Math Ref

Price:  Free/$1.99

Purpose/Capabilities: 

Math Ref Free is the free version of Math Ref.  Both apps, as the names suggest, are reference tools for middle and high school level math courses (and physics).  The topics include algebra, geometry, trigonometry, series and sequences, differentiation, integration, probability and statistics, physics, algorithms, financial, Greek alphabet, and prime numbers.  Within each of these topics, there are subtopics to get more information about.  It gives the definition or equation for the given subtopic and provides helpful explanations and examples for these topics where applicable.  Also included is a section for you to write your own notes about the topic.  You can print or e-mail the information to yourself.

Positive Aspects: 

The free version of the app has over 700 formulas, figures, tips, and examples, and the full version has over 1,400.  It is a great, quick way for students to reference information on different mathematical concepts that is all in one place.  When going through the material, students have the opportunity to add their own thoughts in the notes section for when they refer back to the reference tool.

In addition to all the reference material the app has, it also contains “tools” which include a quadratic solver, a remainder finder, triangle solver, angle converter, and more.

Negative Aspects: 

The information for each of the topics is limited, but it is a great starting point for students to turn to in which they can add their own notes in order to make it more complete.  The other issue that may occur is the definitions or formulas may be slightly different than the ones given in class or in the course book.   Students should be made aware of this.

WolframAlpha

Price:  $2.99

Purpose/Capabilities: 

WolframAlpha is a reference app that allows its users to look up different concepts in mathematics, statistics and data analysis, physics, chemistry, materials, engineering, astronomy, earth science, life science, computational science, units and measures, dates and times, weather, places and geography, people and history, culture and media, music, words and linguistics, sports and games, colors, money and finance, socioeconomic data, health and medicine, food and nutrition, education, organizations, transportation, technological world, and web and computer systems (so basically everything!).  It is based off the free website with the same name. 

Not only can you get information about all these different concepts, but Wolfram can also perform complicated computations (including finding derivatives and integrals for a Calculus class) with the steps to go along with it.  It can graph different functions in 2D as well as three dimensional graphs and inequalities, which most graphing calculator apps cannot do.

Results from searching "exponential functions".

Positive Aspects: 

Unlike the free website and many other search engine sites, the WolframAlpha app does not have ads.  It is very user friendly; you simply type in a term or question you want to look up or type in a function to graph or equation to solve.  Wolfram Alpha is a great, reliable source for students to look up information, check their answers, or get help when they are stuck on a homework problem.  It has specialized keyboards to type in math functions. 

Negative Aspects: 

The WolframAlpha app does require the internet in order to use, so if an entire class is using it at once, it can become slow.  As previously stated, the app costs $2.99, whereas the website is free.  The app is considered to be quicker and easier to use than the site.