A student got the following error on a problem we've used in 6 courses -- without anyone reporting an error in the past. The seed used on the problem when the error occurs is 348. I've included a copy of the problem template below.
--rac
---------------------------------------------Error message--------------------------------------
Can't use '*' in this context; see position 16 of formula at line 93 of [PG]/macros/Parser.pl Died within main::Formula called at line 93 of [PG]/macros/Parser.pl from within main::Compute called at line 60 of [TMPL]/tmpEdit/Problems/setAppliedMath_01_02_Polynomials/AppMath_01_Polynomials.pg.rcruz.tmp
Error details
Problem1 ERROR caught by Translator while processing problem file:tmpEdit/Problems/setAppliedMath_01_02_Polynomials/AppMath_01_Polynomials.pg.rcruz.tmp **************** Can't use '*' in this context; see position 16 of formula at line 93 of [PG]/macros/Parser.pl Died within main::Formula called at line 93 of [PG]/macros/Parser.pl from within main::Compute called at line 60 of [TMPL]/tmpEdit/Problems/setAppliedMath_01_02_Polynomials/AppMath_01_Polynomials.pg.rcruz.tmp ---------------------------Problem Template------------------------------ loadMacros(
"PGstandard.pl",
"MathObjects.pl",
"contextLimitedNumeric.pl"
); TEXT(&beginproblem); ######################################
# Setup $p = non_zero_random(-12,12,1);
do {$q = non_zero_random(-7,7,1);} while ($p==$q||$q==1||$q==-1);
$r = random(4,9,1) + random(.1,.9,.1); #Make sure its not an integer $a = random(4,6,1);
$b = random(4,6,1); ######################################
# Main text BEGIN_TEXT
Use a calculator to approximate the following numbers:
$PAR
a) \( $r^$a \)
$BR
ANSWER: \{ans_rule(10)\}
$PAR
b) \( \displaystyle \left( \frac{$p}{$q} \right)^$b \)
$BR
ANSWER: \{ans_rule(10)\}
END_TEXT ######################################
# Answers
Context("LimitedNumeric"); $ans_a = Compute($r**$a);
ANS($ans_a->cmp); $ans_b = Compute(($p/$q)**$b);
ANS($ans_b->cmp); $showPartialCorrectAnswers = 1; ###################################### ENDDOCUMENT(); # This should be the last executable line in the problem.