parserPrime.pl - defines a prime operator (') to perform differentiation (can be used in student answers as well).
This file defines the code necessary to make the prime (') operator perform differentiation within a Formula object. For example, Formula("(x^2)'") would equal Formula("2*x"), and Formula("(x^2)''") would equal Real(2). The context also includes reduction rules to replace the prime notaiton by the actual derivative.
To accomplish this, put the line
loadMacros("parserPrime.pl");at the beginning of your problem file, then set the Context to the one you wish to use in the problem. Then use the command:
parser::Prime->Enable;(You can also pass the Enable command a context pointer if you wish to alter a context other than the current one.)
Once this is done, you will be able to enter primes in your Formulas to refer to differentiation. For example:
Formula("(3x^2+2x+1)'")would mean the derivative of 3x^2+2x+1 and would be equivalent to
Formula("3*2*x+2")The variable of differentiation is taken from the variables used in the formula being differentiated. If there is more than one variable used, the first one alphabetically is used. For example
Formula("(ln(x))' + (x^2+3y)'")would produce the equivalent to
Formula("(1/x) + (2*x+0)").This can have unexpected results, however, since.
Formula("(x^2)' + (y^2)'")would generate
Formula("2*x + 2*y")which may not be what you want. In order to specify the variable for differentiation, you can list it in the Enable() call. For example:
parser::Prime->Enable("x");would make
Formula("(x^2)' + (y^2)'")generate
Formula("2*x + 0")rather than the default 2x+2y.
The prime operator also defines a reduction rule that allows the prime notation to be replaced by the actual derivative when the Formula is reduced. This is off by default, but you can set it via
Context()->reduction->set("(f)'"=>1);so that it will be on for all reductions, or specify it for a single reduction as follows:
$f = Formula("(x^2)'")->reduce("(f)'"=>1);to obtain $f as Formula("2*x").
Note that once the prime has been added to the Context, student answers will be allowed to include primes as well, so if you want students to actually perform the differentiation themselves, you may wish to disable the prime at the end of the problem (so it will not be active while student answers are being parsed). To do that use
parser::Prime->Disable;(You can pass Disable a context pointer to remove the prime operator from a context other than the current one.)