Mathematica Basics--Arithmetic

Introduction

Mathematica has been described by some as the world's most expensive calculator. While this description doesn't pay such a powerful program the tribute it deserves, it can certainly be treated as an on-line calculator, and that's basically what we're going to be doing in this laboratory.

The Arithmetic Commands

Now let's quickly go over the symbols used when doing basic arithmetic with Mathematica:

Note: All of Mathematica's built in functions start with a capital letter. Get used to it.

Evaluating Commands

There's one last thing you should be aware of before we dive into a real 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.

Do not confuse this with the RETURN key, which merely starts a new line of text. (Mathematica commands can span many lines if you want them to.)

Well, you're about to go and do the easiest laboratory exercise of the course, so don't panic too much.



You can now switch to the actual Mathematica practice notebook by clicking on the button at left. It will take a while to start up! Don't forget to come back here when you're done by using the Applications menu! (You can also use this menu just to come back here to reread the instructions.) See you in a few minutes.

Welcome back! Hopefully everything went well. You're now finishing learning the Basics of Arithmetic in Mathematica. You may now go to the Table of Contents for the Mathematica Basics Labs, or simply quit.




Mathematica Basics by Christopher A. Barker
©1998 Christopher A. Barker, 5151 Pacific Ave., Stockton, CA 95207, USA
e-mail: barker@inreach.com; WWW: http://calculus.sjdccd.cc.ca.us/home.html