Maple is a computer algebra system that can be found on many computers around campus. When you start up the program (usually the icon looks like a maple leaf) you will be presented with either a blank worksheet or a blank document. Either is fine. You want to make sure you are in the "math mode" so that you can type commands that you want Maple to run (as opposed to text that you write for yourself).

Here is some simple Maple code for defining functions and plotting graphs of partial sums.

> f:=sin(x);

Note the semicolon at the end. All Maple statements end this way. (There is also a colon before the equal sign though it is a little hard to see.)

>p1:=x;

>p2:=x - x^3/3!;

>plot({f,p1,p2}, x=-8..8);

On occasion you will need to be more specific about the vertical range of the window. If one of your graphs takes off to infinity, the interesting part of the graph could get lost. To do this you can specify both x and y.

>plot({f,p1,p2}, x=-8..8, y=-5..5)

You can also do some bigger partial sums without typing in all the terms. Just use the sum command

>p10:= sum((-1)^n x^(2n+1)/(2n+1)!, n=0..10);

>plot({f, p10}, x=-20..20, y=-5..5);

This is about .01% of what Maple can actually do but it is all you will need it for on this assignment. Good luck--