great new features

[StephenG1CMZ]

2

(05-06-2021 04:59 PM)Wes Loewer Wrote:  

Quote:10. Add triangle surface calculation in triangle solver

I remember when someone asked for this feature, some criticized the request as being a waste of programming effort, but I think it rounds out the Triangle Solver App nicely. I was using the Triangle Solver just today to check a student's work.

I wasn't sure what "surface calculation" meant at first, but then I figured it must be area. The word "surface" is usually used for a 3d solid. Perhaps the word "Area" could be placed above the S=value.

If the entered values for the sides are impossible (a=1, b=2, c=4), the area calculation displays:
S=NaN

I doubt that any of my students would know the meaning of NaN. Perhaps it would be better to display "no solution".

Or perhaps the words "Area" and "no solution" were intentionally not used so as to avoid the need for translations. If so, then leaving it blank would be better than NaN.

If NaN is displayed as "blank" , how would your students Google "blank" to find out what the answer means, and why it is there?
If they Google NaN they can see what the answer means.
If it can display" no solutions" in their language too, that is a bonus - it explains why the answer is Nan, not just what the answer is.

Perhaps clearer than NaN is to always return a list of solutions, with an empty list obviously meaning no solutions were found.