With Sage you can do this kind of stuff: sage: eq1(x,y) = (y == 2/3*x + 5) sage: eq2(x,y) = (4*x - 2*y == 7) sage: eq1 y == 2/3*x + 5 sage: eq2 4*x - 2*y == 7 sage: eq3 = eq2(y = 2/3*x + 5) sage: eq3 8/3*x - 10 == 7 sage: eq3 += 10 sage: eq3 8/3*x == 17 sage: eq3 /= 8/3 sage: eq3 x == (51/8) sage: eq1(x=51/8) y == (37/4)
Sage <http://sagemath.org/> is Python with mathematical super powers added. It lets you treat an equation as an object and manipulate it in various ways - substituting different values for the variables or rearranging terms. It of course has a solve function, but I've used it as above to 'show work'. I don't think there's a tablet app for it, but you can use Sage through a browser. - Michel On Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 8:36 AM, Jay Bloodworth <johnabloodwor...@gmail.com>wrote: > This question is not really specific to python. Apologies if that is a > party foul, but I think it is in the spirit of the list. > > Suppose I give an algebra student the system: > > y=2/3x + 5 > 4x - 2y = 7 > > I want the student to solve the system algebraically, to show her work, > to use appropriate notation, and to do it on a tablet computer rather > than pencil and paper. What does the UI look like for this task? Is it > something the equation editor for a word processor? Or more specialized? > Are their lots of menus? Or is it more like LaTeX, using special text > syntax to denote fractions, etc. How do we make sure that using the UI > doesn't occupy so many brain cycles that it limits the student's ability > to do the algebra? > > Obviously this is less about solving systems in particular and more > about the issues that come up as computers begin to replace pencil and > paper as the standard format for communicating in a math classroom. I > would appreciate your thoughts. > > Jay > > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig@python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > -- ================================== "What I cannot create, I do not understand." - Richard Feynman ================================== "Computer science is the new mathematics." - Dr. Christos Papadimitriou ==================================
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