Part 1

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Getting started with Maple 14.
--- There are a lot of great frameworks in the 'expression' drop-down
on the left of the screen.
--- Use shift + '6' to get a power ( ^ )
--- Use shift + '-' to get a subscript ( _ )
^ and _ are general conventions in scientific and mathematical writing.
--- Press right to get out of a sub or super script

--- You have to put a shift + '8' to get a 'times' dot. ( * )

Without * or brackets around everything, maple will get confused as to where o
ne expression ends and another begins.
--- Watch your notation, especially [] (). Too many () is better than not enoug
h.
rather than too few. Maple will assume just the thing right infront of lim is w
hat you're trying to take the limit of.
Try making a limit expression with lim 5x + 3x then with lim (5x + 3x)
x->5 x->5
see the difference?
--- To define a funcion for later use..
functionname := x -> f(x) where f(x) can be anything you want to happen to
x.
Try moo := x -> (5x + 2x)
moo(3) should be 21. Maple puts 3 in for every spot x was
--- This function you defined can be put into other functions
Try plot(moo)
Then try plot(moo, x = 0..10)
THEN try plot3d(moo, x = 0..10, y=0..10)
--- For piecewise functions, the general form is...
piecewise(condition 1, function 1, cond. 2, func. 2, cond. 3, func. 3) and so
on
Try piecewise(x > 3, x, 0 <= x <= 3, 5*x, x < 0, 2*x)
For piecewise, if a domain is tied to two different functions, the first functio
n defined is the one that's used, watch your bounds.
--- Piecewise functions can be named too! Try naming a piecewise function 'bubb
les'
Then try plot(bubbles, discont=true)
--- Mouseover an expression to get its code, this could be useful later.
There is a maple-like search engine called Wolfram Alpha. Like Maple, you can u
se it to check your work, but at home. It works for other subjects too
www.wolframalpha.com
UC Berekeley releases their 1st/2nd year lecture videos for free
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses.php
If you want a review (or preview!!!) of a topic, try that, but try SI first.
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Part 2
General notes:
--- Use the help() function to look up information on a command
eg. help(plots) will help you with plots
--- Use the expressions sidebar on the left of the window. This has most of the
things you'll need such as setting up a function f: x-> x, and derivatives d/dx
.
--- For things like xy, make sure you're putting a * multiplication marker betwe
en x and y, otherwise "xy" will be interpreted as it's own variable.
--- Watch out for e^x, you can't just type it in directly. You need to either u
se the expressions sidebar, or the exponential function exp()
--- On rare occasions, plots will be output as text instead of pictures. The qu
ickest fix is to save your work and restart maple.
-----------------------------------
--- d/dx can be modified to d^2 / dx^2 to take the second derivative, d^3 / dx^3
to take the third derivative.
--- The plots package is needed for lots of advanced plots, to access it type wi
th(plots) or with(plots): and press enter as some time before you use the advanc
ed plot functions. You only need to do this once per maple session.
--- Another handy package is with(student) , the help file for a given command u
sually notes somewhere if you need a package. (Title of the help topic, or in ex
amples).
--- To plot 3d functions, like z = x^2 + y^2, you need the plot3d command
eg. plot3d( x^2 + y^2, x= -3..3, y=-3..3)
notice that you have to specify both the x AND the y ranges.
--- To plot implicit functions like x^2 + 6xy + y^2 = 1, you need the implicitpl
ot command
eg. implicitplot( x^2 + 6xy + y^2 = 1, x=-3..3, y=-3..3)
--- To plot multiple graphs together, there are two options:
1. Name you plots p1:= plot( x + 3, x=-5..3)
p2:= plot( 2x + 1, x=-5..3)
...load package with(plots)
...then display display(p1,p2)
2. Put curly braces around both plots
plot( {x+3 , 2x + 1}, x=-5..3)

--- The solve function is good at isolating variables. After you put the equati
on you want solved in, make you to specify what variable you want to solve for.
eg. solve( x + 3 = 2, x)
--- To get a decimal answer instead of a symbolic answer for something, use the
evalf command.
evalf stands for "EVALuate Floating-point answer", which is a fancy term for 'de
cimal'.
eg. evalf( sin(4) )
--- Some tools in maple have their own menus instead of just using commands. Th
e most relevant example is the Newton's Method.
Try, from the top-bar menu: Tools --> Tutors --> Calculus Single-Variable -->
Newton's Method
You can use this to approximate answers to problems that can be solved in a clos
ed form, it's especially useful because Newton's Method is very computationally
heavy.
--- You can set up maple to issue a command multiple times, in a slightly differ
ent way each time, using a for-loop.
Eg.
------------------
for k from 1 to 5
do k^2
end do
------------------
Will output..
1
4
9
16
25
...because it's entering 1 in for k, doing that...
...then entering 2 in for k, doing that...
...then entering 3 in for k, doing that...
...and so on.
It's the line after "do" that does the work.
To enter multiple lines in at once like the above example hold shift when pressi
ng enter (just like sending a multi line message in MSN), or copy paste from ano
ther source like a text document (nudge, nudge)
Enter help(for) for some other examples.
E-mail me at davismic@interchange.ubc.ca if you have other questions.