Quick Instructions
General: When the applet starts up, it is showing a "Main Screen" where
you can see the graph of
functions. The available functions are shown in a list on the left. Click on
a function to view its graph. You can define your own functions to add to
this list using the three buttons at the lower left of the Main Screen.
There are three ways to define new functions: using expressions (such as
0.5*x^2+sin(3*x-2)), by giving the graph of the function, or by listing a
table of (x,y) pairs.
There is a separate input screen for each of these input methods.
Note: The square root function can be entered as either
sqrt(x) or
x^(1/2).
To get back to the Main Screen from one of these input screens, you have
to press a "Done" or "Cancel" button.
The pop-up menu at the top of the applet can be used to go to seven other
screens. Each screen is a separate "utility" that allows you to play with
functions in a different way. When you enter functions into the utility
screens, you can use any new functions that you have defined, as well as the built-in
functions.
You'll also find some extra entries in the pop-up menu. These extra entries are examples that
will you take to one of the utility screens, and load an example in to that screen.
Riemann Sums:
To use the applet to compute a Riemann sum, use the pull-down
menu at the top of the applet and select "Riemann Sums Utility". In the spaces provided, fill in
the max and min values of x and y, number of intervals or partitions n, and
enter the function f(x). Select the type of summation you want to display (e.g., right endpoint).
Note that several different sums will be calculated, but only the selected one is drawn. Finally,
remember to press the
"Compute" button to re-calculate the sums.
Now, just go ahead and play!