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Symbolic Fail

MoeSzyslak
12-Amethyst

Symbolic Fail

Hi, All --

The symbolic engine continues to disappoint...any ideas as to why MC15 is unable to solve the attached expression?

Thanks.

Matt

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
LucMeekes
23-Emerald III
(To:MoeSzyslak)

Mathcad 11 & Maple:

Luc

I've attached the (Mathcad 11) file with the solution copied, so you can use it in Mathcad 15, if you like.

View solution in original post

5 REPLIES 5
Werner_E
25-Diamond I
(To:MoeSzyslak)

I agree that Mathcads symbolics is disappointingly weak.

It wasn't top notch at the times of MC11 and Maple, but it got awfully worse with muPad.

Using "assume,ALL>0" is dangerous in combination with solve and often makes the expression fail. I don't know why - maybe because muPad tries to ensure that the solved for variable is also greater than zero and fails doing so. So its better to state one by one that x>0, y>0, etc. Its not necessary to state that x=real if you already have x>0.

Wile the ability to handle equations and expressions of integer arithmetic, like diophantic equations and similar, are near to nonexistent, it nevertheless sometimes helps to state that n=integer.

Using what I explained above I was able to get a (somewhat strange and not fully simplified) solution for your equation,

but nevertheless I encountered a strange effect which leaves me clueless.

In an attempt to strip down the equation to its bare-bones I arrived at

which obviously failed.

After adding alpha Mathcad found a solution

Its crazy - I have no explanation for this! You would think that alpha=1 is as good as any alpha >0  - Mathcad/muPad obviously thinks differently about that?????

Regards

Werner

Werner -- thanks for having a look. Yes, I really miss the days of the Maple symbolic engine. I think it was much better than what we currently have (I note that Prime 3.0 also choked on this simple equation).

Werner_E
25-Diamond I
(To:MoeSzyslak)

Prime is using the very same symbolic engine as Mathcad, so I wouldn't have expected any different behavior.

And yes - Maple sure was vastly superior compared to muPad (and in fact still is).

LucMeekes
23-Emerald III
(To:MoeSzyslak)

Mathcad 11 & Maple:

Luc

I've attached the (Mathcad 11) file with the solution copied, so you can use it in Mathcad 15, if you like.

Luc -- thanks very much. Sure wish I still had access to a copy of MC11 -- I would still be using it. Mind telling me what OS you have it installed on?

Matt

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