@jhmluna While using these tools is fine (and good) in "the real world", and for checking your work in school, I would recommend that you NOT jump and in use them to do your work for you. Make sure that YOU are comfortable with solving these equations using nothing more than a basic calculator. That will ensure that you understand and know how to apply the concepts. Then, when you use the tools, they really are being used to just do the grunt work. If you don't, what you are likely to end up with is the tools doing your thinking for you.

I disagree. Using these tools is not letting them do your thinking for you. The thinking part is properly setting up the circuit equations, where knowledge of how electricity works comes into play. Solving equations should have been dealt with in an algebra course. By the time the student is taking EE courses solving equations should be second nature and the student should be concentrating on EE. In the real world much larger problems will need to be solved, with much more algebra where there is more possibility for mistakes to occur. It would be foolish not to take advantage of modern math software.

 

In an ideal world, solving equations should be second nature by the time they get to an EE course. Sadly, we live in the real world where this is increasingly not the case -- this thread is a case in point.

But just what is it that you are disagreeing with that I said? I said to not use those tools to do your work for you until you are comfortable solving them yourself with nothing more than a calculator. If you are disagreeing with that, then are you saying that people that aren't comfortable with solving them manually should just go ahead and use those tools to do it for them? If so, how is that NOT having the tool do their thinking for them?