REDUCE vs. a symoblic function
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg18242] REDUCE vs. a symoblic function
- From: Blimbaum Jerry DLPC <BlimbaumJE at ncsc.navy.mil>
- Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 14:24:22 -0400
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
When I type in: Reduce[a*q - a ==0,a} OR Reduce[a*q - a ==0,q] I get the result: a == 0 OR q == 1 However, if I type in: Reduce[ F[a*q] - F[a] == 0,a] I just get back Reduce[ F[a*q] - F[a] == 0,a] and if I type in: Reduce[ F[a*q] - F[a] == 0,q] I get back a NOT == 0 && q == 1 Why the difference in these outcomes? These questions were, in part, motivated by the statement "As well as treating variables like x symbolically, you can also treat functions , like f[x], in Mathematica symbolically.....without specifying any explicit form for the function f[x]." Secondly, assuming that Mathematica doesnt get the result rather then I didnt use the correct commands to get them, and even if you can explain why it didnt, should it have gotten the same result in all 4 cases? Thanks. Jerry Blimbaum NSWC Panama City, Fl