mmm4444bot
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2005
- Messages
- 10,902
I completely agree! A command to "simplify" ought to be accompanied with an explicit statement of intent.… I really really dislike these type of vague problem statements … functions, expressions can typically be rewritten in many different forms, and then it becomes an exercise in semantics to determine if one is "more simplified" than the others.
Last year, I helped a student with an exam question like \(\displaystyle \text{Simplify} \; 3(\frac{x}{5} + 1)\).
As her answer, she had written \(\displaystyle \frac{3}{5}x + 3\), but was marked wrong.
Turns out, the desired answer was \(\displaystyle 3(\frac{x+5}{5})\). Hoo boy… :roll: