GEOGEBRA

A free downloadable web based program for both Interactive Geometry and Coordinate Geometry.

Finding Geogebra
Either (a) Google Geogebra or (b) www.geogebra.org Then click Start GeoGebra followed by GeoGebra Web Start

Equations With Degree 1 or 2

(a) Equations of degree 1 or 2 can be entered either implicitly or as y = (b) For ease of use these equations should be given a name (a lower case letter) Eg: Entering a:2x+3y = 6 gives a straight line with name a

The Command Menu

This gives 69 different commands that can be applied to the diagram. Format (a) Select a command (b) For simple commands enter the name of the object in the square brackets. Eg: To find the slope of the line, choose slope from the menu and type a in the brackets

Drawing a perpendicular to a line from a point

Choose point from the point menu (second from left) Click anywhere on the screen Choose perpendicular line (fourth menu from the left) Click on the point and then on the line

Using The Object List

Right clicking on any object in the object list or on the diagram gives a choice that includes (a) deleting the object (b) editing the object (c) changing the format of an equation Eg: Right clicking on the equation of a straight line gives a choice of ax+by = c; y = mx +c or parametric form Using the mouse to point to any object on the list or on the diagram tells you what it is.

Using Sliders
Sliders allow you to enter a pronumeral as part of an equation and observe what happens as the pronumeral changes Eg: Sliders can be used to observe what happens as values of m and c change when the equation y = mx+c is entered

Investigating y = mx +c
The slider menu is the 8th icon from the left Highlight this icon, then click anywhere to deposit the slider. Change setting if needed, then select Apply Repeat this process to create a second slider. Right click on the first slider, choose rename and change to m. Rename the second slider c Enter a:y = m*x +c Use your sliders to change the values of m and c

Finding axes intercepts

In Geogebra the name of the axes are xAxis and yAxis (case sensitive) From the command menu choose Intersect and type the name of your graph and the name of the axis in the brackets Eg: Intersect [a,xAxis] Press enter

Challenge: Duplicate This Slide

Investigating Circles
Create three sliders and rename them h, k and r. Enter c: (x-h)^2+(y-k)^2=r^2 Observe what happens as h, k and r change Use commands to find the centre and the radius of your circle

The Circle

More Complex Functions

These must be entered using function notation A function entered as f(x) = has the name f. For polynomials the package can (a) Find turning points (extremum) and inflexion points (b) Find roots (c) Draw first and second derivatives

Cubics
With the help of three sliders enter f(x) = (x-a)(x-b)(x-c) Investigate the effect of changing a, b and c Using commands add the roots, extremum and inflexion point to your diagram. Draw the first and second derivatives: derivative[f] and derivative[f,2]

The Mess That You Get

Trigonometric Functions
Function notation must be used The argument of the trig function must be in brackets Right click on the x axis and choose properties units and select Enter f(x) = a*sin(b*(x-h)) + k and play The root in the interval [1, 2] can be found with root[f, 1, 2] Derivatives can be found

A Trigonometric Example

Lower and Upper Sums

Enter a slider with a range of values from 5 to 100, label it n Enter your function. Eg f(x) = 0.5x^2 + 2 To find a lower sum from 0 to 4 with n rectangles enter lowersum[f,0,4,n] Enter Uppersum[f,0,4,n] Play with the slider.

Integration Example

Demonstrating the angle in a semicircle theorem

Right click on the axes and turn them off Draw a circle (Circle menu) Draw a line through the centre and any point on the circle (Line menu) Draw a triangle through the points of intersection of the line and the circle and any other point on the circle (polygon menu) Choose angle from the measure menu and click on any angle of the polygon Use the arrow (top left icon) to change the diagram