Now this is a simplification:

[Han]

(11-17-2017 07:45 PM)DrD Wrote:  Can one test for, "what is simpler" be readability?

Which is simpler in your eyes:

600*x*(3*x^2-4)^99

-or-



And that's only the first page!

Well that all depends. Even though the second form takes more than a single screen, it's more simplified because all terms are monomials, and hence "simplified." This topic comes up every now and then, and in the end it really boils down to the same thing: everyone's view on "simplified" is different. Even with the same user, it can have different meaning.

(x-1)^7/(x-1) might look simplified because it takes up little screen space. Yet it's not simplified because (x-1)^7/(x-1) = x^6 + x^5 + x^4 + x^3 + x^2 + x + 1 (for x not equal to 1) which can be written as \( \sum_{i=1}^6 x^i \). Each of these forms has their own uses depending on the user's situation.

HP should just get rid of the simplify command altogether; users should be forced to use the relevant algebraic manipulation command that they need.