The result is a difference of two terms involving exponentials (see below) that is identically 0 for all x (or should be). However, credit is not being given when the student enters 0, unless I restrict the test points as I show below. In fact, it does not even consistently work when in include a [2] in the list of test points.
Can anyone explain why this is happening?
$a = random(2,6,1);
$b = random(1,5,1);
$a11 = Formula("e^($a x)");
$a12 = Formula("e^($a x + $b)");
$a21 = Formula("$a e^($a x)");
$a22 = Formula("$a e^($a x + $b)");
$wronskian = $a11 * $a22 - $a12 * $a21;
$wronskian->{test_points} = [[-1],[0],[1]]; # Why is this line necessary to make 0 evaluate as the correct answer?
...
WEIGHTED_ANS( $wronskian->cmp(), 40 );
Thanks!
Paul