Important Sites

Calculus and Maple Homepage : http://www.math.ncsu.edu/calculus
Online Lectures - Maple Labs: http://lts.ncsu.edu/oip/engcalc/videos.html
Multimedia Center: Lab hours, Tutoring, Consultants, Video Tapes http://www.math.ncsu.edu/mmc/index.html

To get started on your Maple homework, you will need Netscape/Mozilla and Maple. These instructions are specific to those using the UNIX machines on campus.

Getting into Netscape and downloading your Homework (If you are on a MAC-PC-Linux, then just double click on any internet browser)

1. Put your mouse cursor on an empty area of the screen and hold down your middle mouse button and choose Web Browser
2. Choose netscape and wait for the program to load
3. Go to http://www.math.ncsu.edu/calculus
4. If you have not already downloaded your homework assignment, select Maple Homework
5. Now choose the class you are in, and you will be prompted for your login and password.
6. Once you are logged in choose your class and homework you want to download and save it to your home directory.
7. You will also need to download the Maple lesson. On the main page, choose Maple lessons and select your class. Download the lesson to your home directory.

Getting into Maple to open your Homework and lesson (If you are on a MAC-PC-Linux, then just double click on the Maple Icon)

1. Put your mouse cursor on an empty area of the screen and hold down your middle mouse button and choose Math and Statistics
2. Choose Maple and wait for the program to load
3. From the top menu, choose File, Open, and it will list the files in your home directory that end in .mws
4. Select your homework and choose Open. Choose File, Open, and choose your Maple lesson then choose open. Adjust your window size to fit both the homework and lesson.

Things to Remember

• Save your work often!
• You are given a few mini submits, this gives you a chance to see your grades before you turn in your final submit. When you are ready to submit you will need to go to the Submit your homework link located on the calculus homepage.
• If you need help, ask your teacher, T.A., or a consultant in the Multimedia Center (Ha 244).
• Don't wait until the due date to start your homework or get help. The Consultants will be busy helping other students in MA 141, 241, and 242.
• If you are doing your work from home, you must have an internet connection and Maple in order to work on Maple and submit.

Common Maple Commands

+    -     /       *       ^ note that ^ is the same as       **     

e vs e
e⁵ is written as exp(5) which is not to be confused with
5e-1 (also known as .5 which is written as 5e-1 in Maple. Maple will distinguish this difference by using bold for e and non-bold e for scientific notation.

evalm vs evalf (evalf evaluates an answer to decimal form ) 4 decimal places would be evalf(f,4);

Pi versus PI or pi
If you want to use Pi in Maple, always write it as Capital P and lowercase i if you want to use it as 3.14 PI and pi is used only as a graphic image with no numerical value association.

Practice by typing: Pi; sin(16); sqrt(3); exp(5);

To store values you must ALWAYS use the :=
example;        b:=5:           or      test1:=5*6:             f:=x^2:

Plugging in values into an equation can be done by f:=x -> x^2    then    f(5);

Simplify an algebraic expression (for example)      simplify((1+x)/x+(1-x)/x);

Solves a system of equations for a set of unknowns      solve({2*x+5*y=12,12*x+4*y=17},{x,y});

To plot g when the equation is g:= x -> x^2   type plot(g,-10..10);
To plot 2 equations using h:= x -> x^2 + x     type plot([g(x),h(x)], x=-5..5, y=-20..20);

To change the color of each plotted line, use color=[color1, color2, color3]
For example: plot([sin(x), 2*sin(x), 3*sin(x), 4*sin(x)], x=0..2*Pi, color=[red, green, blue, yellow]);

For 3D plotting, you will first need to type with(plots):
For example if you used m:=(x,y)-> sin(x)*sin(y) *exp(-x^2); plot3d(m(x,y),x=-Pi..Pi,y=-Pi..Pi,axes=BOXED,style=HIDDEN,orientation=[135,75]);

Updated 6/3/04