely, that is one of its great attractions for colleges and schools. Instead of pursuing the dire document mode, Maplesoft should make sure the basic worksheet interface is as near perfect it as can be. After all, that's what connects its customers to its product. And look at what it did to one of its customers. J. Tarr

For a function, you could also do: diff(h(x),x); J. Tarr

For a function, you could also do: diff(h(x),x); J. Tarr

Jerry, You could try this: restart; with(plots): sail := pointplot([ [0,0],[2,1],[0,5] ],symbol=solidcircle,color=blue,symbolsize=14): cop := pointplot([ 31/12,7/12 ],symbol=solidcircle,color=red,symbolsize=14): lins := plot([-2*x+5,x/2],x=0..3): display([sail,cop,lins],scaling=constrained,title="Sail",titlefont=[COURIER,OBLIQUE,14]); If you don't want to plot the "lins", add this argument to the "sail" plot command "connect=true", delete the other arguments about symbol,etc, and delete "lins" wherever it appears. Take a look at the help pages for plots[pointplot], plots[display] and plot,options. The Centre of Pressure looks a bit out though. Hope this helps. J. Tarr

Wayne, I am sorry, but I don't understand your comment "However, when the expression below is evaluated at k = 0, the correct answer should be beta = tan (beta), which yields beta equal to 257 degrees 27 minutes." Try entering this: restart; _EnvExplicit := true: e1:=simplify(eval(2*EllipticE(sin(beta),k)-EllipticF(sin(beta),k)=tan(beta)*sqrt(1-k^2*sin(beta)^2), k=0)); allvalues(solve(e1,{beta})); As you will see, this yields beta=0 or Pi, but by definition 0 < beta < Pi/2 - see Robert Israel's post on August 24. I would suggest that you send him a message asking for further help with your problem. Lastly, do remember that the paper that you are investigating might contain an error, or an omission. Good luck. J. Tarr

Wayne, Here's a link to A&S Enjoy! J. Tarr

Wayne, Some spot checks show that Maple's numerical results for EllipticF compare well with Abramowitz & Stegun Table 17.5, which was compiled from tables produced in 1931 and corrected for known errors in the 1960s. As such, they may contain fewer errors than the 1917 publication that you quote. Making a few checks on your Excel EllipticF Maple sheet, reveals some differences with the results obtained from evalf(EllipticF(sin(phi),sin(theta))) in a Maple 11.01 worksheet. They increase with increasing phi and theta. On the other hand, there appear to be only fifth decimal place differences between evalf(EllipticF(sin(phi),sin(theta))) in a Maple 11.01 worksheet and your Excel EllipticF Addin sheet. I can only suggest that you revisit your Maple calculations. Hope this is useful. J. Tarr