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NormalVector1-Visitor
1-Visitor
August 19, 2010
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Symbolic Operator Decimal Places

  • August 19, 2010
  • 1 reply
  • 3395 views

Hey guys,

I was trying to use the symbolic operator to manipulate an equation and I came across a few questions.

1.) Can the symbolic operator give a result using the constants I defined above instead of plugging the numbers in (see sheet)?

2.) I have the sheet and result set to 3 decimal places but MathCAD is displaying much more, is there a reason why? I'd like to set it to display 5 or so.

Thanks.

Best answer by RichardJ

1.) Can the symbolic operator give a result using the constants I defined above instead of plugging the numbers in (see sheet)?

Put a:=a and b:=b above the definition of v(t). That disables the definitions of a and b for the symbolic processor, but leaves them intact for the numeric processor.

2.) I have the sheet and result set to 3 decimal places but MathCAD is displaying much more, is there a reason why? I'd like to set it to display 5 or so.

The setting for decimal places for the worksheet applies only to numeric results, not symbolic results. You can reduce the displayed precision of symbolic results by using the "float" keyword, but that not only reduces the displayed precision of the numbers, it also reduces the precision of the numbers used in the symbolic calculation (so you should be very careful using it!).

1 reply

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RichardJ19-TanzaniteAnswer
19-Tanzanite
August 19, 2010

1.) Can the symbolic operator give a result using the constants I defined above instead of plugging the numbers in (see sheet)?

Put a:=a and b:=b above the definition of v(t). That disables the definitions of a and b for the symbolic processor, but leaves them intact for the numeric processor.

2.) I have the sheet and result set to 3 decimal places but MathCAD is displaying much more, is there a reason why? I'd like to set it to display 5 or so.

The setting for decimal places for the worksheet applies only to numeric results, not symbolic results. You can reduce the displayed precision of symbolic results by using the "float" keyword, but that not only reduces the displayed precision of the numbers, it also reduces the precision of the numbers used in the symbolic calculation (so you should be very careful using it!).

N
NormalVector1-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
August 19, 2010

Awesome, that works perfectly. In regards to my second question, I also discovered that if you go to Format>Result (in MC 14 at least), you can check/uncheck a box to apply the "Results" settings to symbolic results without losing accuracy like the "float" keyword. Cool.

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RichardJ19-Tanzanite
19-Tanzanite
August 19, 2010

I also discovered that if you go to Format>Result (in MC 14 at least), you can check/uncheck a box to apply the "Results" settings to symbolic results without losing accuracy like the "float" keyword. Cool.

Yes, I had forgotten about that. You are correct that it's only in version 14 and later.

Good catch

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