Getting Started Tutorial > Task 3–1: Defining and Evaluating Variables
  
Task 3–1: Defining and Evaluating Variables
1. Type v.
2. To insert a literal subscript, on the Math tab, in the Style group, click Subscript. The cursor moves below the line of text. Type a.
3. To return the cursor to its normal position, click Subscript. Type the rest of the variable name, inserting the letter e as another literal subscript at the end of the name.
4. To insert the definition operator, type : (colon).
This operator looks different from the evaluation operator. It is used to assign a math expression to a name.
5. Type 40^3. To move the cursor out of the exponent, press the Right Arrow key. Type s.
6. To highlight the name, click the variable name and then press Spacebar.
7. To copy the name, press Ctrl+C. To paste the name in a new math region, click below the variable definition and then press Ctrl+V.
8. To evaluate the variable, type = (equal sign).
Notice that the color of s is now blue. PTC Mathcad recognizes s as the time unit second.
9. Type an expression that contains the variable and evaluate it.
All the terms in the addition must have compatible units. The final result is returned in seconds. For a list of units, on the Math tab, in the Units group, click Units.
10. Delete the time unit s. The result is dimmed. If you click outside the math region, the s appears again to balance the equation.
11. To evaluate the math region in time units of minutes, in the empty unit placeholder, type min and then press Enter. The result is recalculated to match the new unit.
12. To format the result, you must first select or activate the math region. To change the display of the result, on the Math Formatting tab, in the Results group, select Scientific from the Result Format list.
13. To decrease the number of decimal points in the result, select 1 decimal place from the Display Precision list.
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To apply result formatting globally, click a blank spot in the worksheet, and then set your preferred result formatting options.
Proceed to Task 3–2.