The Power of Precision

Mathematica doesn't just give an answer--it gives the right answer.

Take a calculator and calculate the sine of 60 degrees. Chances are that you got something like 0.86602541. It is the right answer, but is it a meaningful result? Compare that to this result:

Mathematica can produce the exact answer as well as the numerical approximation, giving students a kind of understanding that does not always follow from looking at a pile of digits. For example, you can solve the Pythagorean theorem for one of the sides of the right triangle and get the answer out in algebraic form.

Then by plugging in the values for a = 1/2 and c = 1, you can show that the result for b agrees exactly with the value of sin(60°).

Of course, when you need it, Mathematica can easily provide numerical solutions to any arbitrary precision.