72 Chapter 3: Symbolic Manipulation
03SYMBOL.DOC TI-89/TI-92 Plus: Symbolic Manipulation (English) Susan Gullord Revised: 02/23/01 10:52 AM Printed: 02/23/01 2:12 PM Page 72 of 24
You can add or divide
polynomials directly, without
using a special function.
Use the
factor
(
„
2
) and
expand
(
„
3
) functions.
factor
(expression [,var])
expand
(expression [,var])
Factor
x
5
ì
1
. Then expand the
result.
Notice that
factor
and
expand
perform opposite operations.
The
factor
(
„
2
) function lets you do more than simply factor an
algebraic polynomial.
You can find prime factors of a
rational number (either an integer
or a ratio of integers).
With the
expand
(
„
3
) function’s optional
var
value, you can do a
partial expansion that collects similar powers of a variable.
Do a full expansion of
(x
ñì
x)
(y
ñì
y)
with respect to all
v
ariables.
Then do a partial expansion with
respect to
x
.
Common Algebraic Operations
This section gives examples for some of the functions
available from the
„
Algebra
toolbar menu. For complete
information about any function, refer to Appendix A. Some
algebraic operations do not require a special function.
Adding or Dividing
Polynomials
Factoring and
Expanding
Polynomials
Finding Prime
Factors of a Number
Finding Partial
Expansions
for factoring with respect to a variable
for partial expansion with respect to a variable