Re: avoid combining like terms in algebraic expression
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg121149] Re: avoid combining like terms in algebraic expression
- From: David Bailey <dave at removedbailey.co.uk>
- Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:05:56 -0400 (EDT)
- Delivered-to: l-mathgroup@mail-archive0.wolfram.com
- References: <j3ieh3$sda$1@smc.vnet.net>
On 30/08/2011 11:37, Phil Hammond wrote: > I'm generating problems for basic algebra students, and I would like > to present expressions with like terms (e.g. 3x + 4x) and have the > students combine them in their answers. Could somebody help me > persuade Mathematica to refrain from combining them automatically? > > Thanks- > It is not completely clear what you mean by 'generating' - because of course, you can type anything you want into a notebook. However, perhaps the following is what you want: HoldForm[3 x]+HoldForm[4 x] 3x + 4x If the constants come from some other calculation then they would need injecting inside the HoldForm expressions: c3=3; c4=4; With[{c3=c3,c4=c4},HoldForm[c3 x]+HoldForm[c4 x]] Note that these expression contains HoldForm invisibly within them, so it would not be suitable to naively copy/paste into another Mathematica expression. David Bailey http://www.dbaileyconsultancy.co.uk