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I'm new at Mathematica so please bear with me. I am trying to create an interactive plot that will end up looking like this: enter image description here I want to input values for certain variables and then plot a curve. This is what I have now.


     Manipulate[
     Plot[
      y = -((P*x^2)/(6*R*S)) (3*a - x),
      {x, 0, 10}],
     {P, 0, 10},
     {R, 0, 10},
     {S, 0, 10},
     {a, 0, 10}
     ]

Instead of slider bars, I want to have input boxes.

I have a few other issues. I don't know how to program a square. I believe this should be done piecewise, but I'm not sure how to do it on the same plot as my curve. Also, I'd like it so that the y-intercept auto manipulates so that the curve always touches the corner of the square. This might be a tad harder because I also want to add 


    y = -((P*x^2)/(6*R*S)) (3*a - x)cos[[Theta]]

Is that even possible?

Thanks for the help.

edit: working off of @MarcoB 's advice, I got this now. 


Manipulate[
 Show[
  Graphics[{Rectangle[{1, 2}, {2, 4}]}],
  Plot[
   -(Px^2/6) (3 - x),
   {x, 0, 1}],
  {P, 2, 10}
   ]
 ]

edit 2: Working off of @MarcoB 's next comment, I managed to get a plot looking like this: enter image description here

My code is: 


Manipulate[
 Show[
  Graphics[{Rectangle[{1, 2}, {2, 3}]}],
  Plot[
   -(Px^2/6) (3 - x),
   {x, -2, 10},
   PlotStyle -> green],
  PlotRange -> {{-2, 10}, {-2, 10}},
  Axes -> True
   ],
 {P, -10, 10}
 ]

Improve this question
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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Generally speaking, get the plot working with some fixed values first, then implement the manipulate functionality. More specifically, 1. Remove the y = in your plotting expression; 2. look up Rectangle, Graphics, and Show, in a combination as Show[Graphics[{Rectange[yourspecs]}], Plot[plottingArguments]]; 3. See InputField as a control type for Manipulate. $\endgroup$
    – MarcoB
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 14:50
  • $\begingroup$ @MarcoB I'm getting this error message "Could not combine the graphics objects in Show[...] From reading the help menu, it would appear as though this is because my equation isn't a "graphics expression". How can I fix this? $\endgroup$
    – rxc370
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 21:35
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Can you show the exact code you tried? $\endgroup$
    – MarcoB
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 21:51
  • $\begingroup$ It doesn't seem to show up well in the comment. I'll add it to my original post. $\endgroup$
    – rxc370
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 2:50
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ The {P, 2, 10} fragment should be inside Manipulate, but outside Show, so ... {x, 0, 1}]], {P, 2, 10}] $\endgroup$
    – MarcoB
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 3:16

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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You may start with this, add whatever you need and then remove the unnecessary manipulation parameters:

Manipulate[Show[{


 Graphics[{Opacity[0.5], Red, 
     Rectangle[{1 + a, c + b}, {2 + a, 4 + b}]}, 
    PlotRange -> {{0, 2}, {-3, 0}}, Axes -> True, 
    AxesOrigin -> {1 + a, c}],

   Plot[{-(P*x^2/6) (3 - x), -k*x}, {x, 0, 1}, Axes -> True]
   }],

 {P, 2, 10}, {a, -1, 1}, {b, -5, 1}, {c, 1, 5}, {k, 0, 3}, 
 SaveDefinitions -> True]

enter image description here

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1
  • $\begingroup$ Thank you so much for this. Let me try to understand it now :) $\endgroup$
    – rxc370
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 13:31

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