Re: Simplification shortcomings?
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg24649] Re: Simplification shortcomings?
- From: "Allan Hayes" <hay at haystack.demon.co.uk>
- Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 09:23:20 -0400 (EDT)
- References: <8lsutf$27c@smc.vnet.net>
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
Bob,
FullSimplify uses more information and tries harder than Simplify:
FullSimplify[(1 + Sqrt[5])/2 - Sqrt[(3 + Sqrt[5])/2]]
0
--
Allan
---------------------
Allan Hayes
Mathematica Training and Consulting
Leicester UK
www.haystack.demon.co.uk
hay at haystack.demon.co.uk
Voice: +44 (0)116 271 4198
Fax: +44 (0)870 164 0565
"Bob Harris" <nitlion at mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:8lsutf$27c at smc.vnet.net...
> Howdy,
>
> I'm a relative novice to Mathematica. While working with it today, I had
> occasion to want to know if a result was equal to (1 + Sqrt[5])/2. The
> result was shown as Sqrt[(3 + Sqrt[5])/2]. After some pancil and paper
> work, I figured out that these two are equal. Or, I should say, that the
> former is one of the values that the latter can have.
>
> I was frustrated in my attempts to get Mathematica to answer that question
> for me. Simplify[(1 + Sqrt[5])/2 - Sqrt[(3 + Sqrt[5])/2]] didn't provide
> any improvement. Calculating this value to many decimal digits showed it
> was near zero (probably close enough that I could have applied the
> techniques shown in Scheinerman's recent article in American Mathematical
> Monthly). The only way I got Mathematica to show the equality was to
square
> both numbers; Simplify[((1 + Sqrt[5])/2)^2 - (3 + Sqrt[5])/2] is zero.
>
> Is there any better way to do this? I have some other, more complicated
> numbers that I need to compare.
>
> Thanks,
> Bob Harris
>
>
>
>