Looking for good free online graphing calc?

[mcjosep]

Everywhere I look online the free graphing calculators are really not that great to say the least. My graphing calculator just broke, I will eventually get a new one but was curious as to if anyone knew a good site with a nice working graphing calculator that is free and can do large calculations without an error popping up. Thank you for your help.

 

[lurky]

Do you have a Mac? ...because they come with one that I think is pretty cool.

 

[Null_]

http://www.wolframalpha.com/

 

[Sankaku]

For mainly graphing:
http://www.geogebra.org/cms/

If you are doing heavy computation you want a Computer Algebra System. However, they can have a steep learning curve:
http://maxima.sourceforge.net/

Edit: Just noticed the reference to Alpha, above. It is ok for one-line questions, but if you want to do anything serious you need something on your computer.

 

[Xitami]

http://www.livephysics.com/ptools/

 

[Simon_Tyler]

http://demo.sagenb.org/
gives you online access to
http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/

 

[Sankaku]

http://demo.sagenb.org/
gives you online access to
http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/

Yes, Sage. It is really the proverbial rabbit hole, though. I have always thought that you really need to be moderately conversant with Python if you are going to dive into Sage.

Maybe I am wrong. I have avoiding installing it as it seems to be a thousand different math libraries all chained together. Powerful, I am sure...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagemath

 

[Simon_Tyler]

@Sankaku: I agree - there's a lot more there than just a graphing calculator (which is an understatement!). I tried finding an online interface to matplotlib, but failed - so I just posted up sage!

Also, how good is Geogebra for non 2D Euclidean geometry applications?


@mcjosep: I've never seen anyone use a graphing calculator outside of high-school (and a couple of first year uni students). I'm sure it happens, but it's probably worth learning how to use a proper computer package. Choose the appropriate one depending on what you want to do and how much you want to spend. Although Sage gives you access most free math software - including Octave, R and Maxima.

If you want something more mobile, get something that goes on your phone. E.g.
http://www.spacetime.us/ -- also runs on your computer
http://pocketcas.com/
etc...

Actually... on reflection, http://www.spacetime.us/ is probably the best. I think it has all the features of a graphing calculator. The windows version is free. The OsX/iPhone/iPad and windows mobile and Palm OS versions cost, and the android version is coming.
Combine with Wolfram|Alpha for quick calculations/graphs.

 

[Sankaku]

SpaceTime has some very impressive-looking graphics! Have you used it much for pure CAS functions? I like Maxima because it seems to have libraries for the random symbolic stuff I want to do (rather than numerical).

I am sure it isn't as slick, but it looks like someone has gotten maxima running on a Maemo/MeeGo based smartphone:
http://jeffhoogland.blogspot.com/2010/09/howto-wxmaxima-on-nokia-n900.html

I also figure that the syntax is pretty similar to Maple, so if I ever needed to make the switch to a proprietary CAS, it would be easy.

Geogebra is aimed mainly at k-12 education, but does have some interesting features. I understand the upcoming version will have 3d capability and possibly an interface to maxima. The project seems to be evolving quickly. I don't use it much but it is worth keeping an eye on.

 

[Simon_Tyler]

@Sankaku: I haven't played with SpaceTime much - it doesn't like working under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_(software)" .

Geogebra is cool - and it would be even better if it had (or interfaced with) some CAS.
In particular, if it could get the functionality of http://www.geometryexpressions.com/" .

Running Maxima on a smartphone is cool! Thanks for the link.
Maxima is one of the components in Sage.
Another is PARI - http://sagemath.blogspot.com/2010/06/pari-on-ipad-component-of-sage.html" .
Of course, any web capable phone can access a remote sage server...