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Michael Gage - Checking answers containing (-1)^k. how to handle powers of negative numbers

Michael Gage - Checking answers containing (-1)^k. how to handle powers of negative numbers

by Arnold Pizer -
Number of replies: 0
inactiveTopicChecking answers containing (-1)^k. how to handle powers of negative numbers topic started 1/27/2003; 2:05:32 PM
last post 1/28/2003; 1:37:10 PM
userMichael Gage - Checking answers containing (-1)^k. how to handle powers of negative numbers  blueArrow
1/27/2003; 2:05:32 PM (reads: 1012, responses: 1)
Posted for Kathryn Lesh, Union college

On Monday, January 27, 2003, at 11:36 AM, Kathryn Lesh wrote:

Dear Mike,

Do you know a (preferably easy!) for the answer-checker to check an answer like (-1)^k, where k is the variable? This comes up in writing problems on sigma notation, which is what I'm doing right now. The problem I am having right now is that k is treated as a real variable, and so I guess the exponentiation is going through the logarithm, which doesn't like the (-1).

Kathryn

____________________________

Dr. Kathryn Lesh
Associate Professor
Department of Mathematics
Union College
Schenectady, NY 12308

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userCarl F. Letsche - Re: Checking answers containing (-1)^k. how to handle powers of negative numbers  blueArrow
1/28/2003; 1:37:10 PM (reads: 1254, responses: 0)
This has actually come up before. The most recent discussion was last spring, at

http://webhost.math.rochester.edu/webworkdocs/discuss/msgReader$863

Please note that this discussion predates version 1.8, and if there's been some major changes in fn_cmp, the solutions may not work.

Carl

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