equations

MITAD DEL MUNDO, Ecuador--The effort to mark exactly where the equator traverses this tiny country roughly the size of Colorado -- if Colorado were filled with not just tall, jagged mountains, but also with jungle and rainforest and swamp and humid lowlands -- has been filled with centuries of folly and misplaced monuments. Now a provincial government in Ecuador wants to finally get it right, and make a big statement at the same time.

Despite being the longest way around the Earth, the equator is relatively hard to get to. Just take a look at your globe (OK, Google Earth will do) and you'll notice it passes through an awful lot of empty ocean, some remote islands, the Amazon, and some typically inaccessible parts of Africa. These raw geographic realities have made Ecuador particularly important for those on a quest for middle earth (not Middle Earth) for centuries. … Read more

Algebra: The very word still turns strong wills to water, yet somehow they haven't stopped teaching it in school. And your algebra teacher was right; you may need to know this stuff later, and not just for midterms. But this problem is easy to solve. You have a computer. Computers are really good at math. Algebra is math. We'll cheat a bit and tell you the answer: The missing variable is the software. UMS Team's Free Universal Algebra Equation Solver is a freeware algebra solver and tutor. It offers step-by-step solutions, including commentaries, to any algebra problem … Read more

A new organization led by major CEOs is hoping to make the U.S. more competitive around the world by putting the focus on education.

Announced by President Obama yesterday as part of his "Educate to Innovate" campaign, Change the Equation is a nonprofit group whose goal is to improve education in the key areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Founded by former Intel Chairman Craig Barrett and Xerox CEO Ursula Burns among other chief executives, and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Carnegie Corporation, the group's membership includes 100 key industry … Read more

Formatting equations in documents is something that I used to love doing, and years ago for various high school and college math classes I would spend large amounts of time drawing them in programs like ClarisWorks to get the formatting done correctly. Properly formatting equations is useful (if not required) for a number of fields, but even if you do not use mathematical equations in your writing you may periodically run into situations where properly formatting one would be a nice touch to a document.… Read more

GS-Calc offers users an alternative spreadsheet maker by mimicking what the more famous versions do and adding little flourishes that many will like.

The program's interface will immediately be recognizable to those familiar with Excel. The rows, columns, and even commands feel like they are in the same place. However, if users need help with its slight difference, a Help file is available. The program functions almost exactly like the more popular spreadsheet option. Users input data into cells across various rows and columns. The data can be manipulated in multiple ways, including color-coding cells, rows and columns, sorting … Read more

A potentially invaluable tool for math students or engineers, this tightly focused program draws and analyzes two-dimensional graphs. Within these limits, Graph offers most of the features any mathematically minded computer user could ask for.

Standard, parameter, and polar functions are supported. It includes a huge number of predefined functions, but new ones can be added. Tangents, normals, and derivatives can be drawn. Users can add relations and set constraints. The program can calculate the length or area of a selected function, or determine its first and second derivatives. From a cosmetic point of view, users can freely adjust axes, … Read more