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#1 2006-06-03 00:31:08

MathsIsFun
Administrator
Registered: 2005-01-21
Posts: 7,711

Function Grapher and Calculator

The Function Grapher and Calculator is ready for you guys to try out. There are probably still bugs, and I don't mind if you tell me about them.

My idea is that we can use this thing to solve or illustrate problems, so I placed a special "Link" section - you can copy-and-paste the "forum" link into your message, and it will re-create the graph you made like this: Plot of 3*x-7 vs -x-2 or this: Plot of cos(x^2)-x. Have a try and tell me what you think.


"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

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#2 2006-06-03 01:33:54

Jai Ganesh
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Registered: 2005-06-28
Posts: 45,954

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

Brilliant!
I tried x Vs x^(1/x) and got a nice curve, almost parallel to the x-axis as x increases.
(1) Can't the axes have different scales?
(2) I tried x^10 Vs x and got nothing!


It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics, one should study the masters and not the pupils. - Niels Henrik Abel.

Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge - Stephen William Hawking.

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#3 2006-06-03 02:21:53

numen
Member
Registered: 2006-05-03
Posts: 115

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

My plot

Works great, nice work smile

I get same problem as ganesh though. I can plot x^6, but with x^7 or x^10 I see nothing.


Bang postponed. Not big enough. Reboot.

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#4 2006-06-03 10:23:15

justlookingforthemoment
Moderator
Registered: 2005-05-26
Posts: 2,161

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

I think the little box which pops out when you click calculate is cool. big_smile

When I plot x^7 or x^8 or with a higher power, the whole graph turns blue, with just the x and y axis arrows sticking out in red...

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#5 2006-06-03 12:26:52

MathsIsFun
Administrator
Registered: 2005-01-21
Posts: 7,711

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

It seems that the values are so far out of bounds they oscillate between plus and minus, and so make lots of vertical lines. I will get it to show me the values, and sift through to see why.

Nice graph, numen. Just 4 terms makes a good approximation. But then the inbuilt sin() function is also an approximation, I suppose.


"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

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#6 2006-06-03 19:03:49

MathsIsFun
Administrator
Registered: 2005-01-21
Posts: 7,711

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

I think I have ironed that particular bug out: Torture Test

(Ganesh Q2: x and y axes will have different scales if you use the mouse to draw a rectangle around your area of interest)


"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

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#7 2006-06-06 17:12:14

John E. Franklin
Member
Registered: 2005-08-29
Posts: 3,588

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

Nice! Plot of x^2.2 vs x^1.9
Love the "url" and "forum" buttons.  Then I selected and used ctrl-C.  Is that the only way?
or right click and choose copy?


igloo myrtilles fourmis

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#8 2006-06-06 19:03:49

MathsIsFun
Administrator
Registered: 2005-01-21
Posts: 7,711

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

Ctrl-c sometimes works with flash, but the most reliable is right-click|select all, then right-click|copy


"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

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#9 2006-06-08 23:02:36

Ninja 101
Member
Registered: 2006-02-20
Posts: 936

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

I don't understand...I don't understand...I don't understand...I don't understand...BLAM...


Chaos is found in greatest abundance wherever order is being saught. It always defeats order, because it is better organized.

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#10 2006-07-23 08:14:51

Devantè
Real Member
Registered: 2006-07-14
Posts: 6,400

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

This is fun to play around with when you're bored. Nice work. smile

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#11 2006-07-30 21:34:56

MathsIsFun
Administrator
Registered: 2005-01-21
Posts: 7,711

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

An upgrade to the function grapher. It now understands "2x" as being "2 times x". Likewise it understands 2pi, 2(x+1) and even (x+1)(x+1).

See if you can confuse it (you probably can if you try hard enough). Use the "calculate" button to see how it has parsed it.


"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

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#12 2007-12-17 05:12:20

mathsyperson
Moderator
Registered: 2005-06-22
Posts: 4,900

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

Bump.

Some people have been referring to this in Help Me topics, so I thought this topic should be revisited.

As ganesh said earlier, letting the axes have different scales would be extremely useful.
Also, in asymptotic graphs that go to -infinity from one side of a certain x-value and +infinity from the other, the grapher tries to join them with a vertical line.
I'm not sure how easy that would be to fix though.


Why did the vector cross the road?
It wanted to be normal.

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#13 2007-12-17 08:18:36

MathsIsFun
Administrator
Registered: 2005-01-21
Posts: 7,711

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

I will look into it!


"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

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#14 2008-07-30 13:40:13

John E. Franklin
Member
Registered: 2005-08-29
Posts: 3,588

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

I've been spending about 2 hours solid fiddling with this function grapher.
It is really great the way you can pan around.
I was examining what happens when you add two sine waves together with similar frequencies,
and comparing this to the 2sin(average)cos(halfDifference) formula, which I see how it
works on paper by the way with a drawing, but anyway, after about an hour with the
awesome grapher you made, I came across some instances when occasional lines
are not printed on the screen.  I made some screen prints, in case you are interested.
It is a pretty rare occurrence and when I pan around by a few pixels, then the missing
lines show up on the screen.  But overall, the grapher is beautiful and very, very nice.
Just thought I'd let you know.  I took some screen shots if you ever want to see the missing lines.


igloo myrtilles fourmis

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#15 2008-07-30 14:00:13

MathsIsFun
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Registered: 2005-01-21
Posts: 7,711

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

Thanks John.

