Re: solving a system of two equations
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg102012] Re: [mg101984] solving a system of two equations
- From: Bob Hanlon <hanlonr at cox.net>
- Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:56:41 -0400 (EDT)
- Reply-to: hanlonr at cox.net
Solve is intended for linear and polynomial equations (see Help). Reduce is much more general.
Reduce[{a/(a + b) == 1/2, a*b/((a + b)^2 (a + b + 1)) == 2},
a] // ToRules
{b -> -(7/16), a -> -(7/16)}
Bob Hanlon
---- per <perfreem at gmail.com> wrote:
=============
hi all,
i am trying to find two parameters a, b of the Beta distribution that
make its mean equal to some given constant m and its variance equal to
some given constant v. this reduces to solving a system of two
equations based on the mean/variance definitions of the beta
distribution:
a/(a+b) = m
a*b/((a + b)^2 (a + b + 1)) = v
i want to solve this equation for a and b. i tried to solve this in
mathematica, as follows (for m = .5, v = 1):
Solve[{a/(a + b) == .5, a*b/((a + b)^2 (a + b + 1)) == 2}, a]
But it returns: {}
i want to get back values for a and b. does anyone know how i can do
this? also, this is subject to the constraint that a and b are
positive real numbers but i am not sure how to express that.
thank you.