CAS Simplify: HP Prime vs. TI Nspire

[JDW]

(08-14-2018 01:45 AM)Joe Horn Wrote:  So does Prime, and both Prime and Nspire return perfectly correct simplifications with their SIMPLIFY commands. Why are you are assuming that the Nspire's output is THE correct one?

I never said the word "correct" regarding simplifications. I only said "simplify." There's a difference. And yes, I am aware that a "simplified form" is not always the "shortest" form. But reconsider one of the two article examples, and let's use Roadrunner's suggestion of changing Radians to Degrees to make the Prime simplify the following expression that was mentioned in the article:

2*sqrt(3)*tan(85)/(sqrt(59)+16*cos(5))

The Prime simplifies is thusly:

2*sqrt(3)/(sqrt(59)*tan(5)+16*cos(5)*tan(5))

The Nspire simplifies thusly:

2*sqrt(3)/(tan(5)*(16*cos(5)+sqrt(59)))

Both are correct, but the Nspire's simplification in this one case is shorter than the Prime's, however minor that shorter simplification may be. But in this particular example, the shorter of the two simplifications is the simpler of the two.

And as to using "trigsin()" to simplify the other expression given in the article, again, I honestly would never have thought to use that. I've noted it for future reference, however.

With that said, I'm not praising the Nspire, nor do I even have one or want one. I am just pondering the article and the two simplification examples. I appreciate your input and have found all the comments here insightful. Thank you.