| The following instructions assume that you are working on a computer in S2 321. There are ways to access the Mathematica assignments from computers elsewhere on campus, but I don't know what they are. Sorry. |
- To find the assignments, go to the Student Folder on the desktop and double-click on it.
- Double-click on the folder labeled kbyler.
- Double-click on the lab you wish to do. Mathematica should start up automatically if it is not already running.
- It is recommended that you save your work often. Your lab should be named with your last name, first initial, lab number, and appended with .nb. For example, if your name is Baldy Jasquirth and you are doing Lab 01, your filename would be JasquirthB-01.nb. There are three ways to save your work:
- On the desktop (only while you are working in the lab). Go to the File menu and select Save or Save As... . Type your filename and select Desktop as the file location. You should remove this file to the trash when you leave the computer.
- On your Flash drive (preferred). Flash drives are available at almost any electronics store, such as CompUSA or Costco. Insert your Flash drive into the small USB port on the computer or monitor itself (not in the keyboard; it doesn't work). If your Flash Drive is formatted for PC, the computer may say you need to reformat the drive. If you reformat the drive, any data and files on the disk will be lost, so be sure you want to do this. Go to the File menu and select Save or Save As... . Type your filename and select the folder from your Flash drive that you wish to save your file in. To eject your Flash drive properly, make sure to close all windows for the drive, then drag the icon for the Flash drive to the Trash. You may then remove your Flash drive. Any other method for ejecting the drive may confuse the computer and cause it to crash.
Special note on Zip disks: the lab's computers have Zip-100 drives, but they are notoriously clunky and unreliable. Use Zip disks at your peril! To eject a Zip disk, make sure to close all windows for the disk, then drag the icon for the Zip disk to the Trash. Any other method for ejecting the disk will confuse the computer and may cause it to crash.
- In the GroupShare folder. Save your file to the desktop first, as above. Then drag the icon from the desktop to the folder KelmK-SAVE in the GroupShare folder, which can be found in the Student Folder. Please note the following:
- Anything in the GroupShare folder can be accessed from any of the computers in the lab. That's the good news. The bad news is that anyone who uses the lab can mess with your file (make changes, copy your work, or delete it). In the past there have been problems with students from the class copying and using other students' files as their own work. You may want to include a string of characters buried in your document that is unique to you, to catch thieves. For example, your solution to a question might look like
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14. Use Mathematica to compute the derivative of the 6gsm338 function f(x) = 3 ln x + 5x - 2 . . . |
Notice the string 6gsm338, which you can give to me in advance and I can search for it if I suspect someone else has stolen your assignment.
PLEASE NOTE. Copying and pasting any part of another student's assignment, with or without their consent, is cheating. Don't do it.
- When you drag a file from the GroupShare folder to the Drop Box (see #5, below), the file is gone from the GroupShare folder (there is no copy remaining). So if you wish to save your file, be sure to save a copy to the desktop or your Flash drive before turning in your assignment.
I do not recommend emailing yourself the file, as this has not been successful (students have been unable to recover the file).
- To turn in an assignment, save your file (see above) and drag the file to my drop box. To find my drop box, go to the Student Folder and find the folder labeled "kbyler." Open this folder, and you should see another folder inside labeled, Drop Box. Drag your file to this folder and let go of the mouse button.
Note: You will not be able to retrieve your file from my drop box once you have submitted it, so be sure you have checked all your answers and saved your file with the appropriate filename (see #4, above) before turning it in to the drop box.
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| Frequently Asked Questions |
- I saved my file, but I can't find the icon.
If you saved your file to the desktop, the icon could be hiding behind an open window. Minimize or move around any open windows to check for your icon.
The most frequent cause of lost icons is saving files without specifying the location (the desktop). When no location is specified, the computer will usually default to a folder on the desktop called Documents. Double-click on that folder and look for your icon.
- Mathematica keeps giving me an error message when I type commands.
There are too many types of errors to list them all here. The most common type of error, however, is typing in a command incorrectly. Please keep in mind that when you run a command, Mathematica will try to interpret everything that is in that cell. Everything has to be typed in exactly the right way, or it will give the wrong answer or give an error message. Make sure to check the following:
- Be sure there are no English words (other than commands) in the cell.
- Make sure there are no typos in the commands. It sounds silly, but I have spent hours trying to figure out why a command won't run, and finally I notice that I have typed something like Simpilfy instead of Simplify.
- Commands must start with a capital letter and the rest of the letters must be lowercase. For example, the command to remove the assignment of the variable x must be typed Remove[x], not remove[x] or REMOVE[x]. The variable x is different from the variable X, so you should also not type Remove[X] unless you want to remove the assignment of the (capitalized) variable X.
- Inputs for a function or command must be in brackets [ ], not parentheses ( ). Parentheses are only for grouping, not for function inputs. So to find the cosine of pi (of course you can do this in your head, I hope!) you must type Cos[Pi], not Cos(Pi) or Cos{Pi}.
- Do not leave any spaces between a command and its input. For example, Expand[3x(x+2)] works but Expand [3x(x+2)] does not.
- Make sure there is a space or a * between two variables you want to multiply. For example, x y means x times y, but xy means you are talking about a new variable called xy, and there is no multiplication going on.
- I dragged my assignment to the Drop Box, and a message pops up. Is this normal?
When you turn in an assignment to the Drop Box, a message will pop up that says:
You do not have permission to see the results of this operation. Do you want to continue?
This is normal. It is saying: Are you sure you want to put the file in the Drop Box? If you do, you won't be able to access it. Just click on OK to finish turning in the assignment.
- I turned in my assignment to the Drop Box, and I just realized I made a mistake! What do I do?
If the deadline for the assignment has not passed, you can turn in another copy. You will have to make a small change to the filename to get it to accept the new file.
Hopefully you have saved a copy of your file and can fix the mistake. Make the changes that you wish to make to your file. Go to the File menu, select Save As..., and rename the file by adding something like -2 to the end (before the .nb). For example, Baldy Jasquirth's corrected file (see #4 of the instructions, above) would be called JasquirthB-01-2.nb. Then simply drag the updated file to the Drop Box.
Please note that unless you tell me otherwise, I will only look at the most recent version of your assignment that I receive before the deadline.
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