Solving an equation with integral



On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 2:20 AM, Rupert Swarbrick <rswarbrick at gmail.com>wrote:

> Raymond Toy <toy.raymond at gmail.com> writes:
> > I think having examples like this on the wiki would be very nice too.  I
> > always learn a lot from examples like this, and such examples are easier
> > for me to find on a wiki than on a mailing list with lots of other
> > discussions.
> >
> > Ray
>
> I suppose that the problem is how one might categorise them. Also, I'm
>

Categorizing is difficult.  Cross-references can be useful if they fit in
multiple categories.  I think in this case, the main issue is that solve
couldn't do the user wanted, so maybe this would go in the section named
"How to solve when SOLVE doesn't". :-)

> Maybe we could come up with some "ratsimp training" Wiki pages, which
> show how to use (say) expand, factor, gfactor, subst, ratsubst, ratsimp
> to wrangle expressions in a useful way. I can definitely see that this
> could make (1) easier to attain.
>

Aren't these covered in some tutorials or manual?  But real example from
real uses are always nice to see.

>
> I was thinking something like:
>
> ---------------
>
> How to [Do Something]
> =====================
>
> [Link to mailing list thread if applicable]
>
> [Some background information along with a (possibly simplified)
>  statement of the problem]
>
> [First thoughts: Is it reasonable to expect Maxima to solve this? How
>  might I make it easier]
>
> [A solution]
>
> [Things that don't work and why]
>
> ---------------
>
> But maybe others have better ideas?
>

I think that's a pretty nice layout.  Perhaps a bit more detailed than I
would expect the average contributor to do, but I think that makes it
really complete and informative.

Ray