1. Parametric surfaces in Maple

This description assumes that you have written your surfaces as $P(t,u) = (x(t,u),y(t,u), z(t,u))$, where you have formulas for $x(t,u)$, $y(t,u)$, and $z(t,u)$.

On the Start menu, find the most current version of Maple. Double-click to start it,

To plot the parametric surface $P(t,u) = (t,u,\sin(t)\sin(u))$ for $-\pi \leq t \leq \pi$ and $-\pi \leq u \leq \pi$, type
plot3d([t,u,sin(t)*sin(u)], t=-Pi..Pi, u=-Pi..Pi); and then press Enter. Notice that it's upper-case P in Pi.

Wait a moment, and the plot should appear. If you click on the picture, it is replaced by an outline frame. At this point, you can drag with the mouse to change the view. Double-click on the picture to redraw it. You can also change various attributes of the plot by using menu items from the menu bar. (You won't see the plot menu options until you have selected the picture.) The ``Constrained'' option means uniform scaling in $x,y,z$.

Notes.

• Be sure to put a semicolon after every command and then press Enter. If you do a command and nothing happens after a reasonable time, check to see if you have forgotten the semicolon.

• Maple does a lot more, of course; it will even do derivatives and integrals symbolically. If you have used a variable name for non-plotting purposes, for example t, don't use the same one as a parameter in plots.

• You can edit previously typed material and press Enter to re-run it.

• To select a whole area of your worksheet, double-click on its vertical bar to the left. You can delete material by selecting it and then pressing the BACKSPACE key.

• When in doubt, try looking at menus, consulting the help facility, clicking, and double-clicking.

• Variable names in Maple can be anything reasonable. Be careful, though: If you type sint instead of sin(t), Maple will think that's just another name, and since it doesn't have a value for it, it just repeats the name back. It will seem to you as though nothing is happening.