[MATHEDCC] "faux" symbolic manipulator

SYRILDA MILLER (SYMILLER@ECLIPSE.NET)
Sat, 18 Apr 1998 09:14:40 -0400

I just figured out a way to get a TI82 to do symbolic manipulation! The
method will take any algebraic expression with degree 4 or less and
simplify it to it's polynomial form.

Here's what you do:
type the expression to be simplified into Y1,
use the table to generate a list of data points (at least one more than
the degree of the answer),
type the data points into the statistical table,
run the appropriate regression (quartic for expressions of degree 4,
cubic for degree 3 and quadratic for degree 2).

I haven't decided what this is good for yet. At the least, I can use it
for myself to generate expressions in polynomial form for homework or
test questions. I'm going to see if one of my students can write a
program for this. If anyone has a program based on this idea, please
post it.

Regards,
Syrilda
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