Whenever I try to use cardanoSolve in the solvingCubics notebook, my output is the same as my input. That is, this happens when I evaluate the cell:
I’m pretty sure I’m doing something incorrectly, but I’m not sure what it is. Any assistance would be appreciated.
cardanoSolve is not a built in command; rather, it’s defined in a block of code in the “Solving cubics Cardano’s way” section of our solvingCubics notebook. You’ve got to execute that defining code to get the cardanoSolve command to work.
Similarly, if I execute a command like f[2], I just get the same thing quietly back:
f[2]
(* Out:
f[2]
*)
If I define f to be some particular function, though, then I’ll get some interesting return value:
f[x_] = x^2;
f[2]
(* Out:
4
*)
Note that undefined symbols appear blue in the Mathematica notebook while defined symbols are black. That’s how I’m sure that this is the issue and it’s a clue that anyone can use while diagnosing these kinds of problems.