Re: 1 equals 3 (among others)
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg32200] Re: 1 equals 3 (among others)
- From: Stegemann at physikDONOT.SPAMtu-berlin.de (Grischa Stegemann)
- Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002 00:10:43 -0500 (EST)
- References: <a13v7l$dgb$1@smc.vnet.net>
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
On Fri, 4 Jan 2002 10:13:09 +0000 (UTC), Grischa Stegemann wrote: > > In[1]:=f[x_] = (4 - x + Sqrt[-4*(3 - x) + (x - 4)^2])/2; > In[2]:=Simplify[-4*(3 - x) + (x - 4)^2] > Out[2]=(-2 + x)^2 Oh stupid fool I am! All the time I have dealt with complex numbers but only in this special case everything becomes real. So I have totally ignored that Sqrt[x^2]=Abs[x]. This of course explains the numbers I mentioned. Nevertheless I found out that this wasn't actually my problem. The actual problem arised from the plot Plot[f[x],{x,0,5}] because I have neglected the numbers at the y-axis and thought that Mathematica is giving me lots of rubbish. In this plot you can see numerical noise which can be hidden by e.g. giving PlotRange->{0,3}) but which doesn't appear if you plot g[x_]=Sqrt[-4*(3 - x) + (x - 4)^2]; Plot[g[x],{x,0,5}]. OK, this is not really essential... ;-) Thanks to all who pointed me to my stupidity. Bye, Grischa -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grischa Stegemann Technische Universität Berlin --