Elastic Collision and Simultaneous Equations

[dbusack1013]

:surprised Hello I need help with elastic collisions. I know you have to solve simultaneous equations, but for the problem I'm on, the equation has a power other than one like X2 etc. How do I do this on A TI-83 +? Thank you.
Doug

[Diane_]

I don't know how to do it on a TI-83, but I know how to do it on paper. Work to reduce your equations to a single unknown. If that unknown happens to be quadratic, then factor it if possible - if not, use the quadratic formula.

[arildno]

Learn to do it by hand; don't use a calculator as a crutch, but as a tool to calculate swiftly stuff you know how to do yourself.

[Justin Lazear]

Your 83 can't do it with the default software on it. The best you'd be able to do is plot the curves and find the intersection, but for that you'd also need numbers for the coefficients, and if there's more than one independent variable, then you're SOL.

If you're expected to be able to do the problem without a computer algebra system, then it should be easy enough to do by hand that it's not worth going to a computer to do it for you. That is, if you learn how to do it beforehand.

--J