Glad the bug is rare smile
Screenshots would be nice


"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

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#16 2008-07-30 15:06:17

John E. Franklin
Member
Registered: 2005-08-29
Posts: 3,588

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

You can also find the missing lines with y=x^2,
if you zoom out so 10000 units is about one inch, and
then pan upward a few screens, then the left or right
side a the parabola might appear without the other side.
Here is a picture of some trig...
If you pan around by 2 or 3 pixels at a time by clicking
near the middle, then the lines will appear for some
clicks, and then disappear for a few clicks, and if you
pan back, it is always the same locations that trigger
this when you find the problem, so it isn't intermittant I guess.


igloo myrtilles fourmis

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#17 2009-03-01 10:00:57

MathsIsFun
Administrator
Registered: 2005-01-21
Posts: 7,711

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

I have an updated version (0.96) now ... Function Grapher and Calculator

I have an "Equal Scales" option (so when you zoom it can keep scales the same, or let the graph "stretch" if the option is Off).

AND I have a slider for the constant "a" so you can include "a" in your function and then use the slider to alter "a"

Does it work nicely for you guys?


"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

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#18 2009-03-01 11:03:03

mathsyperson
Moderator
Registered: 2005-06-22
Posts: 4,900

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

Nice upgrades!
The 'a' slider is a bit laggy, but it works perfectly.
I'm not sure if it's new, but I also really like the polar feature.

One thing - the plots people have been posting don't seem to work anymore.

Edit: I'd also really like boxes where you can specify the shown range exactly (eg. (-pi,-1) to (pi,1) )


Why did the vector cross the road?
It wanted to be normal.

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#19 2009-03-01 11:44:01

MathsIsFun
Administrator
Registered: 2005-01-21
Posts: 7,711

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

mathsyperson wrote:

The 'a' slider is a bit laggy, but it works perfectly.

Yeah ... it needs time to draw the graph. I thought of part-drawing the graph, or drawing it in low-res (every 4th pixel) while you are dragging - I am not sure it would be better though ?

mathsyperson wrote:

One thing - the plots people have been posting don't seem to work anymore.

Oops ... fixed.

mathsyperson wrote:

I'd also really like boxes where you can specify the shown range exactly (eg. (-pi,-1) to (pi,1) )

Good idea


"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

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#20 2010-01-26 05:40:35

John E. Franklin
Member
Registered: 2005-08-29
Posts: 3,588

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

MIF, here are 2 function graphers.

http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/function-grapher.php
That one says "y =" to the left of the entry box.

http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/function-grapher.php
This one does not say "y=" to the left of the entry box.

Since the older one doesn't say "y=" to the left of the
expression you enter, it might be a tiny bit confusing.
Just a thought.


igloo myrtilles fourmis

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#21 2010-01-26 08:19:01

MathsIsFun
Administrator
Registered: 2005-01-21
Posts: 7,711

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

Same? Would the other one be

http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/grapher-equation.html


"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

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#22 2010-01-26 09:57:07

John E. Franklin
Member
Registered: 2005-08-29
Posts: 3,588

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

Sorry, my forgotten cut and paste.  Should be:
http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/graph.html
(This one has a black background, and no "y=")
(I guess there are 3+ equation graphers!)


igloo myrtilles fourmis

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#23 2010-06-07 05:46:51

KrazyKyngeKorny
Member
Registered: 2010-06-07
Posts: 12

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

MathsIsFun wrote:

The Function Grapher and Calculator is ready for you guys to try out. There are probably still bugs, and I don't mind if you tell me about them.

My idea is that we can use this thing to solve or illustrate problems, so I placed a special "Link" section - you can copy-and-paste the "forum" link into your message, and it will re-create the graph you made Have a try and tell me what you think.

I think you have a winner. Graphs are a big help in the understanding of math.

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#24 2010-06-07 09:45:41

bobbym
bumpkin
From: Bumpkinland
Registered: 2009-04-12
Posts: 109,606

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

KrazyKyngeKorny wrote:

Graphs are a big help in the understanding of math.

Yes, well said, especially in determining the number of  zeroes that a polynomial has and where they are. Other types of functions even more so! With the new graphing calculators and CAS they are fun to do also. When I started they only gave us a beach full of sand to draw on and some pebbles to count with. Some of us were eaten by sharks, math was more dangerous then.


In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

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#25 2010-06-14 22:50:34

DaveRobinsonUK
Member
Registered: 2010-04-24
Posts: 123

Re: Function Grapher and Calculator

Very nice, is it done in Flash?

How do you get flash to draw arbitrary curves from the built in AS graph functions?


Can feel it coming together.. Slowly but Surely smile

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