About this System
This system is free. The price of free however, is low-frills. It checks your answer, sometimes gives hints, and shows the solutions after the due date. That’s it. Below are some of the ways you’ll need to format your inputs in order for the not-to-smart robots to understand them.
- Scientific Notation
To enter big (or small numbers), scientific notation can be useful. This is accomplished by the following syntax: To enter the following number in scientific notation, $1.45 \times 10^8$, simply type 1.45e8. Or, for small numbers, a minus sign can be included: $6.35 \times 10^{-12}$, simply type 6.35e-12 - Positives and Negatives
When entering negative numbers, don’t put a space in between the sign and the number. - Reduction
Please enter only numbers (no variables or equations) into the response fields. For example if we want to know the circumference of a circle with diameter 2 meters: $2 \times \pi$ gives the right answer, but enter 6.28 into the response field. Do not enter fractions, like 1/3, instead write 0.333 . - Commas
Don’t use commas when entering large numbers. 40,000 should be entered as 4e4 or 40000 - Significant Figures
For all questions, three significant figures should be enough. You certainly don’t need to enter 10 digits in the answer field — 3 is plenty. - Scoring
For numerical entry problems, the first attempt is free. After that, the score for that problem decreases by 5%, meaning after 21 attempts, you will not get any points for a particular problem. For Multiple Choice, you get as many attempts as there are choices. So, if you get it right after choosing all the wrong answers, the score awarded is zero.