Just as in general it's not clear what it means to simplify an
expression, in general, it's not clear what it means to 'simplify' an
equation. And how is it different from solving the equation?
I suppose in the case of x^2=0, few people will disagree that x=0 is a
simpler equation. But how about x^2+1=2? Is x^2-1=0 or x^2=1 or
(x-1)*(x+1)=0 'simpler'? How about (x=1 OR x= -1)?
In your case, I suppose one possible simplification is (x=0 OR c=a+b).
You can get this using the Maxima solve:
eq: x*a + x*b = x*c;
solve(eq,[x,a,b,c]) =>
[[x = 0, a = %r1, b = %r2, c = %r3], [x = %r4, a = %r5, b = %r6,
c = %r6 + %r5]]
(with an implicit OR)
Another approach is to work only with expressions equated to zero:
eq0: lhs(eq)-rhs(eq)$
factor(eq0) =>
- (c - b - a) x
Is the factored equation (c - b - a) x = 0 simpler? Up to you to decide.
-s
On Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 00:36, Milind Gupta <milind.gupta at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> ?? ? ? ?How do I simplify a simple equation in Maxima. For example:
> x*a + x*b = x*c
> and I should get
> ??a + b = c
> ?? Which function can do this?
> Thanks,
> Milind
>
>
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