Re: infuriating Series[] question
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg17265] Re: [mg17226] infuriating Series[] question
- From: "Tomas Garza" <tgarza at mail.internet.com.mx>
- Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 02:34:47 -0400
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
Peter Jay Salzman [psalzman at landau.ucdavis.edu] wrote: >I'm trying to develop very high order difference equations, and > want to use > Mathematica to save me from calculating tons of quantities like 5^10 / 7! > > If I define: > g[x_] := Series[ f[x], {x,0,10} ] > > And try to compute stuff like: > > g[5*h] or g[10*h] > > It gives me the right answer, but i get terms like > > f'''''[0] * (5 x)^(10) / 10! > > The whole point in using Mathematica is so that I don't have to > calculate things > which look like 5^10 / 10! (that's factorial, of course, not me being > emphatic). > > Even when I try things like // Simplify or // FullSimplify, > Mathematica refuses to > simplify these rational coefficients. One thing I've learned is > that Mathematica > can do anything -- but figuring out how to do the something is often > completely not obvious to a nominal user like me. > > Can someone tell me the secret here? Hi, Pete: Yes, indeed! Just use the function N: In[1]:= N[5^10/10!] Out[1]= 2.69114 Good luck, Tomas Garza Mexico City