When you start
Graphing Calculator 3D it will have an empty function text box ready
to be used. If there are no empty function text box, you may add one
by clicking on the yellow pencil labeled "Add new equation" button
as circled below.
A new function text
box will be added as shown above on the right.
By default the new
function is a 3D function, hence it starts with "y=" (you do not
need to type "y="). In front of "y=" start typing a function such
as:
x^2/5+sin(x)
In the above formula,
the variable x is raised to power of 2 then divided by 5 and finally
added to sine of x.
Once you are done
typing the formula, press ENTER or click on "Redraw All" to plot the
function as shown below.
Plotting 3D is same
as plotting 2D except your functions can use variable "y" in 3D
mode. Continuing the example of the previous section (How to plot a
2D function?), follow these simple step:
Click on "3D" in
Draw Attributes.
The 3D graph will be
automatically plotted. If it didn't, then click on "Redraw All"
button.
The above graph is
difficult to see. For better visualization you will need to rotate
or zoom in the graph as explained in next section.
Solid: A single color is used for the entire graph.
Gradual: Two colors may be selected. The graph color
gradually changes from first color to second color along either
x, y or z axis depending on your choice.
By default, Gradual coloring is select. To change it, click on
the drop down combo box and select Solid as shown below.
Also by default, the graph color is Gradual along Y axis. To
shade along X axis, click on X.
In order to change the color from the default red or blue color,
double-click on the red or blue box. This will open the
color panel.
Select your favorite color and press OK. The graph will
automatically be redrawn with yoru selected color as soon as you
click OK.
Changing resolution of graph is easy. Simply drag the resolution
slider or directly type the value for resolution in the correspond
text box. In the following example, the resolution is set to 1.
With resolution of 1, only one pixel is drawn per unit and the
graph will be less smooth as shown below:
In order to customize the axis, click on the
button in toolbar. That will switch the lower left panel from Draw
Attributes to Axis Setup as shown below:
You may now change axis-related values such as
Range, Axis Length, Number of Divisions and Unit Values.
For example, changing the x range to -5,+15 will
result in the following:
If you prefer the the length of the x-axis does not
change after applying the range, then make sure that Fix axis
length is checked before changing the range as shown below.
Play with other attributes of axis and see the
results.
This problem is most
often due to an old driver for your computer's graphics cards.
Download the latest driver for your graphics card from the
manufacturer's website and install it. Then run the Graphing
Calculator 3D again and see the result.
button to see the keyboard that among other things lists the
functions and constants currently supported by Graphing
Calculator 3D.
button in toolbar. That will switch the lower left panel from Draw
Attributes to Axis Setup as shown below:
