Plotting expressions and equations

Maple plots mathematical expressions with ease. The plot command can be given in the form

plot(expression, x=xmin..xmax)

where expression is either a mathematical expression with one variable to be plotted (in this case the variable is x) or is the name of an expression that was previously entered into the Maple worksheet. Generally, the name of an expression is used. xmin and xmax are the numerical values that define the range over which the variable x is plotted. The min and max values are separated by a sequence of two periods.

Maple can also plot equations, but it does this differently than for expressions, using different commands. To plot an equation, use the implicitplot command

with(plots):
implicitplot(eqn, x=xmin..xmax, y=ymin..ymax)

The with(plots) command tells Maple that you want to use special plotting software that it then loads into the computer from the disk. This command is followed by a colon (:) so that the list of all the commands that are loaded in from disk is not displayed. Leave the colon off the first time you use the with(plots) command to see what happens. The with(plots) command need only be used once in a Maple worksheet.

The implicitplot command looks like the plot command except that you must specify both the x and y limits and you must specify an equation instead of an expression.