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Division by zero, despite strong hint

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg96542] Division by zero, despite strong hint
• From: dch888 <dch888 at googlemail.com>
• Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 06:55:40 -0500 (EST)

Hi,

I'm trying to plot the Sin[1/x] curve with the curve being defined as
0 at 0 like this:

g3[x_] := Piecewise[{{Sin[1/x], x != 0} {0, x == 0}}]

Invoking Plot produced a flat graph; puzzled I asked for g3[0] and
got:

Power::infy Infinite expression 1/0 encountered >>

{
 {Indeterminate, False True},
 {0, \!\(\*
    TagBox["True",
     "PiecewiseDefault",
     AutoDelete->False,
     DeletionWarning->True]\)}
}

Hmmm...  what's the trick here to stop Mathematica evaluating all the branches
of the piecewise fn? There's nothing in the documentation that I can
see to stop this in Piecewise... perhaps I need to use a different Mathematica 
function?

Thanks,
David.

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: Division by zero, despite strong hint
    • From: Curtis Osterhoudt <cfo@lanl.gov>