CHAPTER 8Solving Equations

Many problems in mathematics ultimately boil down to solving an equation, or system of equations. Mathematica has a variety of tools for solving equations, which we’ll learn about in this chapter.

8.1 Polynomial Equations

Let’s start by solving a simple quadratic equation, x2 + 3x - 5=0. Example 8.1.1 shows how to use the function Solve to do this.

Example 8.1.1

In[1]:= (* solving a polynomial equation *)        Solve[x2 + 3x −5=0, x]

Image

Solve takes two arguments. The first is the equation we want to solve and the second is the variable that we want to solve for. Notice that we have used double equal signs in the equation. ...

Get Mathematica DeMYSTiFied now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial