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Re: Interesting problem looking for a solution.

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg122031] Re: Interesting problem looking for a solution.
• From: "David Park" <djmpark at comcast.net>
• Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:26:10 -0400 (EDT)
• Delivered-to: l-mathgroup@mail-archive0.wolfram.com
• References: <3419157.43225.1318144358445.JavaMail.root@m06>

Gary,

You will probably have to create your own array of functions from which you
can randomly pick. Also I am not going to go into generating the worksheets,
which I presume are Mathematica notebooks, because it is a bunch of fiddly
work in programmed writing of notebooks.

However, the Presentations application has a routine that allows you to
generate graphs of functions, sometimes as a series of points but you can
also force them to be compressed into a gibberish looking string. 

For example:

<< Presentations` 

Clear[testplot1];
HiddenNotebookData[testplot1, "function 1", 
 Compress@Draw[x Sqrt[x], {x, 0, 1}]]

This generates the following Input cell in the notebook:

testplot1 = <<function 1>>;

This could be sent to the worksheet as an initialization cell.
If the student looks at testplot he will only see the compressed string
form, or a Line with points in uncompressed form.

Then the worksheet could contain the following statement, which might be
built-in with perhaps the matching Draw statement initially missing.

Draw2D[
 {(* Graph of test function to match *)
  {Red, Uncompress@testplot1},
  (* Matching function graph generated by student *)
  {Draw[x^2, {x, 0, 1}]}},
 Frame -> True]

The student can then experiment with the matching function to attempt a
match.

The HiddenNotebookData command is in the Writing/Manipulations/Other group
on the PresentationsPalette.


David Park
djmpark at comcast.net
http://home.comcast.net/~djmpark/  


From: Church, Gary [mailto:churchg at smccd.edu] 


Hello,

I have an (I think) interesting problem for you Mathematica gurus.

I'm trying to create a worksheet for my students and want to be able to
display the plot of a randomly generated function f[x], without them being
able to access the expression which defines f; In other words, I don't want
them to be able to evaluate f[x].

The idea is that each student will get a different function f[x] and will
see a different graph and they have to determine the expression which
defines f. They then have to plot the function they think is f against the
actual function f[x] and turn in the two plots (or the one plot with the two
graphs.)

Is this possible?

Thanks much,
Gary

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: Interesting problem looking for a solution.
    • From: Murray Eisenberg <murray@math.umass.edu>